Peer Review Policy
All original research articles, reviews, case reports and short communications submitted to the Medical Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies undergo double-blind peer review: reviewers do not know the identities of the authors, and authors do not know the identities of the reviewers.
Review process
- Initial screening: the editorial office checks the scope, completeness, adherence to the Author Guidelines, the required statements, and similarity. Manuscripts that do not pass are returned to the authors or desk-rejected with reasons (see the Rejection Policy).
- Handling editor: the Editor-in-Chief assigns an editor with relevant expertise and no conflict of interest.
- Reviewer selection: the handling editor invites at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the subject. Reviewers must not be from the same institution as any author, must not have co-authored with them in the last 3 years, and must have no other conflict of interest. Reviewers suggested by authors may be considered but are never the only reviewers.
- Review: reviewers assess originality, relevance, methods, ethics, statistics, interpretation of results, and clarity, using the journal's review form, and recommend Accept, Minor revision, Major revision or Reject.
- Decision: the handling editor considers the reviews and makes a recommendation. The Editor-in-Chief or a Co-Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision. If reviewers disagree strongly, an additional reviewer is invited.
- Revision: authors submit a revised manuscript with a point-by-point response to every comment. Revised manuscripts may be sent back to the original reviewers.
- Acceptance: see the Acceptance Policy.
Timelines
| Stage | Target time |
|---|---|
| Initial screening | within 7 days of submission |
| Reviewer response to invitation | within 7 days |
| Reviewer report | within 21 days of accepting the invitation |
| Author revision | minor: 14 days; major: 30 days |
These are targets. Actual average times, calculated from the journal's submission system, are published on the website once a year.
Manuscripts by editors and board members
Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors or editorial board members are handled by another editor who has no conflict of interest. The author-editor has no access to the review records and takes no part in the decision. Such articles will not make up more than 25% of the research articles in any issue.
Special issues
Special issues and special editions follow exactly the same peer review process. Guest editors are approved by the Editor-in-Chief, do not handle their own manuscripts, and their own articles will not make up more than 25% of a special issue. The final decision on every special-issue article is made by the Editor-in-Chief.
Editorials, letters and conference abstracts
Editorials, letters to the editor and conference abstracts are reviewed by at least two editors.
Confidentiality and ethics of review
Reviewers must keep manuscripts confidential, must not use them for their own work, and must not upload them into AI tools. The identities of reviewers are not disclosed to authors.
Appeals
See the Appeals Policy.
