Peer Review and Publication Process

J-MASS publishes articles “continuously”; that is, articles are published online and in IEEE Xplore as soon as they are available (peer-reviewed and copy edited). On our website, they are subsequently collated into archival “issues” (about 4-6 issues per year currently) and “volumes” (one per year).

Submitted manuscripts are subject to a rigorous peer-review process. We aim for a standard review time of less than 2 months. The review process is designed to help authors to improve their manuscripts by giving them constructive comments on how to improve their paper, and to publish only those articles which comply with general quality criteria of a scholarly paper, especially originality, clarity, references to related work and validity of results and conclusions.

When we receive a manuscript, the Administrator will first decide whether the manuscript meets the formal criteria specified in the J-MASS template and, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, whether it fits within the scope of the journal. When in doubt, the Editor-in-Chief will consult other members of the Editorial Board. Manuscripts are then assigned to an Associate Editor, who sends each paper to external experts for anonymous peer review. Authors are required to suggest at least 2 peer-reviewer (who does not have a conflict of interest) during the submission process.