Reviewer Responsibilities

- confidentiality. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents, and must be neither shown to others nor used for personal advantage;

- objectivity. Reviewers are to conduct their reviews as objectively as possible, refraining from engaging in personal criticism of the author(s); to express their views clearly, explaining and justifying all recommendations made; to provide detailed and constructive feedback to assist the author(s) in improving their work;

- promptness. Reviewers who have accepted manuscript assignments are normally expected to submit their reviews within the terms determined be the editorial board. They should remove themselves from the assignment if it becomes apparent to them at any stage that they do not possess the required expertise to perform the review, or that they may have a potential conflict of interest in performing the review;

- manuscript assessment. Reviewers should call to the responsible editor’s attention any major resemblances between a manuscript under consideration and other published articles or papers of which they are aware, as well as any concerns they might have in relation to the ethical acceptability of the research reported in the manuscript. Reviewers should also identify in their reviews relevant published work that has not been cited by the author(s), together with any instances in which proper attribution of sources has not been provided.