Peer Review Schedules

Special Issue Schedule: When a special issue (SI) is expected to appear in a particular issue of the publication, it is important to follow a schedule to ensure the content is ready in time. Below are the schedule guidelines for authors, reviewers, and guest editors (GEs) as they consider contributing to or organizing an SI. In general, SIs allow 5 months to complete the peer review process. Do not accelerate or extend this schedule without the concurrence of the editor-in-chief (EIC) and staff.

• One Year Ahead of Cover Date: The call for papers (CFP) is posted online (if applicable).
• Week 0 (Submission Deadline): Manuscript submissions are due, and the ScholarOne checklist is completed.
• Week 1: GEs invite and assign at least three reviewers (or reject prior to review, if appropriate). The length of this process can vary due to reviewer availability.
• Weeks 4-8: Reviewers submit reviews. (Reviewer assignments are typically 3-4 weeks.)
• Week 9: GEs submit recommendations to the EIC.
• Week 10: The EIC makes decisions, triggering decision emails to authors. For submissions needing revision, authors are given a deadline for completing major or minor revisions—generally 2 to 4 weeks—depending on the schedule and the extent of revisions required.
• Weeks 10-13: Authors work on revising their articles. Please pay special attention to the revision deadline, as it may not be possible to extend it (please see the Expired Revisions section below).
• Weeks 13-15: Authors submit revised articles. Major revisions are sent back to original reviewers for a second round of reviews (generally a 2-week turnaround) to ensure that original concerns are addressed.
• Week 17: Reviewers submit reviews of revised articles.
• Week 18: GEs determine which articles to include in the SI before making final recommendations to the EIC.
• Week 19: The EIC makes final decisions and sends decision letters to authors.
• Week 20: Authors upload final files to ScholarOne per instructions provided in the final decision letter.

Regular Paper Schedule: For regular magazine and journal submissions, the following is a general timeline for the peer review process. Note that this may vary due to the time required to secure qualified reviewers and obtain their completed comments on the article.

• The EIC has 1 week to assign an editor.
• Editors have 1 week to invite reviewers—at least three reviewers must be assigned. (This can vary due to reviewer availability.)
• Reviewers are given 3-6 weeks to review the submission. (Note that this can vary due to reviewer delays.)
• Editors are given 2 weeks to submit a recommendation once the required number of reviews are in.
• Depending upon the publication, authors typically have 4-12 weeks to submit their major revisions and 1-4 weeks to submit their minor revisions. If the author does not submit the revised version on time, the manuscript is withdrawn and rendered inactive (please see the Expired Revisions section below).
• Assessments of the major or minor revision can take 2-4 weeks, as they may depend upon the original reviewer’s availability to review the authors’ response and changes.
• Editors generally submit the recommendation within 2 weeks of receiving the minor revision or receipt of reviewers’ comments on a major revision.
• The EIC has 1 week to make a decision once the editor’s recommendation has been submitted.

A Note about Expired Revisions: Should the revision option expire, authors wishing to submit a revised version should contact the peer review administrator. A publication’s editor-in-chief may agree to extend the revision window. However, in order to maintain efficient peer review and publication timelines, revision options may not be extended and such papers must be submitted as a new paper with a new log number and set of dates (for historical reference, the new paper can be linked to the withdrawn version’s manuscript record).