Instructions for Peer-reviewers

 

The Journal of Data Science (JDS) relies on the time and expertise of volunteer peer-reviewers to maintain its high editorial standards. We look to peer-reviewers to help JDS ensure the following in a submitted paper:

  1. Well designed and executed research.
  2. Reproducible methods of the research and results.
  3. Unambiguous and properly analyzed data.
  4. Data supported by conclusions.

Peer-reviewers also have important responsibilities to authors, editors, and readers. Please consider them carefully as a peer-reviewer.

Peer-reviewer responsibilities to authors include the following:

  1. Provide written, unbiased feedback on the scholarly merits and scientific value of the work, together with rationale for your opinion.
  2. Provide your peer-review as soon as possible within 40 days.
  3. Indicate whether the writing is clear, concise, and relevant and rate the work’s composition, scientific accuracy, originality, and interest to readers.
  4. Avoid personal comments or criticism.
  5. Maintain the confidentiality of the peer-review process by not sharing, discussing with third parties, or disclosing information from the reviewed paper without permission from the editorial office.

Peer-reviewer responsibilities to editors include the following:

  1. Alert the editor to any potential personal or financial conflict of interest (see Ethical policy, Conflicts of interest) you may have and decline to review when a possibility of a conflict exists.
  2. Determine scientific merit, originality, and scope of the work and suggest ways to improve it.
  3. Note any ethical concerns, such as substantial similarity between the reviewed manuscript and any published paper or any manuscript concurrently submitted elsewhere.

Peer-reviewer responsibilities to readers include the following:

  1. Ensure that positively reviewed articles meet Journal of Data Science (JDS) standards.
  2. Protect readers from incorrect or flawed research or studies that cannot be validated by others.
  3. Be alert to any failure to cite relevant work by other scientists.

The administrative aspects of the peer-review process for contributed articles are handled by the Journal of Data Science (JDS) Editorial Board.