OJS Review Process

This guide will walk you through the process of assigning a reviewer, creating a new review form, reviewing submissions, and making a final decision on a submission in OJS.

Assigning a Reviewer

The first step in the review process involves the Editor or Section Editor assigning a Reviewer to a new submission. Please note that submissions must first be assigned to an Editor or Section Editor before they can be assigned to a Reviewer ("Assigning Submissions").

1. Log in as the Editor (or Section Editor) assigned to a submission and navigate to the User Home page of the journal website. The number of articles in review (assigned to the Editor or Section Editor) will appear on the User Home page next to the Editor or Section Editor User Home links.
   
   
2. By clicking “In Review,” the Editor can view all articles in review assigned to them. On this page, you can also track the submissions progress in the review process. By clicking the submission’s title, you will be redirected to the submission’s Review Page.
   
3. On the Review Page, the Editor can view information about the submission (e.g Authors, Title, Section), double check the review version (and supplementary files) submitted by the Author, and upload a revised review version (if the Author failed to remove all personally identifying information from their submission). The Editor can also send emails to either the Authors or the Editor assigned to the submission by clicking the mail icon next to the Author’s and Editor’s name. In order to assign a reviewer to the submission, click “Select Reviewer” to direct you to a list of all reviewers registered to the journal site.
   
   
4. Once on the Reviewer page, the Editor can view all reviewers registered to the journal. Moreover, for each reviewer, the Editor can view their stated research interests and information about their review history for your journal. “Done” refers to the number of reviews the Reviewer has already completed for your journal. “Weeks” refers to the average number of weeks the reviewer takes to complete a review. “Latest” indicates the date of the reviewers most recently accepted review. After selecting an appropriate reviewer for the submission, click “Assign” to assign the reviewer to the desired submission. After clicking “Assign,” you will be redirected to the submission’s Review page.
   
   
5. After assigning a Reviewer, a new section will appear on the submission’s Review page. On this page the Editor can select a previously prepared Review Form to guide the Reviewer’s comments on a submission (see “Creating a Review Form”). Once a review form is selected, the Editor must send an email request to the desired Reviewer by clicking the mail icon under “Request.” By accepting the request, the Reviewer will be able to begin their review of the submission. If you want to assign additional reviewers to the submission, repeat the process.
   
   
   

Creating a Review Form

In OJS, the Journal Manager can create review forms to guide Reviewers in their reviews and comments on submissions assigned to them. You can create multiple review forms and choose which one to provide the Reviewer with depending on the submission. Often Journal Managers will create separate Review Forms for each section of their journal (i.e. Articles, Book Reviews).

1. Log in as Journal Manager and navigate to the “User Home” page of your OJS site. Click “Journal Manager” to view the admin options for the Journal Manager. Under “Management Pages” select “Review Forms” to begin the process of creating a new Review Form. This will direct you to a list of all review forms for your journal. From this page you can edit or delete Review Forms you have already created or create a new Review Form by clicking “Create Review Form.”
   
   
2. After clicking “Create Review Form,” you will be able to enter a Title and your Review Instructions in the text boxes provided. Once you have entered your title and review instructions, click “Save” to return to the “Review Forms” page. Your new Review Form will now appear in your list of Review Forms. From this page you will be able to “Edit,” “Preview,” and “Delete” review forms, if necessary. In order to use your newly created Review Form, you must click “Activate” on this page. After clicking “Activate” you (or your Editors or Section Editors) will be able to select your new Review Form when assigning a submission to a Reviewer.
   
   

Reviewing Submissions

The peer review process in OJS involves coordination and communication between Author, Reviewer, and Editor (or Section Editor). This section will focus on the options and procedure for Reviewing Submissions when logged in as a Reviewer.

1. Log in as a Reviewer and navigate to the “User Home” page of your journal site. Next to the “Reviewer” user role, you will see a link showing the number of active submissions assigned to the reviewer. In order to begin the review process, click this link to navigate to a list of all “Active Submissions.” Once on the active submissions page you, click the submission title to begin your review.
   
   
2. Clicking the Submission title on the “Active Submission” page will navigate you to the review homepage for the assigned submission. On this you will be provided with general information about the submission, including the Title, Journal Section, Abstract, Submission Editor, and a link to the Submission’s Metadata. Under the “Review Schedule” heading, you will be able to view the date the review request was sent, the date it was accepted, the due date for the review, and the date the review is actually submitted. After “Review Schedule,” OJS outlines the steps the reviewer needs to take to complete the review (“Review Steps”) and provides the “Review Guidelines” entered in the Review Form assigned to this submission.
   
   
3. Follow the Review Steps, paying close attention to the “Reviewer Guidelines” provided at the bottom of the page, in order to complete your review of the assigned submission.
   
   First, click the file next to “Submission Manuscript” to view the Author’s submission for review. You can also access all supplementary files the Author uploaded to accompany their submission. Clicking the icon next to “Review” (Step 4) will open a pop-up window where you can enter (or copy and paste) your review. Here you have the option of providing comments “for author and editor” and/or “for editor.” When you have completed your comments, click “Save” to register the changes then close the pop-up window and return to the Review Steps.
   
   Next, you can upload additional files for the editor and/or author to consult. Make sure to click “Upload” after you have selected your desired file. Once you have entered your review, you will be able to make a recommendation about the submission and submit it to the journal editor using the dropdown menu next to “Recommendation.” The options for “Recommendations” include “Accept Submission,” “Revisions Required,” “Resubmit for Review,” “Resubmit Elsewhere,” “Decline Submission,” and “See Comments.”
   
   Once you have completed entering your review, uploaded any desired supplementary filed, and recorded your recommendation in the dropdown menu, you will be able to click “Submit Review to Editor” to complete your review.
   

Making a Decision on a Submission

Once a Reviewer has completed and submitted their review of a submission, the Editor (or Section Editor) must make and record their decision before notifying the Author and beginning the Editorial Process (if accepted).

1. Log-in as the Editor and navigate to the “User Home” page of your journal website. Then click “In Review” to view all Active Submissions currently in the Review stage. Submissions whose Reviews have been submitted will be highlighted green. To view the review and record your decision on a submission, click the title of the submission.
   
   
2. This will direct you to the review home page for the submission (the same page where you assigned a Reviewer to the submission).
   
   
3. If a review has been uploaded, you can now view it by clicking the comment bubble next to “Review” (the submission date of the review will also appear). You can also view the Reviewer's recommendation for the submission. By clicking the mail icon under “Acknowledge” you can send an email acknowledgement to the Reviewer.
   
   After taking the Reviewer’s comments and recommendation under consideration, the Editor can then select their decision for the submission by choosing one of the options in the dropdown menu “Select decision.” These options include “Accept Decision,” “Revisions Required,” “Resubmit for Review,” and “Decline Submission.” After selecting your decision, make sure you click “Record Decision” to register your choice. Finally, you must click the mail icon next to “Notify Author” to send an email to the Author regarding your decision about their submission.
   
   If you selected “Decline Submission” no further action is necessary. If you selected “Resubmit for Review” the Author will need to resubmit their submission for another reviewer(s) to read and provide additional feedback. Selecting “Revisions Required” will prompt the Author to upload and revised copy of their submission (based on the Reviewer feedback) before it is accepted. Finally, if the Editor selects “Accept Submission” no further action is required of the Author in the Review process. The Editor can then upload an “Editor Version” of the submission to make the copyediting process easier. Once the Editor decides the submission is ready to enter the Editorial Process, they must select which version of the submission to send to copyediting (Review Version, Author Version, or Editor Version) then click “Send to Copyediting” (which only appears when “Accept Submission” is selected and recorded).