Steps in the Review Process

1. All manuscripts submitted to B_RAS.LL should be registered by the assistant editors and then sent to the Editor-In-Chief or Deputy Editor-In-Chief, who distribute the manuscripts among the editorial board members knowledgeable of the subject.

Each member of the editorial board has a right to write the first review or to suggest an external reviewer / reviewers – experts in the field.

3. As soon as the Editor-In-Chief officially appoints the reviewer, the assistant editors contact the reviewer and forward the manuscript accompanied by a cover letter to him/her. It’s up to the reviewer whether he/she would receive a hard copy of the manuscript or its electronic version (an email attachment).

4. After the reviewers (the referees) have received a paper from the editor, they are required to provide individual critiques within a month.

5. The reviewers give feedback using either free form or closely following the guidelines suggested by the editorial board. The review should be printed out and signed by the referee and sent to the Editor-In-Chief or Deputy Editor-In-Chief. Also, the electronic version of the review should be emailed to the editors.

6. The editorial board discusses the review and pronounces one of the following decisions:

• accept without change or with minor revision;
• assign additional reviews;
• request for revisions and resubmission (revisions should be made by the author according to the suggestions, objections, and comments of the reviewers);
• reject the manuscript and inform the author of the reasons.

7. The authors of the submitted manuscripts are kept informed of the referees’ feedback. The assistant editor sends the unsigned versions of all the reviews to the contributor (via mail or by e-mail) with a cover letter. The marked-up text of the manuscript might be attached as well.

8. All reviews are either single-blind or double-blind, meaning that the identities of the reviewers are not disclosed to the authors.

9. The review can be ordered by the author from the assistant editors in print form or via e-mail. The authors are required to acknowledge in writing, or by e-mail, the receipt of the reviews and of the editorial board’s decision. By acknowledging the arrival of the review, the author is considered to acknowledge the fact that he/she made himself/herself familiar with its content.

10. If the author is willing to revise the manuscript, the editor usually agrees to reconsider the paper in its revised version and to send it to the referees. The review process goes on. It is recommended that in the new cover letter the author lists his/her revisions and explains the relevance of each change. After the revised version of the manuscript is received by the editors, the new date of submission is registered.

11. When the referee and the editors request minor revisions, the manuscript can be accepted for publication, providing that the author agrees to collaborate during the editing process.

12. If the author is unwilling to revise his work and submits a rebuttal letter, the editorial board has the right to decide whether the materials are to be published in B_RAS.LL or rejected.