Acta Electronica Sinica employs “double blind” reviewing, in which the referees remain anonymous to the author(s) throughout and following the refereeing process, whilst the identity of the author(s) is likewise unknown to the reviewers.
The figure below shows the editorial and peer review process for manuscripts submitted to Acta Electronica Sinica.
Once the author has submitted the manuscript, it goes through the following editorial process.
(1) The manuscript and associated materials are checked for quality and completeness by the Editor in charge who decides whether or not to send the manuscript out to review.
(2) The Editor in charge organizes the peer review process.
(3) Reviewers read the manuscript and submit their reports.
(4) The Editor in charge makes a recommendation on whether the manuscript or a revised version of it could be published in the journal.
(5) The final decision of acceptance will be made by the Associate Editor and will be sent to the author to revise for the last submission.
(6) If the decision is positive, the author will usually be asked to revise the manuscript and resubmit for review.
Process (1): Quality check
The Editor in charge will check that the manuscript and associated materials are complete. Please see our guidelines for manuscript submission to make sure that the authors provide us with all necessary information at this stage.
Process (2)–(3): Peer review
After initial checks are complete, the Editor in charge organizes the manuscript for peer review. The Editor in charge will select and invite researchers with relevant expertise. Reviewer selection is critical to the review process, and we work hard to ensure that the different technical and conceptual aspects of the work are covered. Authors may suggest reviewers; these suggestions are often helpful, although they are not always followed. Reviewers are not identified to the authors.
Process (4)–(5): Editorial decision
When all the reviewer reports are received, the Editor in charge makes a recommendation and decides to either:
> Invite the authors to revise and resubmit their manuscript to address specific concerns.
OR
> Decline publication, typically on grounds of either there being insufficient support for the conclusions or a reassessment of the level of interest or advance in light of the reviewers’ comments.
The Editor in charge sends rejected or revised decisions to the author. The accepted recommendation is sent to an Associate Editor for the final decision.
Process (6): Revise and resubmit
If the authors are invited to revise and resubmit manuscript, they should follow the instructions provided by the editor in charge in the email. Author(s) will be expected to provide:
> A revised version of the manuscript that addresses the issues raised by the editor and peer reviewers
> A response to each of the reviewers, replying to each of the points raised
> A cover letter that provides any additional information requested by the editors.
> Please check our aims and scope to make sure Acta Electronica Sinica is suitable for publishing the work of author(s).
> Please make sure the manuscript is one of the Content Types accepted in our journal.
> Please go through our Publication Ethics.
> Please make sure that the manuscript you upload is anonymous for initial submission.
Authors should submit papers to Acta Electronica Sinica in Microsoft Word .docx format (preferred) or .doc format. To submit, authors should use the Acta Electronica Sinica manuscript template in Word, which will facilitate accurate preparation and processing. Please follow the guidelines in this document when formatting the manuscript.
The body text of the manuscripts includes the following sections.
> Title
> Author Information (only for final submission)
> Funding Information (only for final submission)
> Abstract
> Keywords
> Main Text
> Acknowledgments (if applicable, only for final submission)
> References
> Appendixes (if applicable)
> Conflict of Interest (if applicable)
After the manuscript is accepted, authors need to add the funding Information, author information, and the section of acknowledgments (if applicable) in the manuscript. Author information should include authors’ names, affiliations, photos, and biographies.
Please make sure that all files have unique file names for them to export successfully to Acta Electronica Sinica.
Authors may submit their references in any style. Once your manuscript has been accepted in principle for publication, you will need to reformat the reference in journal’s style.
Authors should submit manuscripts through our online submission system; we will send an email acknowledging the submission. Please do not send complete manuscripts by email. The submitting and/or corresponding authors will be asked to create an account or sign in using their ORCID ID. All authors are strongly encouraged to create accounts in the online submission system prior to submission. If authors do not have an account, the submitting and/or corresponding author will be required to create an account for each author.
The following items are needed for submission.
> Manuscript files (required)
Source files in Microsoft Word .docx format, .doc
A PDF file converted from Word (recommended)
> Signed copyright agreement form and image permission
Download the Copyright Agreement form (required)
Download the Image Permission form (if necessary)
> Names, affiliations, and email addresses of potential reviewers (if necessary)
> A PDF copy of the proceedings paper (if necessary)
If the manuscript is an extended version of a conference paper, a PDF copy is required.
Authors are required to provide a point-by-point reply to the reviewers’ comments as provided in the decision letter from the editor. This reply can be provided in text format or as an attachment. It is important for authors to know that this information is likely to be shared with reviewers if the manuscript is again reviewed. Any sensitive information that the authors do not wish to share with reviewers should instead be included in the cover letter addressed to the editor.
The purpose of the proof is to check for typesetting errors and the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables, and figures. Substantial changes in content, e.g., new results, corrected values, title, and authorship, are not allowed without the approval of the Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor
The article will be published online after receipt of the corrected proofs. This is the official first publication citable with the DOI. After release of the issue version, the paper can also be cited by issue and page numbers.
Authors pay a one-time peer review administration and management charge of RMB 199.00. The peer review charges are for all submitted manuscripts.
Authors pay a one-time Article Processing Charge (APC) to cover the costs of professional production and publication of articles based on the length of an article in PDF, and dissemination of published papers in various venues, in addition to other publishing functions. The price is RMB 500.00 per page for the first 7 pages and RMB 1000.00 per page for the parts over 7 pages. The APC is payable when the manuscript is editorially accepted and before publication and is charged to either the authors or the funder, institution, or employer of authors.
Authors who wish to submit an appeal or request reconsideration of a final decision by an editor must submit the appeal in writing to the editor in charge. All requests should be submitted by the corresponding author(s) with a courtesy copy (required) to all authors. All authors listed on the manuscript must be in agreement on the request for appeal/reconsideration before it will be considered by the editors. The request should be addressed to the Associate Editor or Editor-in-Chief. The request should outline, in detail, why the authors are requesting the decision be reconsidered and include any additional information in support of their request.
Authors who wish to withdraw their manuscript from consideration should send an email to the editor in charge and include the manuscript ID, the name of the corresponding author(s), and the name of the assigned Associate Editor. All authors listed on the manuscript must be in agreement on the request for withdrawal before it will be considered by the editors. While not required, authors are encouraged to include a reason for the withdrawal request. The email should be sent from the corresponding author and must include a courtesy copy to all co-authors on the email request.
