Peer reviewers

Reviewers who feel unqualified, unavailable, or have conflicts of interest regarding the manuscript should promptly inform the editors and decline the invitation. Reviewers should formulate their statements clearly in a sound and reasoned way so that authors can use the reviewer’s arguments to improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors should be avoided.

Confidentiality. Reviewers should treat the contents of the manuscript under review as strictly confidential and refrain from using, disclosing, or sharing them with others.

Conflicts of Interests. Reviewers are asked to inform the editor of any conflicts of interest when evaluating a manuscript. Such conflicts may arise if the reviewer is asked to assess a paper by someone from the same organization, a former or current student, advisor, or closely related individual. Another conflict may occur if the reviewer competes directly with the author for a grant. If the conflict is significant, the reviewer should excuse themselves from the review process.