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:
- Well designed and executed research.
- Reproducible methods of the research and results.
- Unambiguous and properly analyzed data.
- 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:
- Provide written, unbiased feedback on the scholarly merits and scientific value of the work, together with rationale for your opinion.
- Provide your peer-review as soon as possible within 40 days.
- Indicate whether the writing is clear, concise, and relevant and rate the work’s composition, scientific accuracy, originality, and interest to readers.
- Avoid personal comments or criticism.
- 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:
- 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.
- Determine scientific merit, originality, and scope of the work and suggest ways to improve it.
- 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:
- Ensure that positively reviewed articles meet Journal of Data Science (JDS) standards.
- Protect readers from incorrect or flawed research or studies that cannot be validated by others.
- 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.