Peer Review Policy
Standards and ethical expectations that govern the JBRES review process.
Review Model
JBRES uses double-blind peer review for all submitted manuscripts. All reviewing is conducted by independent subject-matter experts with no conflicts of interest with the authors or institutions involved.
Reviewer Selection
Reviewers are selected based on expertise, publication record, and absence of conflicts of interest. We maintain a global reviewer database and use CrossRef and ORCID to verify reviewer credentials. Authors may suggest reviewers (or request exclusions) in their cover letter — these requests are considered but not guaranteed.
Confidentiality
All manuscripts under review are strictly confidential. Reviewers must not:
- Share the manuscript with any third party
- Use ideas or data from the manuscript in their own work before publication
- Disclose that they reviewed the manuscript
- Contact the authors directly during review
Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must declare and immediately step down from any manuscript where they have a conflict of interest, including: current or recent collaboration with any author, employment at the same institution as any author, financial interest in the outcome, or personal relationship with any author.
AI in Peer Review
Reviewers may use AI tools to assist with grammar checking or language editing of their own review text, but may not use AI to generate the substantive content of a review. Reviews must represent the reviewer's own independent scientific judgment.
Review Integrity
JBRES takes review fraud seriously. This includes falsely accepting review invitations, submitting fabricated reviews, or colluding with authors. Evidence of review fraud will result in the removal of the reviewer from our database and may be reported to their institution.