Content
For Editors
1. Overview
As an open access publisher, MRE Press provides services and support to scholars from all over the world, ensuring that researchers have free access to the latest research advances and cutting-edge information, and allowing scholars in various fields around the world to communicate and collaborate with each other without restrictions, through open access. We aim to be an unbiased and permanent forum that serves as a tool for the easier and more effective experiences and science sharing. As it stated in Berlin Declaration,“Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society.”
2. Open Access
All MRE Press journal papers are published as Open Access articles under the unrestrictive CC-BY license. All articles published by MRE Press are immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download, which means researchers, students, and interested lay people from anywhere in the world have rapid access to the latest research through MRE Press journals.
Authors of accepted manuscripts are required to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC) to publish their research in MRE Press journals. APCs cover the cost of managing the peer review process, professional copy-editing, content management, and website maintenance.
For authors, open access means potentially great visibility, discoverability and influence for their research papers.
3. Editorial Process, Peer-Review and Production
Articles submitted to MRE Press journals are subject to strict peer review. MRE Press operates a double-blind peer-review system to assess a manuscript, where the identities of both the reviewer and the author are kept unknown to each other throughout the review process. Authors could submit their manuscripts through the journal’s online submission system. Reviewers and external editors can also complete the tasks assigned to them by logging onto the submission system. Authors can find more information on preparing and submitting their manuscripts on the “Resources for Authors” page.
Immediately after submission, a Preliminary review will first be carried out by the managing editor to assess if the submitted manuscript complies with the provided guidelines for preparation of articles. Articles that do not comply with the guidelines will be sent back to the authors. The relevant editor (usually the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member of a journal or the Guest Editor of a Special Issue) will then be notified of the submission and invited to perform a Pre-check. The editor then can decide to continue with the peer-review process, reject a manuscript, or request revisions before peer-review.
Once a manuscript passes these initial checks (including the preliminary review and the pre-check), editors will then organize the whole editorial process for the manuscript: peer-review, decision making, possible author revisions, manuscript acceptance, copyediting, proofreading, and final publication.
The Peer-review process performed by independent experts and collect at least two review reports per manuscript. Authors may be asked for adequate revisions, and if necessary, a Second round of peer review before making a final decision on publication. We typically allow no more than two rounds of major revisions per manuscript.
The relevant editor (Editor-in-Chief, Guest Editor, or a suitable Editorial Board member) can make the Final decision whether a manuscript could be accepted or rejected usually after the author’s revisions. Editorial process may differ slightly among journals; please refer to each journal’s website for specific details.
Each accepted manuscript is subject to production, including copy editing, language editing, format conversion, etc.
A summary of the editorial process is given in the flowchart below.
(Click for larger)
4. Editor-in-Chief Responsibilities
The Editor-in-Chief is a champion of the journal and their discipline, and a custodian of the scientific record in order to ensure the success of the journal for their community. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the scientific quality and development of the journal, and strives to provide a better experience for authors and readers together with the editorial team.
The responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief include but are not limited to the following:
- Scientific decisions about the journal’s scope.
- Understanding journal’s editorial procedure and overviewing the editorial process.
- Inviting distinguished Editorial Board Members for the journal.
- Keeping the Editorial Board engaged with the journal and assisting the Editorial Office in the smooth management of the journal.
- Providing support and guidance to Section Editors, Editorial Board Members and Editorial Staff where required.
- Attending meetings with the publisher or publication board to promote the journal.
5. Section Editor Responsibilities
The Section Editor is responsible for the scientific quality of a particular Section of a journal, and take good care of the development of the journal in the specific area and its Board members.
The responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
- Scientific decisions about the scope of their section.
- Understanding journal’s editorial procedure and overviewing the editorial process.
- Inviting distinguished Editorial Board Members for the journal.
- Keeping the Editorial Board of their section engaged with the journal and assisting the Editorial Office in the smooth management of the journal.
- Suggesting topics for Special Issues.
- Providing support and guidance to Editorial Board Members and Editorial Staff where required.
- Collaborating with the Editor-in-Chief on their Section.
6. Associate Editor Responsibilities
The Associate Editors support the Editor-in-Chief and Section Editor in their respective roles and comply with the same terms and conditions.
7. Editorial Board Member Responsibilities
The Editorial Board Members will be responsible for actively coordinating with the Section Editor/Associate Editor/the Editorial Office to take good care of the development of the journal of their areas.
An Editorial Board Member will be responsible for:
- Pre-checking and making decisions on new submissions related to their research interests, suggesting whether they should be sent out for peer review.
- Suggesting topics for Special Issues.
- Provide input or feedback regarding journal policies.
- Help to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences.
- Assisting the Editors in identifying potential reviewers.
8. Guest Editor Responsibility
The Guest Editor is the leader of a special issue which enables collaboration with scholars from the same/related research field all over the world. For that, we appreciate it very much.
The main responsibilities of the Guest Editors are:
- Preparing the Special Issue title, aim & scope, summary and keywords.
- Promotion of the Special Issue at conferences, on social media and other relevant platforms.
- Pre-checking and making decisions on new submissions manuscripts submitted to their special issue.
Note: The acceptance or rejection of Guest Editor’s own papers will be decided by the Editor-in-Chief/Section Editor/other Editorial Board Members.
9. Process for in-House Submissions
Editorial staff or editors shall not be involved in processing their own academic work. In the case of editors and editorial staff as authors, the peer-review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board. Submissions will be assigned to at least two independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial Board Members who have no conflicts of interest with the author. Journal staff are not involved in the processing of their own work submitted to any MRE Press journals.
Similarly, Guest Editors should not hold conflicts of interest with authors whose work they are assessing (e.g., from the same institution or collaborate closely). In this case, the Editor-in-Chief or a suitable Editorial Board member will make the Pre-check and Final decisions for submitted papers.
The following section is required for all in-House Submissions. If there are no interests to declare, please use the following wording: “<NAME of Editor> is serving as the/an/a (Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member/Guest Editor) of this journal. We declare that <NAME of Editor> had no involvement in the peer review of this article and has no access to information regarding its peer review. Full responsibility for the editorial process for this article was delegated to <NAME of delegated editor>”.