A reliable peer review workflow is essential for academic journals to maintain scientific standards. SciMatic brings manuscript submission, automated evaluation, and external review together in a unified environment. This guide outlines how a manuscript moves through the SciMatic editorial pipeline, from the moment an author submits their work to the final publication decision.
1. Manuscript Submission by the Author
Authors begin by accessing the submission portal for their chosen journal on SciMatic. The submission process requires several key components:
- Manuscript metadata: Title, abstract, discipline categories, and relevant keywords.
- Author details: Institutional affiliations, contact information, and co-author verification.
- Files: Main manuscript files along with any supplementary data or tables.
- Declarations: Conflict of interest disclosures, funding details, and ethics approvals where required.
If the target journal requires a submission or processing fee, the platform handles the transaction using the author's internal credit balance (SCI balance) or USDT before the manuscript enters the active queue.
2. Editorial Screening and the AI Review Process
Once submitted, the paper appears in the journal's editorial dashboard. The managing editor conducts a desk check to ensure the topic matches the journal's scope and that the submission conforms to basic formatting guidelines.
SciMatic incorporates an integrated AI Review Process that editors can run during this initial phase. This automated check examines the manuscript for structural completeness, internal citation consistency, and technical readability. Rather than replacing human judgment, this analysis acts as an early screening tool. It highlights missing sections, formatting irregularities, or weak references, allowing editors to return manuscripts to authors for technical corrections before committing peer review resources.
3. Inviting and Assigning Reviewers
After the manuscript clears preliminary checks, the handling editor assigns qualified reviewers. Editors can select reviewers from their journal's established pool or invite new experts using their research profile and academic email.
Prospective reviewers receive a formal invitation detailing the abstract, manuscript topic, and deadline for response. SciMatic tracks the status of each invitation in real time. If a reviewer declines or does not respond within the allocated timeframe, the editor can issue an invitation to an alternate reviewer without interrupting the wider workflow.
4. Completing the Evaluation
Reviewers who accept the assignment access the manuscript through their reviewer dashboard. The interface presents the anonymized or identified manuscript files (depending on the journal's review model) alongside evaluation fields established by the journal.
Reviewers complete two distinct feedback sections:
- Comments to the author: Constructive observations, queries on methodology, and requests for clarification or additional data.
- Confidential comments to the editor: Private remarks regarding the scientific rigor, priority, and original contribution of the work.
To conclude the review, the reviewer selects a formal recommendation: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject. The completed report is then logged in the editor's workspace.
5. Revisions and Resubmission
Once the required number of review reports are submitted, the editor reviews the feedback and communicates a decision to the author. If revisions are required, the author receives an alert containing the editors' instructions and the reviewers' anonymized reports.
The author then works through the necessary updates. In their SciMatic dashboard, the author uploads the revised manuscript and submits a point-by-point response letter detailing how each reviewer comment was addressed. The updated files remain linked to the original submission history, allowing the editor and original reviewers to compare the drafts directly.
6. Final Decision and Production
Depending on the extent of the revisions, the editor may send the updated draft back to the original reviewers for a second round or evaluate the changes independently. When satisfied, the handling editor records the final decision:
- Acceptance: The manuscript advances to copyediting, typesetting, and formal publication in the SciMatic journal repository.
- Rejection: The editorial process concludes, and the author receives the final notification along with the remaining review notes. The author retains full ownership of their files for submission elsewhere.
By standardizing each stage within a single platform, SciMatic ensures that authors, editors, and reviewers can follow the progress of a submission transparently from first draft to final decision.
