Submission of the Manuscript

After the manuscript has been successfully submitted, it will be screened by the Editor-in-Chief to determine whether it meets the journal’s aims and scope. The submitted manuscript will also be assessed for originality and plagiarism. If the submitted manuscript does not meet the criteria, the Editor-in-Chief may decline the submission without sending it. If the manuscript is approved, the editorial office personnel will check the paper’s formatting and citation styles and ensure adherence to the author’s guidelines. If the required conditions are not met, the manuscripts will be returned to the authors for reformatting and resubmission.

Assignment of Associate Editor and Reviewers

After the initial screening of the submitted manuscripts, the Editor-In-Chief will assign the relevant associate editor based on the content. The Associate Editor will then begin reviewing the submitted manuscripts by inviting at least three potential reviewers to assess them.

The reviewers must have different affiliations from all authors of the submitted manuscripts. Potential reviewers must evaluate the invitation based on their scientific expertise, potential conflicts of interest, and other relevant criteria. The Journal of Associated Medical Sciences guarantees that reviewers will be assigned within 3 days of the initial manuscript submission. The reviewers are usually given two to four weeks to review the manuscripts. After the review, the reviewers will submit the results, along with recommendations and suggestions, to the journal.

Manuscripts Submitted from the Institution of an Editor

Manuscripts submitted from the institution of any Associate Editor or the Editor-in-Chief are reviewed by other editors from outside that institution. The Editorial Board ensures confidentiality and equity in reviewing all manuscripts.

Evaluation of the Reviews by Associate Editor

The Associate Editor will evaluate the three reviewers' comments to make an overall decision. Consensus among at least two of the three reviewers will lead to a final decision on whether to accept, accept with revision, or reject. The Associate Editor will send a decision to the authors via the online system, along with any relevant comments submitted by the reviewers. As the journal uses a double-blind peer-review principle, all comments and suggestions are kept anonymous.

Revision

Once the authors receive the review results, comments, and suggestions, they will be asked to proceed accordingly. The revised manuscripts must be submitted with highlighted changes at the original submission number. The response to reviewers’ comments must also be submitted along with the revised manuscripts. The author will be asked to complete minor revisions within two weeks and significant revisions within four weeks. The same reviewers will re-evaluate all the revised manuscripts before making a final decision.

Decisions

There are three categories for initial decisions: accept, accept with revision, and reject. Some manuscripts are accepted provisionally, pending relatively minor modifications. In this case, the Associate Editor may conduct the review. Authors are invited to resubmit many manuscripts if revision or additional experimentation can address significant criticisms. Typically, one or more reviewers will be asked to consider the adequacy of the revisions. All revised manuscripts are carefully reexamined, and ultimate acceptability is not guaranteed. The Journal of Associated Medical Sciences does not provide for an advance determination of the acceptability of a particular manuscript for publication, nor does it promise an expedited review of selected manuscripts.

Rebuttals

If a serious scientific error occurred during the review, a letter of rebuttal may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief explaining the reasons for being reconsidered. The Editor-in-Chief must receive letters of rebuttal within 6 weeks of the date the decision letter was sent. The initial Associate Editor or additional reviewers will take up the matter when appropriate. Rebuttals challenging rejections based solely on priority are rarely successful, since the assignment of priority is necessarily a matter of opinion. Suppose the author of a rejected manuscript can make new advances that go far beyond the original submission. In that case, they will often expedite the consideration of their paper by submitting an entirely new manuscript.