Peer Review Process

Editorial Board Assessment
The JNSPS Editorial Board Editorial Board consists of members and some non members of NSPS who are both scientists and experts in their fields of expertise. The Editor-in-Chief, upon submission, will examine your manuscript if it falls within the scope of the journal and then assigns it to an Editor in one of the JNSPS's disciplines. The Editor will evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound  and also screen it for plagiarism via the Turn-it-in. If it is OK scientifically and the turn-it-in similarity index falls lower than 25% , the Editor will process the manuscript further and assign it to reviewers. It is worth noting that the Board may decide to reject manuscripts, and not require further review. They can also decide to reject manuscripts that aren't in compliance with JNSPS standards. Over 40% of submissions are rejected upon initial evaluation.

Independent Peer Review
All submissions are reviewed at least by two experts. Even though an Editor usually needs two independent reviews, a single negative review is sufficient to decide if the Editor agrees with the report. The identity of reviewers remain anonymous and not disclosed unless the reviewers give permission. All submissions will be subject to a blind peer review (Anonymous Reviewer). The Editor evaluates the reviews' opinions and makes a recommendation to the Editorial Board, who makes the final decision. Based on the recommendations,

  • the manuscript may be accepted.
  • the manuscript may be rejected; or
  • the reviewers' reports may be sent to the authors for revision.
  • If the article is found to contain too many errors for the reviewers to comment fully on the content of the article, the authors will be required to make major revisions and then resubmit the paper for reviews.

The decision of the Board is communicated by the Editor to the Author. It is worth mentioning that the acceptance rate is currently 25%.

Submission of Revised Manuscripts
When authors have revised their manuscript in response to the referees' comments, they are asked to add their replies to the comments on the first page of their revised manuscript for onward transmission to the reviewers. The revised version may be returned to the original reviewers who are then asked whether the revisions have been carried out satisfactorily. Depending on the reviewers' comments, the article may be accepted or re-review.

Decision on Manuscript
When a manuscript is out of scope for JNSPS, does not fulfill JNSPS's requirements for novelty and relevance, the turn-it-in similarities index exceeds 25%, or has technical flaws that raise doubts about the results' trustworthiness, editors might reject it. Sometimes, an already reviewed manuscript can still be rejected due to a lack of originality or relevance, or to technical issues discovered during the peer-review.  More other reasons why an article may not be accepted for publication is when a substantial number of potential reviewers decline the invitation to review, for example, it indicates that the paper's aim and audience do not align with JNSPS's. In these circumstances, the editors will return the paper to the authors so that they might submit it to a more appropriate publication outlet.

Appeal 

Within 30 days of the manuscript's rejection, authors can appeal the decision by getting in touch with the editorial office (editorial.office@nsps.org.ng). The appeal must be supported with text modifications and a concise (one-page) explanation of why the manuscript should be reconsidered. Appeal must clarify the importance and the merits of the paper if it was rejected by editors for not meeting the JNSPS's mandate or for not meeting the standards of JNSPS for novelty and importance. The appeal must address technical questions raised by the reviewers. Your appeal should address the acceptance criteria of JNSPS. Take note that, in the event that your submission was rejected at the initial stage, you will require additional information or arguments that go above what the editor was read during the review process. This will enable the editor to determine whether your article deserves to be considered again.

Transfers
Manuscripts not accepted for publication in JNSPS are offered an opportunity to be transferred to African Scientific Reports (ASR) which is another NSPS Publishing journal, for urgent consideration. ASR is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication that publishes research in all fields of science, engineering and engineering. You would need to create a user account at the receiving journal if you agree with the transfer. For further information about ASR, please visit the journal's website. It is worth mentioning that manuscripts must fulfill the acceptance requirements of the ASR and there is no assurance that a transferred manuscript will be accepted by the journal.