Editorial & Peer Review

The scholarly decision power over content — review, acceptance, rejection and record action — vested in a journal's designated editorial leadership under A3, exercisable personally or by documented delegation.

The person holding ultimate editorial authority and accountability for a journal's scholarly content and editorial standards.

The editor responsible for managing a specific manuscript's assessment — including reviewer selection and recommendation or decision — within a documented delegation of editorial authority.

The body of appointed persons who support a journal's scholarly and ethical objectives under documented roles and terms. Board membership entails continuing responsibility and confers no publication entitlement in the journal.

Persons employed or engaged in a journal's editorial office who participate in the handling of manuscripts or editorial records, whether or not they hold decision authority.

Collectively, the Editor-in-Chief, editors, editorial-board members and editorial staff of a journal — the population covered by B1's same-journal publication prohibition, extended to serving guest editors by B3.

Independent assessment of a manuscript by qualified experts, conducted under the journal's declared model, informing but not replacing the editorial decision.

The journal's declared configuration of peer review — including whether and when author and reviewer identities are concealed or disclosed — which must accurately describe actual practice (B2).

A person who accepts a journal's invitation to assess a manuscript, bound by the conduct obligations of B2 from acceptance of the invitation until all resulting obligations end.

Participation of an additional person in preparing a review. Permitted only with the journal's permission and with transparent attribution of the contribution.

A person appointed under a documented mandate to exercise defined editorial responsibility for a specific collection, under the oversight and ultimate accountability of the journal's permanent editorial leadership, and treated as a serving editor for the purposes of B1 during the appointment.

A defined body of journal content assembled around a theme, event or commission, however titled, subject to the same standards as regular content and to the safeguards of B3.

Any conduct designed to corrupt or predetermine review outcomes, including fabricated or impersonated reviewer identities, compromised accounts, author-controlled reviewer channels, undisclosed reviewer rings, reciprocal schemes and coercive citation.

Publication in a journal of content authored or co-authored by its own serving editorial-team members. Under B1, the required level across the LMI publishing framework is zero during active service.

The reviewer’s confidential scholarly assessment submitted to a journal under its declared peer-review model. Editorial management may remove abusive, defamatory or confidential material but shall not alter the substantive assessment misleadingly.