1. The regulations for peer review shall be applied to submitted research papers, review papers, technical reports, special issues and so on for publications in the Journal of People, Plants, and Environment.
2. The Editor-in-chief selects one expert as Editor and the Editor selects three experts to peer review the submitted manuscript. Both the reviewers’ and authors’ names or affiliations are not disclosed throughout the process.
3. A final decision shall categorize the manuscript into one of four categories: “Accepted”, “Accepted with minor revisions”, “Re-review after major revisions”, or “Rejected”.
- (1) If a paper is “Accepted” or “Accepted with minor revisions” by all three reviewers, it will be published in the Journal.
- (2) If a paper is “Rejected” by at least two reviewers, it will not be published in the Journal.
- (3) If a paper is “Rejected” by only one reviewer, either the Editor makes the final decision as “Rejected” or lets the other two reviewers continue their review process. If a paper is “Accepted” or “Accepted with minor revisions” by these two reviewers, it will be published in the Journal.
- (4) If a paper is “Accepted with minor revisions”, it will be published if the recommended changes have been made.
- (5) If a paper is “Re-review after major revisions”, the revised manuscript will have to undergo further review. However, if the final decision after the re-review is “Rejected”, the manuscript will not be reviewed again and therefore not published.
- (6) Failure to submit the revised manuscripts after “Re-review after major revisions” within 3 months shall be regarded as a withdrawal from the publication process by the authors. If the authors wish to resubmit their manuscript, they must submit the manuscript as a new submission.
4. The reviewers and the author may exchange opinions about the manuscript only through the Editorial Board. However, the final decision-making authority rests solely with this Journal’s Editorial Board.
5. In the event of an expedited review, reviewers may receive a set payment.