POL’s journals operate double-blind peer review, where in addition to the author not knowing the identity of the reviewer, the reviewer is unaware of the author’s identity.

Explore what’s involved below.

1. Submission

The corresponding or submitting author should submit the paper to the journal online through the journal’s Online Submission System（OSS）https://submit.polscientific.com/user/manuscripts/submission.

2. Editorial Office Evaluation

Immediately after submission, the journal’s Managing Editor will conduct a technical pre-check to evaluate:

• The overall suitability of the manuscript for the journal/Special Issue;
• The manuscript’s adherence to high-quality research and ethical standards;
• Whether the manuscript meets the standards of rigor to qualify for further review；
• Check the similarity of the manuscript with iThenticate

3. The Journal’s Managing Editor Assigns an Assistant Editor (AE)
4. The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) or the Guest Editor (GE) Evaluation

The EiC or the GE evaluates the paper, considering its scope, originality, novelty, and merits. The EiC may reject the paper at this stage.

5. Review Requests and Review Reports

The Assistant editor invites potential reviewers, sending additional invitations as needed until the required number—usually two, though this may vary by journal—have accepted the invitations.

At least two review reports are collected for each submission. The academic editor can suggest reviewers during pre-check. Alternatively, POL editorial staff will invite qualified reviewers from the Editorial Board, our reviewer database, or web-identified experts in the field.

6. Review Report Validity Evaluation by Assistant Editor

The Assistant Editor checks all the returned reviews. In cases where only minor or major revisions are recommended, POL staff will request that the author revise the paper before referring to the academic editor. Where conflicting review reports are present, or where there are one or more recommendations for rejection, feedback from the academic editor is sought before a decision about revisions is communicated to the authors. Additional reviewers or further review reports may be requested by the academic editors at this stage.

7. The Decision is Communicated

The Assistant Editor sends a decision email to the author, including any relevant reviewer comments.

8. The Author(s) Submit(s) the Revised Manuscript

Revised versions of manuscripts may or may not be sent to reviewers, depending on whether the reviewers requested to see the revised version. By default, reviewers who request major revisions or recommend rejection will be sent the revised manuscript. All reviewers can access the most recent version of the manuscript via OSS.

Normally, a maximum of two rounds of major revision per manuscript is provided. If reviewers require additional rounds, POL staff should request a decision from the academic editor.

In the event that the journal’s editorial office is unable to maintain communication with the author during the manuscript review or production process, the journal reserves the right to withdraw the manuscript after a designated period of inactivity.

9. Academic Editor Final Decision

Acceptance decisions on manuscripts can be made by an Academic Editor (the Editor-in-Chief, a Guest Editor, or another suitable Editorial Board member) after peer review once at least two review reports have been received and final comments on the manuscript from the reviewers have been provided. Guest Editors cannot make decisions on their own papers. For such papers, decisions will be sent to a suitable Editorial Board member. When making a decision, we expect the academic editor to check the following:

• The suitability of the selected reviewers;
• The adequacy of reviewer comments and author response;
• The overall scientific quality of the paper.

The Academic Editor can select from the following options: accept in its current form, accept with minor revisions, reject and decline resubmission, reject but encourage resubmission.

Articles can only be accepted for publication by an Academic Editor. Employed POL staff then inform the authors. POL staff never make paper acceptance decisions.

10. Publication

POL’s in-house teams handle production on all manuscripts, including language editing, copy editing, and conversion to XML. Language editing is carried out by professional English editing staff. When extensive editing or formatting is required, we offer authors an English editing service for an additional fee (with the authors’ prior approval). Authors may also use other English editing services, or consult a native English-speaking colleague. The latter is our preferred option.

For more details, please refer to POL Scientific Editorial Process.