Editorial Process

General Information

As part of the peer review procedure, every manuscript submitted to the journal is evaluated by at least two anonymous referees by a double blind process to determine the contribution, originality, relevance, and presentation. It is the responsibility of the Editor-In-Chief to inform each potential author of the results of the review within two months after the submission of a manuscript. It is important for authors to be aware that because of the large number of submissions that JCTS receives, the review process can take up to three months in some cases.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

A peer review procedure assists the Editor-in-Chief in making editorial decisions. Additionally, through the editorial communications with the author, peer review may also help the author to improve the paper in a number of ways.

Promptness

A referee who feels unqualified to review a manuscript or knows that it will be impossible to provide a prompt review of the manuscript should notify the Editor-in-Chief and withdraw from participating in the review process.

Confidentiality

It is critical that any manuscript that is received for review be treated as a confidential document. Except authorized by the editor, the manuscript must not be shown to or discussed with others.

Standards of Objectivity

It is important to conduct reviews in an objective manner. It is inappropriate to criticize the author personally. It is important that referees express their opinions clearly and support them with evidence.

Acknowledgement of Sources

As part of the review process, reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors of the article. Any statement indicating that an observation, a derivation, or an argument has been previously reported should be accompanied by the citation that refers to the original publication. There is also a duty on the part of a reviewer to inform the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other previously published paper of which the reviewer is aware.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Peer-reviewed information and ideas should be kept confidential and should not be used for the purpose of gaining an advantage for oneself. It is very important that reviewers do not consider manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions that are linked to the papers.

 Duties of Authors

Reporting standards

The authors of reports that describe original research should give an accurate account of the work that has been performed as well as a discussion of the significance of that work. There should be an accurate representation of the underlying data in the paper. In order for a paper to be published, it must contain sufficient details and references to allow others to replicate the work. The use of fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitutes unethical behavior and would not be tolerated.

Data Access and Retention

Whenever possible, authors are requested to provide raw data as part of a paper that is being submitted for editorial review. It is expected that the authors will be prepared to make the raw data publicly available for public viewing (in accordance with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), and that they will retain the raw data for a reasonable period of time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

It is generally not recommended for an author to publish manuscripts which essentially describe the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. A manuscript submitted to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is not acceptable in the world of publishing.

Acknowledgement of Sources

The work of others must always be properly acknowledged in order to ensure the integrity of the work. It is recommended that authors cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work that is being presented.

 Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should only be given to those individuals who have been responsible for the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study that has been reported. It is required that all co-authors who have contributed significantly to the research be listed as co-authors. It is important to acknowledge or list as contributors those people who were involved in some substantive aspects of the research project, and played a role in determining its direction. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all appropriate and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen the final version of the paper and that they have approved it before it is submitted for publication.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects

There must be a clear identification of any unusual hazards associated with the use of chemicals, procedures or equipment in the manuscript if the work used any of these items.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Whenever possible, authors should declare in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that may be construed to have affected the results or interpretation of the manuscript in any way. There should be a full disclosure of all sources of financial support for the project.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works/Retraction Policy

It is the author's responsibility to promptly notify the journal’s Editor-in-Chief or publisher if he or she discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in the work they have already published and to cooperate with the editor in retraction or correction of the work.

Plagiarism Policy

It is the policy of JCTS Editorial Board to identify plagiarism in articles that are submitted for publication and to take specific actions against plagiarism. A paper with an unsatisfactory outcome from the plagiarism checker will be rejected immediately. JCTS uses TURNITIN to check the similarity index of submitted papers in order to prevent cheating and plagiarism.

Withdrawal Policy

In the event that an author(s) wishes to withdraw their manuscript from JCTS after submission and during the peer review process, they are required to forfeit the submission charge paid. The author(s) of the paper must inform the Editor-in-Chief of this decision within one month of submitting the paper. JCTS Editorial Board does not allow withdrawals of papers after one month of submission, until an editorial decision has been made on the paper.