Review Guidelines
The Full Peer Review consists of two phases:
Independent Review
During the Independent Review phase, the reviewers assess the manuscript independently from each other and from the authors.
Interactive Review
During the Interactive Review phase, authors and reviewers can interact with each other through real-time comments in the discussion forum – with the aim of addressing all concerns about the manuscript. The handling Editor oversees the review process, and, if required, the Editor in Chief can also enter the Review Forum.
The following articles types undergo a full peer review:
Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Systematic Reviews.
Short Peer Review Guidelines
Short peer reviews differ from full peer reviews in two aspects: they are directly forwarded to the Interactive Review Phase and they may be reviewed by the handling Editor alone. It is up to the Editor’s consideration if reviewers are invited to the review process.
Interactive Review, manuscript acceptance and rejection follow the same rules as for full peer reviews.
The following articles types are attributed a shortened peer review:
Editorials and Opinion.
At the discretion of the Editors, the submitted manuscript may be rejected immediately after submission, or after peer review. Manuscripts not complying with international ethical standards will not be considered for publication and will be returned to the authors without scientific peer review.
The review process for manuscripts authored by the Editor-in-Chief and Advisory Editorial Board is made automatically inaccessible to these authors in order to safeguard the anonymity and independence of the review process.
Oncology Reviews operates a single blind peer review process, whereby authors are not aware of the identities or affiliations of the reviewers, but the reviewers are able to view the authors’ identities when they make the decision to proceed with reviewing the manuscript.
Authors wishing to appeal an Editorial decision may do so by listing specific and objective reasons in an email to the Editorial Office (oncologyreviews.editorial.office@frontierspartnerships.org), though it must be pointed out that, due to the careful and conscientious peer-review process, editorial decisions are well supported and rarely amended.
For accepted manuscripts, the handling editor’s and reviewers’ names are published on the final formatted article as an extra mechanism of transparency.