Introduction

All research and review manuscripts submitted to Current Applied Science and Technology must undergo a process of editorial review and peer review. Once manuscript is submitted, it will be first reviewed for completeness and only then will be sent to an Editor to assess the manuscript and decide whether the manuscript is suitable for peer review. Manuscripts that are within aims and scope of journal and seem (on initial assessment) to be technically sound and scientifically valid, will be sent to reviewers. All submissions undergo a doubleblind peer review process.

At the submission stage, authors may suggest potential reviewers (at least 3 persons). Although these suggestions can be helpful, they may not always be followed. Furthermore, authors should not recommend recent collaborators or colleagues who work in the same institution as themselves as potential reviewers. Authors can suggest peer reviewers in the cover letter. Information such as identifying of reviewer’s expertise, including reviewer’s institutional email address and ORCID or Scopus ID (if any) will be helpful for the Editor. The Editor's decision on the selection of peer reviewers is final.

If an Editor is on the author’s list or has any competing interest regarding a specific manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to oversee peer review.

In addition, copies of any papers containing similar or related work under consideration or in press at other journals should be included with the submission (if possible).

Peer review

During peer review, reviewers can securely access manuscript assigned via our online system, whilst maintaining referee anonymity.

Peer reviewers should adhere to the Ethics of Reviewer:

Ethics.

Peer reviewers should not request authors to make any changes to such extend that exceeding the clarity of the academic content of a manuscript.

Confidential comments to the Editor are welcome, however the comments must not contradict the main points in the report for the authors.

Please note that peer reviewers are not identified to the authors.

Decision after review

Editors will usually consider the peer-reviewed reports when making a decision. The reviewed articles will normally be accepted for publication by at least two reviewers’ acceptance (under the double-blinded process).

However, in some circumstances, the opinions or recommendations are not bound if there is a concern raised by a single peer reviewer or the Editor themself which may result in the manuscript being rejected. Authors will receive peer review reports with the editorial decision on their manuscript.

In the exceptional occasions when three independent peer reviewers cannot be secured, the Editor may act as a third reviewer or make a decision using two reviewers’ reports.

Decisions by the Editors after the consideration of reviewers’ reports are as follows:

• Accept without revision
• Accept with a minor revision, where authors revise their manuscripts according to

comments and suggestions of reviewers.

• Accept with a major revision, where authors revise their manuscript according to comments and suggestions of reviewers and perhaps undertake additional work.
• Reject

In case of major revisions

In cases where the reviewers or Editors have requested changes to the manuscript, authors will be informed to prepare a revision and the revised manuscript should be submitted via the revision link provided in the decision letter (not as a new manuscript). The revision should also be accompanied by a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments and suggestions explaining how the manuscript has been changed. Manuscripts are allowed to undergo two rounds of revision before being accepted for publication, so please ensure that all issues raised have been addressed properly.

The decision letter will specify a deadline for submission of a revised manuscript. Once resubmitted, the manuscript will then be sent back to the original reviewers. If the deadline is overdue, it is assumed that the authors no longer wish to resubmit their manuscript to our journal and the manuscript will be withdrawn.

Final submission and acceptance

When all editorial issues are resolved, your paper will be formally accepted for publication and informed. The Editors will notify the acceptance decision to the authors.

The accepted date stated on the paper will be the date after the authors have approved their final manuscript (galley proof stage). All corrections must be approved by the publishing team and our journal reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.