Reviewer Instructions


Reviewer information

The review process at JBC is well known to be rigorous and thorough, yet fair and collegial. We rely on our reviewers’ careful assessments to be sure that papers published at JBC will stand the test of time, and we are grateful for the commitment to the scientific community represented by each and every review we receive.

We ask that reviewers open manuscript review requests immediately to ensure the manuscript falls within their areas of expertise and to determine if they have a potential conflict of interest that would preclude their involvement. We ask reviewers to please submit their reviews within two weeks for Articles and Minireviews and five days for Accelerated Communications.

Contents:

Navigating the submission system

There are two ways to gain access to the system. First, if you know your login name and password, you may log into the system from the home page, which will take you to your personalized home page. This page displays your individual reviewer statistics, such as the number of reviews you’ve completed and the mean turnaround time, allows you to revisit comments you’ve provided on past manuscripts as well as check the status of those papers, and includes a link to “Modify Unavailability Dates” where you can enter dates during which you should not be assigned new manuscripts (i.e., when you have vacations, grant review panels, etc.). If you have been asked to review any manuscripts, you will see one or more links with a red arrow on your desktop under the "Reviewer Tasks" header. Click on the manuscript tracking number to access a manuscript record to view your available options.

If there are no red arrow () visible on the home page, then you have no pending requests or assignments.

Alternatively, if you have received an email request to review, you may use the link in the email to go directly to the “Details” page for the manuscript; here you will use the tabs at the top of the screen to navigate between the basic manuscript information, the associated “Files,” and the “Tasks,” including entering your review.

Review manuscript

Once you are logged into the system, click on a manuscript link preceded by a red arrow to view the “Details” for the manuscript as described above. At the top right in this screen, under "Manuscript Workflow Tasks," you will see a red arrow next to a "Review Manuscript" link. Clicking on this link will display further instructions and a link to the review form; please be sure to familiarize yourself with our journal policies outlined in the Instructions for Authors if you are new to JBC’s review process.

Getting help

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context-sensitive help.

You may also contact the journal staff at any time if you need additional help by clicking the "Send Manuscript Correspondence" link on the “Tasks” tab, under the "More Manuscript Info and Tools" header.

Please press HOME to return to the home page.