The journal applies single-anonymized peer review through the following process: initial editorial screening, further assessment by the Editorial Office Director, external peer review, and a final review by the Editor-in-Chief. Details are provided below.
1. Review Principles
1) At least 2 to 4 experts are invited to review each manuscript.
2) Reviewers must be from institutions other than those of the authors and must not have close academic ties to them, such as a supervisor–student relationship or training under the same supervisor, a history of collaboration, or any other conflict of interest.
3) Review is single-anonymized: reviewers' identities are not disclosed to authors.
4) Interdisciplinary manuscripts are reviewed by experts from the relevant disciplines.
5) Authors may recommend suitable reviewers or identify reviewers and institutions they wish to exclude.
6) Submissions from Editorial Board members, editors, and reviewers are subject to the same principles and procedures as all other submissions. Their review is conducted independently of the submitting Board member, editor, or reviewer.
2. Review Procedure
1) Editors screen manuscripts for potential plagiarism using Wanfang Data's manuscript similarity checking system and CNKI's Academic Misconduct Literature Check (AMLC) system. They also assess whether the topic, originality, practical relevance, layout, reference style, and quality of writing meet the journal's basic requirements, and provide an initial assessment comment.
2) The Editorial Office Director undertakes a further assessment and determines whether the manuscript should be returned for revision, sent for external peer review, or rejected.
3) Manuscripts that pass this assessment are normally sent by the handling editor to two or more independent experts in the relevant field. These reviewers evaluate the manuscript's scientific quality and provide their reports.
4) Authors must revise their manuscripts carefully and provide a response and explanation for every reviewer comment. The revised manuscript and response to reviewers must be submitted through the submission system within 15 days, together with the Copyright Transfer Agreement, graphical abstract, and any other required materials. Authors who cannot meet this deadline due to exceptional circumstances must promptly contact the Editorial Office; otherwise, the manuscript will be rejected. Email: fxcsxb@fenxi.com.cn; Tel: +86-20-87684776.
5) The Editor-in-Chief makes the final acceptance decision on manuscripts that have passed peer review and been revised.
3. Reviewer Selection Criteria
1) Reviewers are identified through the journal's regularly updated reviewer database, the references cited in the manuscript, and major scholarly literature search platforms.
2) Reviewers are selected using the manuscript's subject terms or principal keywords to ensure a close match with their research expertise.
3) Reviewers' scholarly expertise is assessed primarily on the basis of their publications in leading Chinese and international journals and their academic influence.
4) Reviewer reliability is also considered, including the care taken in reviewing manuscripts and the timely return of reports.
5) Particular attention is paid to whether potential reviewers have sufficient time and capacity to review. In view of academic working conditions in China, experts who hold administrative positions at Chinese institutions are invited less frequently.
6) Among suitably qualified candidates, preference is given to early-career researchers.
4. Review Recommendations
1) Reviewers may make one of five recommendations: accept; accept subject to revision; revise and resubmit for further review; reject; or reject with an invitation to revise and resubmit. Manuscripts rejected at the final review stage are generally not eligible for resubmission.
2) The journal welcomes scholarly debate where authors disagree with reviewer comments. The Editorial Office assesses the objectivity and fairness of reviews to ensure that judgments of scholarly quality are not influenced by religion, political views, gender, geographical location, or similar factors.
5. Special Issues
1) The Editorial Office selects special issue themes within the journal's scope, ensures that all articles published in special issues fall within that scope, and clearly identifies them as special issue content.
2) Special issue articles follow the same review principles and procedures as regular articles, and the Editor-in-Chief makes the final acceptance decisions. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for all journal content, including every special issue.
3) The Editorial Office verifies the qualifications of guest editors and obtains the Editor-in-Chief's approval.
4) The editorial work of guest editors shall be supervised by the Editor-in-Chief or designated Editorial Board members.
5) Manuscripts submitted by guest editors to their own special issue must undergo independent review. Such articles must account for no more than 25% of the articles in the special issue.
6. Author Appeals
Authors who disagree with the review outcomes may appeal to the Editorial Office. Appeals must provide detailed explanations and responses to reviewer comments and be emailed to fxcsxb@fenxi.com.cn. The Editorial Office will consider appeals as promptly as possible and communicate the outcome to the authors.
7. Handling Academic Misconduct
The journal strictly prohibits academic misconduct, including, but not limited to, plagiarism, data fabrication, and simultaneous submission to multiple journals. If misconduct is identified before formal publication, whether during peer review or another stage, the Editorial Office will immediately stop processing the manuscript and reject it. If misconduct comes to light after publication, the article will be retracted, and relevant databases in China and abroad will be asked to remove it to stop further dissemination. Where necessary, authors will be required to compensate the Editorial Office for related losses, and the journal will not accept further submissions from those authors for five years.
8. Corrections and Retractions
If an inadvertent scientific error is identified after publication and does not materially affect the results or conclusions, the Editorial Office will promptly publish a correction notice detailing the changes to the original article.
If a published article is found to contain serious scientific errors or is suspected of misconduct such as plagiarism or fabrication, the Editorial Office will investigate promptly. If the concerns are substantiated, the article will be retracted, and relevant databases in China and abroad will be asked to remove it to stop further dissemination.
