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Peer reviewer guidelines

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The IJFAE scholarly publishing workflow

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How to peer review for the IJFAE

The International Journal for First Aid Education (IJFAE) is an online, open access, peer reviewed scholarly and professional journal.

Peer review should:

Provide high-level, constructive feedback on the overall content of the submission.
Be generous and considerate.
Aim to improve the work so that the author is publishing the highest-quality version that they can reach, with support from peers.

Peer review should NOT:

Be unkind, overly critical, or disparaging.
Include copy editing, proofreading, or layout editing (these come later in the publishing process).

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How to read a paper for effective peer review (suggested approach):

Skim-read the article – get a high level understanding of what it’s about (~10 minutes)
Remind yourself what you’re looking for (these are prompts to help you):
Is the research original and interesting? Does it contribute to the body of literature on this topic?
Is the manuscript written in an understandable way? Is it well structured and clear?
Are the methods used appropriate for the research question? Are they described in sufficient detail for the study to be replicated?
Are the results presented in a clear and accurate way? Are they complete?
Do the results support the author’s conclusions?
Do you have any questions about the study?

3. Comprehensively read the article – read it thoroughly, making any notes or comments within the manuscript (~1-2 hours)

4. Order your comments for the author: go back through the article to ensure you have no further questions (~30 mins)

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What information/feedback must I provide?

You must declare any conflict or competing interest with the paper’s topic and/or the authors.
You are asked to comment on the quality of the manuscript. You should consider its originality, appropriateness of research methods used, thoroughness of reporting results, writing quality, clarity and style, and the quality of references.
You are asked to indicate your confidence in the results. Comment on the analysis and identify any challenges you have with the way the results are presented.
Having read the paper, you will be asked what questions you have for the authors about the study. For example, you could ask about any information you think is missing, or for them to provide more detail or clarity. �

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What else?

5. You will be asked to add any further comments that could help the author to improve their manuscript.

6. You then have the opportunity to provide any confidential remarks for the Editors to consider (these will NOT be made available to the authors). These may include:

Ethical concerns
Concerns regarding any disclosed conflict of interest
Concerns about plagiarism or publication ethics�
Finally, you are asked whether you recommend that this article proceeds towards publication. You will have these options:
Yes - this article is fit for publication
Yes - but revisions are needed
No - this article is not of sufficient quality for publication in the IJFAE

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Further reading and peer review training

We encourage all peer reviewers to refresh their knowledge and skills for peer review. These resources could be helpful:

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That’s it! But please…

When writing your review, please take a moment to put yourself in the place of the authors and consider:

If you received this review, would you find it constructive?
Would you find the tone courteous and professional?

If you recommend a revision, please give clear and constructive advice that helps the author to make the changes necessary. Ambiguous comments tend to create uncertainty and result in multiple rounds of revisions.

Thank you for taking the time to review this paper. �

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