What do editors check for before peer review

Abstract

Editors want to publish honest reproducible data without data fabrication/ falsification/ duplication/ salami slice or plagiarism. Submissions need to comply to international guidelines and reporting standards. Thus, editors check submissions before they proceed to peer review. Initial screening consists of checking whether: the submission within the aims and scope of the journal, the cover letter is not for another journal, the manuscript complies with the guide for authors, the level of English is up to the standard expected by the journal and there is no significant overlap with other publications [iThenticate screening]. Some publishers have mechanism in place to check for submission of the same manuscript to other journals at the same time to avoid duplicate publication. Further assessment includes that of authorship, conflict of interest, funding, ethics and consent, clinical trial registration and data sharing. With regard to authorship the role of each individual author needs to be detailed. For case reports, privacy, safety and distress or harm to participants and others involved in patient care needs to be assessed.