Peer Review Policy

Nepal Medical Journal (NMJ) is a double-blind peer review academic, scientific journal. All manuscripts submitted for publication should be original. Manuscripts published or under consideration for publication elsewhere should not be submitted and will not be considered. Submission of a manuscript implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal management system are reviewed by the editors within two weeks at least.

Manuscripts are reviewed by editors and then are forwarded to two reviewers who are specialized. If the manuscripts do not meet the above-mentioned criteria, it is rejected by the editors.

These reviewers state their decision whether they take the submitted manuscript into the review or not to the editorial board within two weeks at least. If the reviewers don’t state an opinion to the editorial board, new reviewers are assigned the reviewing the manuscript.

The assigned reviewers review the study by using the journal review form. Moreover, the assigned reviewers may also present their views and thoughts in the full paper and send it to the editorial board.  The review process may take up to 6 weeks for the first decision.

Reviewer’s decision serves as a guide to the editors to make the final decisions. The final decision always belongs to editors.

Reviewers can state the following four decisions for the submitted manuscript:

Accept Submission: The submission will be accepted without revisions.
Revisions Required: The submission will be accepted after minor changes have been made according to the reviewer’s comment.
Resubmit for Review: The submission needs to be re-worked, but with significant changes, it may be accepted. It will require a second round of review, however.
Resubmit elsewhere: When the submission does not meet the focus and scope of NMJ.
Decline Submission: The submission will not be published in the journal.

Based on the reviewer’s decisions third or fourth reviewers can be assigned. In such a case, the same process of review will be performed.

After reviews are completed, reviewer’s comments/views are examined for at least two weeks by editors. Editors make the final decision for the manuscript by taking into consideration reviewer’s decisions and suggestions. The final decision is sent to the author.