Editorial Process

1. Submission

All manuscripts must be submitted via our online submission & editorial system. The manuscript will receive a tracking number (Ms. ID.) following a submission.

2. Pre-Check

All submitted manuscripts will be pre-checked by editorial team (Editor-in-chief, internal editors and Editorial Board members). They will evaluate the manuscript based on the quality, novelty, and adherence to guidelines for preparation of articles, the journal’s scope, and publishing policy & ethics. Articles that do not comply with the standard will be sent back to the authors.

The editorial team can decide to continue with the peer-review process, reject a manuscript, or request revisions before peer-review.

Manuscripts submitted by Editorial Board members will be managed by alternative members of the Board.

3. Peer-review

IJWS adopts double-anonymized peer review. Once a manuscript passes the pre-check, it will be removed the author names and affiliations and assigned to at least two reviewers for peer-review. Editors will check to make sure reviewers do not have a conflict of interest with the authors. The selected reviewers anonymously evaluate the article and make publication recommendations to the editors. In cases where the two reviewers do not agree, the article is sent to a third reviewer for opinion.  For more information, see our Peer Review policy.

4. Author Revision

In cases Minor / Major revisions are recommended, the author is usually requested to revise the paper. All reviewer comments should be responded point-by-point. Where the authors disagree with a reviewer, they must provide a clear response or rebuttal.

Articles may or may not be sent to reviewers after minor revision, which depends on whether the reviewer requested to see the revised version or not. The revised manuscript after major revision will be sent back to reviewers again.

Normally (In general) we will allow no more than two rounds of major revision each manuscript. Any further revision needed will follow the decision of the editorial board.

5. Final Decision

Normaly, the opinion of the reviewers will govern the decision to publish. But the final decision will be made by editors (editor-in chief or editorial board members designated by editor-in chief) after peer review, including the following results: Accept in current form, accept with minor revisions, reject.

6. Author Appeals

IJWS adheres to COPE guidelines regarding appeals to editorial decisions and complaints. The appeal must provide a detailed justification, including point-by-point responses to the reviewers' and/or Editor's comments.

The editor in charge of the article will forward the manuscript and related information (including the identities of the reviewers) to the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, or another relevant Editorial Board member for consultation. The consulted editor will then be asked to provide an advisory recommendation on the manuscript, which may include recommending acceptance, inviting a resubmission, sending it to another reviewer for further peer-review, or upholding the original rejection decision. The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision. A rejection decision at this stage is final and cannot be reversed. For more information, see our Appeals and Complaints policy.

7. Production

IJWS carries out production on all accepted manuscripts, including copy editing, language editing, layout design,  and conversion to PDF/XML.  We recommend authors whose first language is not English undertake English editing before publication, and provide a certificate of language-editing to the editorial office.

The submitted, revised, accepted and published dates will be shown in the PDF and XML/HTML files of the published articles, a DOI number will also be assigned for each published article. The submitted date is the date on which the editors received the original (or if previously rejected, the resubmitted) manuscript. The revised date is the date on which the editors received the final revision of manuscript. The accepted date is when the editor sends the acceptance letter. The published date is the earliest date that the final version-of-record is made available on the publisher's website.

8. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

• Post-Publication Survey: We welcome every scholar who has published an article in IJWS to use survey questionnaire to provide suggestions for help optimizing our current shortcomings, enhancing communication with scholars, and improving the author experience.
• Letter to the Editor: We welcome readers to submit ‘letters to the editors’ to IJWS, providing a platform for constructive feedback, criticism, and discussion on published articles. The Editor-in-Chief will review these letters, and those approved along with important comments will be published of the journal, ensuring valuable insights are shared with the broader readership.
• Contact the Journal: In addition to the above methods, you can also provide feedback and complaints directly through the contact page of the journal.

When our team members receive feedback, we further communicate with the relevant parties to seek verification. If an issue is identified, our editorial staff follows COPE's procedures for handling it, seeking resolution advice from the Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board members. The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision. Necessary measures and policy improvements are made based on the specific circumstances. We prioritize achieving the most beneficial outcomes for the scientific community over the quickest results. IJWS strives to provide a better experience for every scholar and continuously optimize our current processes and technical facilities.

9. Publishing Standards and Report Guidelines

Submission of a manuscript to IJWS implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content and that the manuscript conforms to the journal’s policies.

See more details about our journal’s guidelines and standards.

10. Ethical Standards

IJWS follows COPE’s procedures for dealing with potentially unethical behavior by authors, reviewers or editors. IJWS editorial staff are trained in how to detect and respond to potential ethical problems.

For more information, see our Publishing Ethics policy.

11. Editorial Independence

Editorial independence dictates that decision to accept or reject a manuscript is based on the scientific merit of the article but not to any other relations for example pressure from the publisher to the journal editor. This means that Editor is independent in his/her decision and will not be under pressure of any influential body or organization.

 

Updated on September 4, 2025