Peer Review Process

The decision to publish a paper is based on editorial assessment and peer review. Initially, all submitted manuscripts are evaluated by an editorial committee consisting of members of the editorial team. The primary purpose of this stage is to determine whether the manuscript should be sent for peer review or receive a rapid editorial decision. Rejection at this stage is generally based on lack of novelty, insufficient scientific merit, or limited relevance to the scope of the journal.

Nursing Science Studies (NSS) is committed to an efficient publication process through an initial assessment conducted by the editorial committee. The main considerations at this stage are the relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s scope, compliance with the author guidelines, and the overall quality of the language and presentation. In some cases, a manuscript may be returned to the author for preliminary revision to assist the editors in determining whether it is suitable to proceed to peer review. Authors may normally expect a decision from the initial editorial assessment within 1–2 weeks of submission.

After passing the initial editorial assessment, the manuscript is sent to peer reviewers. The peer review process involves at least two reviewers for each manuscript, selected on the basis of their expertise in the relevant field. The journal applies a double-blind peer review system, meaning that authors and reviewers do not know each other’s identities. Reviewers are expected to complete their reviews within three weeks in each review round after the review invitation has been accepted.

The decision to accept a manuscript for publication is based on the recommendations of the peer reviewers. In general, two positive recommendations are required for acceptance. If there is a substantial difference between the recommendations of the two reviewers, the editor may seek the opinion of a third reviewer. The final decision to publish is made by the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial committee, including national or international advisory board members where appropriate, after careful consideration of the reviewers’ comments and recommendations.