Peer review and editorial policy

The journal follows the Springer Nature Peer Review Policy, Process and Guidance, Springer Nature Journal Editors' Code of Conduct, and COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer-reviewers.

Approximately 10–15% of the manuscripts are rejected without review based on formal criteria as they do not comply with the submission guidelines. Each manuscript is assigned to two or three peer reviewers. The journal follows a single-blind reviewing procedure. The average period from submission to the first decision is usually at most 20 days. The approximate rejection rate is 25%. The final decision on the acceptance of a manuscript for publication is made by the responsible Editor.

The Editorial Board members usually do not submit manuscripts to the journal. In rare cases, when they do, they do not participate in the decision-making process. The decision is made by one of the senior editors based on peer reviews.

Special issues published in the journal follow the same procedures as all other issues. If not stated otherwise, special issues are prepared by the members of the editorial board without guest editors.