How will my manuscript be processed?

All manuscripts are received by the EiC who assigns each to one of the Editors. The assigned Editor is charged with overseeing the review process, communicating to the author(s) the reviewers comments, deciding what revisions (if any) must be made to the manuscript, and deciding if the manuscript is acceptable for publication in the Journal of Nematology. See Procedures and Instructions for Editors for complete details.

Review of Manuscripts

All manuscripts submitted to JON are reviewed by at least two peer reviewers and an Editor. Authors are encouraged to submit a list of up to six potential peer reviewers to assist the Editors. Suggested reviewers should not have a conflict of interest (such as being a recent or current collaborator, advisor/advisee, or member of the same institution) with any of the authors. They also may request that certain individuals not review a manuscript. This review process assures readers of the highest professional quality of articles published and ensures that all articles satisfy the following questions:

1. Is the information new and significant? Is the work original?
2. Were the experiments well planned? Were adequate experimental techniques used?
3. Were the experiments repeated in time or space and is there demonstration of reproducibility?
4. Is the discussion relevant, and are the conclusions justified by the data?
5. Is the writing clear, concise and appropriately organized? Are there sections that should be expanded, condensed, or deleted?
6. Are all the tables and figures of high quality and properly labeled? Do they materially aid the text? They should not be too complex, repetitive of the text or contain extraneous material.
7. Is the form and style of the manuscript proper for the Journal? In particular, are the literature citations presented correctly and all cited in the text?

Reviewers are given 2 to 3 weeks to review manuscripts before returning them to the assigned Editor along with their recommendations. The assigned Editor marks up the Editor's copy of the manuscript for revision by the author, and returns all documentation and instructions to the author. Authors have 4 months to make revisions and return manuscripts to the assigned Editor. A manuscript returned after 4 months will be considered as a new submission.

Manuscripts accepted for publication by the assigned Editor are then forwarded to the EiC, who coordinates final manuscript preparation with authors, the technical editor and the printer.

Page Proofs

Proofs (including figure proofs) are sent to the corresponding author along with the manuscript and the JON Page Charge/Copyright Form (.pdf). It is the responsibility of authors to carefully read the proofs and to return them promptly to the Technical Editor (return via mail within 48 hours of receipt). Authors should answer all questions from the printer and technical editor, which will be found marked in the margins of the proofs or manuscripts.

Although great care is taken by Editors, the Technical Editor, and the typesetter to avoid errors, mistakes do occur in page proofs. The authors are entirely responsible for the final proofing of the page proofs to ensure their correctness and to ensure correct spelling of names and information given in citations and for citing the references, tables, and figures in the proper places in the text. The accuracy of all facts, dates, statistics, and position of all parts of mathematical formula also are the responsibility of authors.

Authors are charged for each alteration made on page proofs that are not the result of a printer error. Author alterations to the page proofs will be added to the page charges after publication.

REVISED November 2006 – D. McK. Bird