Plant Root

ISSN 1881-6754

Review Process

All manuscripts are peer-reviewed following the procedure outlined below.

Initial manuscript evaluation:
After receipt of the manuscript, an appropriate Editor, a so-called Subject Editor, will be assigned by the Editor-in-Chief based on the manuscript contents. The author will receive an acknowledgment of receipt of the manuscript and a manuscript reference number by e-mail soon after the Subject Editor receives the manuscript via e-mail (electronic submission system). The Subject Editor evaluates all manuscripts first and rejects the manuscripts that are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the Journal. Authors of manuscripts that are rejected at this stage will be informed within two (2) weeks of receipt.

Peer review process:
Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to at least two (2) experts for review. Two reviewers are matched to the paper according to their expertise. We welcome suggestions for up to five potential reviewers (with name, address, and e-mail address) from the author, but these recommendations might or might not be used. The reviewers will make a scientific assessment and recommendation to the Editors based on following review criteria. Reviewers are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer review process.

Review criteria
* Originality and significance
* Profitable and appropriate topic to readers of the Journal
* Methodological correctness
* Accuracy of statistical application in experiments and results
* Results are clearly presented and support the conclusions
* Correctly referenced previous relevant works
* Follows the Instructions for Authors”

Typically, the manuscript will be reviewed and returned to the Editor within two weeks. In case of a disagreement, the Editor might ask a third reviewer to assess the manuscript for another week.

Final decision:
The Subject Editor will make a final decision on the manuscript, generally within a month after its receipt. It will be either accepted, accepted with revision, or rejected. A final decision will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the reviewers, which might include verbatim comments by the reviewers.

Revision of manuscript:
Revised manuscripts must be returned to the Plant Root editorial board (Editor2007@plantroot.org) within 60 days. A revised manuscript received after this period will be considered as a new submission. For provisionally accepted articles, authors are asked to revise and submit them within two (2) weeks.