Reviewers guidelines
Peer reviewers are vital in ensuring the quality and relevance of published articles on London Paediatrics. By accepting the invitation to review, peer reviewers have to adhere to basic principles and standards outlined by the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. This also sets out guidelines on conducting a peer review and formatting a report.
Included below is additional guidance to support reviewers in the review process.
Prior to reviewing:
1. Declare your conflicts of interest and competing interests.
2. Ensure you are able to return your review in a timely manner within the agreed time-frame.
3. Please ensure you have read the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
Reviewing guide:
1. Read the manuscript, supplementary data files, submission checklists, and ancillary material thoroughly (eg, reviewer instructions, required ethics and policy statements), getting back to the journal if anything is not clear and requesting any missing or incomplete items you need. Do not contact the authors directly without the permission of the journal. (COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers)
2. Consider the following questions for all articles:
a. Is this article written clearly?
b. Is this article of relevance to the journal?
c. Is this an original article? Does it add to currently published literature?
d. Are figures and tables appropriately presented?
3. Consider the following questions for research articles:
a. Is there a clear research question/aim - is this important, relevant or useful?
b. Is the research question addressed by the study design?
c. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the study methodology and results interpretation?
d. Are there any ethical concerns?
e. Are there sufficient and appropriate references? Are there any important omissions?
f. Does the abstract summarise the article accurately?
g. Has a research checklist been included? Is this adequately addressed?
The Editorial team can support with additional queries around the peer review process.
