Peer-Review Process

The reviewer and author are anonymous.

• Author anonymity prevents reviewer bias, for example based on the author's country of origin or previous controversial works.
• Articles written by prestigious or well-known authors are considered based on the content of their papers, not their reputation.
• Reviewers can often identify authors by their writing style, subject matter or self-citation.

For journals that use double blind peer review, the identities of the reviewers and authors are hidden from each other throughout the review. To facilitate this, authors should ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in such a way that they do not reveal their identities to reviewers, either directly or indirectly.

Therefore ensure that the following items are present in your submission and provided as separate files:

1. Title page

The title page will remain separate from the manuscript during the peer review process and will not be sent to reviewers. This should include:

• Manuscript title
• All authors' names and affiliations
• Complete address of the author concerned, including e-mail address
• Thank-you note
• Conflict of interest statement

2. Anonymized manuscript

Please remove identifying information, such as author names or affiliations from your manuscript before submission.

In addition to removing names and affiliations below the title in the manuscript, other steps need to be taken to ensure the manuscript is properly prepared for double blind peer review. The important points to consider are:

• Make sure figures and tables do not contain references to author affiliations.
• Excludes acknowledgments and references to funding sources. Use the title page, which is not sent to reviewers, to detail this and to declare any potential conflict of interest to the Editor.