Editorial Process

NHER operates a rigorous double-masked peer-review process. This is an assessment with at least three independent reviewers, followed by the Action Editor's final acceptance/rejection decision. A summary of the editorial process is given in the flowchart below. The following provides notes on each step.

Pre-check

Immediately after submission, this check is initially carried out by the executive editor to assess the following:

• Suitability of the manuscript to the journal/special issue;
• Qualification and background of authors;

Once this is done, the manuscript is sent to an action Editor based on the subject of the manuscript and the availability of the Editors. All manuscripts shall be handled by an action Editor with no potential conflict of interest with authors.

Suppose the action editor finds that the manuscript is insufficient to go through the normal peer review process or that the subject of the manuscript is not within the journal's scope. In that case, the manuscript shall be rejected with no further processing.

Peer-review

At least three review reports are collected for each submitted article. Action editor can make suggestions for reviewers during pre-check.

The following checks are applied to all reviewers:

• That they hold no conflicts of interest with the authors;
• That they hold a PhD;
• They must have recent publications in the field of the submitted paper;

The reviewers will submit their reports on the manuscripts along with their recommendation of one of the following actions to the Action Editor:

• Accept without revision
• Consider after minor revision
• Consider after major revision
• Reject: Manuscript is flawed or not sufficiently novel

Editor Decision

When all reviewers have submitted their reports, the Action Editor can make one of the following editorial recommendations:

• Accept
• Reject
• Ask the author for revision

Reviewers make recommendations, and the Action Editor can disagree with their views. If they do so, they should justify their decision for the benefit of the authors.

If the Action Editor recommends "Accept without revision," the editorial office will double-check the manuscript. Once this is done, the authors will be notified of the manuscript's acceptance.

If the Action Editor recommends rejecting the manuscript, the rejection is immediate.

If the Action Editor recommends "asking the author for revision, it will enter into the "Revision" process.

Revision

In cases revisions are recommended, the authors are notified to prepare and submit a revised version of their manuscript with the required changes suggested by the reviewers. The former reviewers will review the revised manuscript and suggest whether the authors have addressed all their concerns. The Action Editor will check the revised version, author response, and second-round comments and then decide. Once the Action Editor is satisfied with the final manuscript, the manuscript can be accepted.

Publication online

Once a paper is accepted for publication, it will be sent to authors for final proofreading and then be arranged for publication.