APBS follows a comprehensive review process managed by strict editorial protocols through a team a competent researchers in subject areas relevant to respective submissions. The editorial processes starting from receiving of article to its publication in APBS are step-wise explained below:

Submission of Article

As a first step, authors intending to submit their research articles register on the Open Journal System (OJS) of APBS on its home page. After successful registration, authors submit their full manuscripts to APBS through their OJS accounts. An e-mail is then forwarded to the corresponding author and ID is assign as acknowledgement.

Desk Review Editor

All submissions land to the Desk Review Editor for initial review. The editorial team examines each submission to assess its;

1. Relevance to the aims and scope of APBS. Any manuscript with focus irrelevant to the scope of APBS will be rejected. See Aims and Scope for details.
2. Structure and formatting. Any manuscript which is not structured and/or formatted on APBS prescribed guidelines will be rejected. See Preparing Your Article for details.
3. Similarity Index (SI) through Turnitin. Any manuscript having SI of more than 19% in total and 5% with single source will be rejected. See Journal's Policies for details.

This stage take two to three days to complete. Upon successful completion of desk review, each manuscript is then forwarded to at least two independent reviewers having relevant subject expertise.

Double Blind Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to APBS undergo various steps of rigorous double-blind peer review process. As the process name says, ownership of manuscripts are kept anonymous for reviewers and likewise, identity of reviewers also remain anonymous to authors in order to ensure unbiased and quality review. It usually takes 4-6 week time for reviewers to submit their feedback on manuscripts. When the feedback from reviewers is not received by this time, manuscripts are forwarded to other experts(s) for the purpose.  

Communication of Feedback

After review of manuscript, reviewers’ comments are landed to the desk of APBS editorial team. The Editor or APBS coordinator communicates reviewers’ observations with the author(s) via e-mail about the recommended revision, acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. For re-submission of manuscript, deadlines (often two weeks) are also shared with the author(s). Once the author re-submits the manuscript, it is re-checked for SI through Turnitin before it is re-evaluated by the editorial team. It takes one week time for the editorial team to make final decision of acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

Communication of Acceptance / Rejection

After the editorial team makes its decision of acceptance or rejection of the manuscript, the same is communicated to the author(s) via e-mail by APBS coordinator. In case the manuscript is accepted by the editorial team, author(s) are given time of usually one week to send consent and statement of ethics to the APBS coordinator for publication of their articles in APBS.

Publication

When the consent and statement of ethics is received by the APBS coordinator, manuscripts after re-formatting (where necessary) are then forwarded for publication section for inclusion of the accepted articles in the upcoming issue. See Publication Schedule for publication timelines.