1) Reviewer Responsibilities

• Provide timely, thorough, and constructive evaluations.
• Focus on rigor, reproducibility, clarity, and ethical compliance.
• Maintain confidentiality; do not share manuscripts or use unpublished data.
• Declare conflicts of interest and decline reviews when conflicted.
• Maintain a respectful and professional tone in reports.

2) Ethical Standards

• Do not engage in plagiarism, self-promotion, or coercive citation.
• Report suspected misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, COI issues) to the editor confidentially.
• Respect participant privacy and sensitive data.
• Do not use AI tools that compromise confidentiality; all outputs remain your responsibility.

3) Structure of a Reviewer Report

1. Summary: Concise overview of aims, findings, and contribution.
2. Strengths: Key merits of the study.
3. Major Issues: Methodological flaws, missing data, ethics concerns.
4. Minor Issues: Clarity, formatting, reference updates.
5. Recommendation: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject.

Summary:
[Brief overview of study]

Strengths:
- [Strength 1]
- [Strength 2]

Major Issues:
1. [Issue + explanation]
2. [Issue + explanation]

Minor Issues:
a. [Issue + explanation]
b. [Issue + explanation]

Recommendation:
[Accept / Minor / Major / Reject]

4) Timelines & Expectations

• Acknowledge invitations within 3–5 days.
• Complete reviews within 14–21 days unless otherwise agreed.
• Request extensions promptly if delays are unavoidable.

5) Confidentiality & Conflicts of Interest

• Do not share, cite, or discuss manuscripts under review.
• Delete files after submission of review.
• Disclose COIs: recent collaborations, same institution, financial stakes, personal relationships.
• Decline if COI prevents impartiality.

6) Constructive & Respectful Feedback

Frame critiques as opportunities for improvement. Avoid harsh, dismissive, or sarcastic remarks. Examples:

• Instead of: “This study is useless.”
• Say: “The current sample size limits power; expanding or providing justification will strengthen conclusions.”

7) Ethics & Integrity Checks

• Verify ethics approvals and consent statements where relevant.
• Check data availability, statistical rigor, and figure integrity.
• Report suspicions (plagiarism, image manipulation, misconduct) confidentially to the editor.

8) Sensitive & Dual-Use Research

If a manuscript includes potentially harmful information (e.g., biosecurity risks, dual-use research of concern), flag it to the editor-in-chief for further evaluation. Do not disclose details outside the system.

9) Reviewer Checklists

10) Reviewer Recognition

• Eligible for annual reviewer acknowledgments (with consent).
• Can request review credit on ORCID or services like Publons/Reviewer Recognition.
• Exemplary reviewers may be invited to join the editorial board.