The journal follows a manuscript review process consisting of initial review by the Editorial Office, preliminary review by the Field Editor-in-Chief, peer review by experts, and final review by the Editor-in-Chief. The detailed process of handling manuscripts is as follows:
1. Manuscript Review Process
1) Receipt of Manuscripts: Upon receipt of a manuscript, the editorial office registers and assigns a number to the manuscript, sends an acknowledgment of receipt to the authors with the manuscript number, and allocates the manuscript to the appropriate editor based on its subject or specialty.
2) Initial Review by the Editorial Office (Completed within 1 week): The initial review is conducted by the managing editor of the Editorial Office, focusing on novelty and originality, as well as evaluating whether the manuscript meets the basic requirements in terms of topic and writing quality. Manuscripts that meet the content requirements but do not yet meet the quality standards for peer review will receive initial feedback from the Editorial Office. These manuscripts must be revised to meet the peer review requirements before proceeding to the preliminary review by the Field Editor-in-Chief. Manuscripts rejected during the initial review will receive a clear explanation of the rejection reasons.
3) Preliminary Review by the Field Editor-in-Chief (Completed within 1 week): Manuscripts passing the initial review are then assigned to a Field Editor-in-Chief for preliminary review based on its field of expertise. This review focuses on the originality and relevance to the field of the manuscript. The Editorial Board includes ten Field Editors-in-Chief, all representing internationally influential young and middle-aged scholars. If a Field Editor-in-Chief fails to complete the review within the specified time, the manuscript will be moved to the next stage by the managing editor.
4) Peer Review by Experts (Completed within 2-4 weeks): After preliminary review by the Field Editor-in-Chief, the manuscript enters the peer review process. The journal employs a double-blind peer review system to ensure objectivity and fairness. The editor will invite at least two experts (who are not from the same institution as the author) to review the manuscript. These experts will provide a comprehensive evaluation of originality, academic quality, and rigor for the manuscript. If revisions are required, authors should carefully revise the manuscript according to the reviewer comments, and submit the revised manuscript with a response to the comments. Then, the manuscript will be under a second review. If there is disagreement between reviewers, the editor may either reject the manuscript based on specific comments and journal guidelines or request a third review from either a new expert or one of the original reviewers. If both reviewers recommend rejection, the manuscript will be directly rejected.
5) Final Review by the Editor-in-Chief (Completed within 1-2 weeks): The Editor-in-Chief regularly reviews manuscripts, primarily considering the comments from reviewers and the revisions by authors to make the final decision on acceptance. If the revisions are found to be insufficient, the manuscript will be returned for further revision; if additional expert review is needed, the manuscript will be sent for another round of review.
The entire review process (including initial review, preliminary review, peer review, and final review) generally takes about 2 months and will not exceed 3 months. If the author has not received any feedback from the Editorial Office of Industrial Engineering Journal within 6 months, they may proceed to handle the manuscript elsewhere after submitting a statement to the Editorial Office.
2. Review Results
1) Revise and Publish: Both reviewers agree that the manuscript should be published after revisions.
2) Revise and Resubmit: Significant or critical revisions require a second review determined by the editor based on reviewer comments and journal guidelines. Manuscripts that do not meet the requirements after revision may be rejected.
3) Reject: The editor makes the decision to reject the manuscript based on the reviewer comments and the journal guidelines. Authors may appeal the decision if they disagree with the review comments.
3. Notices
1) Authors have the right to withdraw their manuscript at any stage of the review process. They may inquire about or expedite the review process if the agreed time period is exceeded, but simultaneous submission to other journals is not permitted within the agreed time period. Manuscripts submitted to this journal that are found to be simultaneously submitted to other journals within the agreed period will lead to a refusal of submissions from the authors for 5 years.
2) For manuscripts requiring “revision” at any stage, please highlight the changes made in the revised manuscript and address each review comment individually. Revised manuscripts should generally be returned as soon as possible, ideally within 1 month. If authors are unable to revise and resubmit the manuscript within the specified time, an explanation must be provided to the Editorial Office. Failure to revise and provide an explanation within the specified time may result in the manuscript being rejected by the Editorial Office.
