Reviewer resources

Reviewer guidelines

Guidance for assessing manuscripts and preparing peer-review reports for BIOHORIZONS.

Before accepting

Confirm expertise, time and independence

  • Read the title, abstract, journal and deadline before accepting.
  • Decline or contact the editor if your expertise is not appropriate or the deadline is not realistic.
  • Disclose financial, personal, institutional, collaborative or intellectual conflicts.
  • Do not share the invitation, manuscript or review materials.

During review

Assess the manuscript

  • Evaluate the question, design, methods, data, analysis, reporting, interpretation and relevance.
  • Distinguish essential changes from optional suggestions and explain the evidence behind each major concern.
  • Report suspected ethical, integrity or confidentiality concerns privately to the editor.
  • Do not use confidential material for personal, academic or commercial advantage.

Review questions

Questions to consider

  1. 01

    What research question or contribution does the manuscript address, and is it appropriate for the journal?

  2. 02

    Are the design, data, methods and analysis suitable and described well enough to evaluate?

  3. 03

    Do the results support the interpretation and conclusions without overstatement?

  4. 04

    Are ethics, consent, registration, reporting and data-availability requirements addressed?

  5. 05

    Which issues are essential for validity, clarity or reproducibility, and which are optional improvements?

  6. 06

    Is any concern suitable only for the confidential note to the editor?

Recommendations

Recommendation categories

Accept
The manuscript is suitable for publication without material scientific change.
Minor revision
Limited changes can resolve the remaining issues without redesigning the work.
Major revision
Substantial clarification, analysis or reporting is needed before another decision.
Reject
The central limitations cannot reasonably be resolved in revision or the work is outside scope.

Confidentiality and AI

Do not upload a manuscript to an unauthorized system

External AI tools may retain text or expose protected information. Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, figures, reports or personal data to an AI system unless ISAIS has explicitly authorized that use and the required permissions and safeguards are in place.

Read the AI policy →

Reviewer directory

Become a reviewer

Researchers with relevant expertise may register their interest in reviewing for BIOHORIZONS. Editors select reviewers according to the section and needs of each manuscript.