Field editor's role

As a field editor, you play a key role in the evaluation process. Drawing on your expertise, you must filter numerous submissions, selecting only the strongest for further consideration and sparing reviewers unnecessary work. The selection criteria must be extremely stringent as the inflow of new submissions is rapidly increasing. This is the preliminary evaluation, so check whether the submission fits the aims and scope of the journal, and assess its quality and impact. Time is of the essence, so please send us your answer within a week. If your obligations prevent you from completing the task immediately, please recommend another field editor.

If, in your opinion, the submission is suitable for further evaluation, please suggest 3–5 potential reviewers. When suggesting another field editor and reviewers, bear in mind that they must not be from the same countries or institutions as the authors. Check whether they have had any recent collaboration to avoid bias and conflicts of interest. Also, do not suggest multiple reviewers from the same laboratory, institution or country. Do not suggest the authors of the submitted manuscript as reviewers (this has happened before).

When evaluating the manuscript, check the iThenticate report, which is available in the Comet system under Submission info.