Purpose

This guidelines is to specify matters concerning the review and publication of submitted articles.

Guide for review

This guideline specifies matters regarding the format and content of the manuscript required in the review process, and each sub-element is as follows.

• 1. Review of format
  • - Does the title properly represent the content of the manuscript?
  • - Is the abstract in English concise and summarize?
  • - Is the research purpose clear and logical?
  • ­ Is the research methods valid and reliable?
  • - In the case of clinical trials, were the patient's ethical guidelines followed?
  • - Are the results presented clearly and systematically?
  • - Are the tables and figures appropriate?
  • - Are the quantity and citation of references appropriate?
• 2. Review of contents
  • - Is it original?
  • - Is the point clear?
  • - Is the research method and the results relevant?
  • ­ Is the result credible?
  • - Has the review been logically described?

Preliminary review

• 1. The editorial board should check the submitted articles for adherence to the submission guidelines and, if necessary, re-submit them to the author within 1 week.
• 2. The editorial board must review plagiarism of submitted manuscripts before requesting a peer review. If the submitted article is not worthy of peer review, it can be notified at this stage.
• 3. The editorial board must request a peer review within a weeks after completing the preliminary review.

Request for review

• 1. The editorial board selects reviewers from the list of nominated reviewers for articles that have passed the preliminary review. If more appropriate reviewer are available, they may be appointed outside the list of reviewer.
• 2. As a general rule, all submitted articles shall be reviewed by two experts in the field concerned. However, if an editorial board has requested the article, this can be omitted.
• 3. If the selected reviewer decline the review or does not reply within the deadline, the editorial board must immediately assign another reviewer.
• 4. The reviewer assigned to the review of the submitted article shall be kept anonymous. (Double-blind review)

Review and revision

• 1. The reviewers must complete the first review within two weeks after accepting the review.
  (It must be completed within 1 week from the second review.)
• 2. If the selected reviewers refuse to review or fail to reply within 2 weeks, the editorial board may replace the reviewers.
• 3. When all reviews are finished, the editorial board sends the results of the review to the author. The editorial committee may add the opinions of the review results.
• 4. The authors should revise and submit the revised article that contains the “Author Response” to the editorial board according to the comments of the reviewer within 4 weeks after the completion of the first review. After the second review, it should be submitted within 2 weeks.

Notification of review results

The results of the review are divided into 4 types as follows.

• 1. Accept: It is judged that the article may be published in its current state. However, the editorial committee may request a minor revision in accordance with the journal publication format.
• 2. Minor Revision: It is judged that the article is insufficient to be published in its current state and requires minor revisions. Manuscripts modified by the author to match the review opinions are permitted.
• 3.Major Revision: It is judged that the article is unsuitable to be published in its current state and requires major revisions. The revised manuscript is re-examined to determine whether it can be published. If a satisfactory revision is not made, the reviewer may decide that the article cannot be published.
• 4. Reject: It is judged that inappropriate for publication, the reviewer decide that the article rejected. However, if the review results of the first two reviewers are extremely divided, a third reviewer may be appointed for further review.

Publication decision

The final manuscript shall be published only after the editorial board makes a ruling on publication.

Publication rejection

In the following cases, articles cannot be published.

• 1. If it is judged that the article cannot be published based on the review results. However, if the author has objected to the decision that their manuscript reject, the editorial board shall deliberate on the contents of the objection.
• 2. If the editorial board has requested that the authors revise or supplement the article, but they have not submitted a revised manuscript within a perioid without justifiable reasons

Review Fee

The editorial board shall pay reviewers a limited, one-time review fee.

Others

Any matters not specified in these regulations shall be processed by the editor-in-chief and shall be reported to the editorial board.