Review Process


The Editor-in-Chief and/or an Associate Editor first determines if a submitted manuscript is suitable for review and publication. Manuscripts are then sent for peer review to reviewers who are selected based on their expertise related to the particular manuscript. After reviews are submitted, a recommendation of accept, reject or revise (for further consideration) is made by the Associate Editor to the Editor-in-Chief, who makes the final decision. Manuscripts are reviewed with due respect for the author's confidentiality. At the same time, reviewers also have rights to confidentiality, which are respected by the editors. The editors ensure both the authors and the reviewers that the manuscripts sent for review are privileged communications and are the private property of the author. When submitting a manuscript for consideration for publication, authors may suggest the names of potential reviewers to invite and/or exclude.

Resubmissions

If a manuscript is returned to the author(s) for revisions, all resubmissions must follow the instructions for submitting a manuscript and include the following:
 
  • Both a clean copy and a redlined copy of the revised submission. NOTE: If the redlined copy was created using “track changes” mode in Word, please create a PDF file of the redlined version and upload the PDF file. If you are not able to create a PDF file of your redlined version, please use alternative font colors or highlighting tools in Word to show the redlined changes – not “track changes” mode.
 
  • The corresponding author must also upload a letter (Corresponding Author’s Rebuttal) responding to each of the points made by the reviewers. The deadline for submission of a revised manuscript needing major revisions is two months from the date of the notice. For minor revisions, the deadline for resubmission is one month. There is no guarantee that a revised manuscript will be accepted for publication.

Plagiarism Review

The editorial office carefully monitors papers submitted to JDSM for plagiarism. All submitted manuscripts will be compared to published papers using similarity checking software (iThenticate). Plagiarism includes literal copying - reproducing a work word for word, in whole or in part, without permission and acknowledgment of the original source; paraphrasing - reproducing someone else's ideas while not copying word for word, without permission and acknowledgment of the original source; substantial copying - copying images, or data from other sources; text-recycling - reusing substantial amounts of text from your own previous publications.

Any text contained in a manuscript that is directly copied from another source must be placed within quotation marks and the original source must be properly cited. If a paper captures the essence of a previously published work, that work should be cited. If any paraphrasing is included, the source must be properly referenced and the meaning intended by the source must not be changed. All works that may have inspired a study’s design or manuscript structure must be properly cited.

If plagiarism is detected during any part of the peer-review process, the manuscript may be rejected. For published papers where plagiarism is detected, the journal reserves the right to issue a correction or retract the paper, whichever is deemed appropriate. The journal reserves the right to inform authors' institutions about plagiarism detected either before or after publication.

Click here for information on steps after paper acceptance.