Publication Decision

The Executive Editor has the final authority for the acceptance or rejection of any article. However, should any problems arise during the review process; the matter shall be referred to the WRO Executive Editorial Committee for further actions.

Submission and Editing

The International Editorial Committee of the WRO journals is proposing this policy to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to the WRO journals. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references are developed to ensure high standards of articles and publications. The committee has also broadened its concerns to include ethical principles related to publication in WRO journals. The entire WRO Standard Requirements document shall be revised annually and all sections will be revisited in order to maintain high quality standards of publications.

The WRO International Editorial Board created the WRO Standard Requirements, primarily to help authors and editors in their mutual task of creating and distributing accurate, clear and easily accessible reports of WRO studies. The initial sections address the ethical principles related to the process of evaluating, improving, and publishing manuscripts in WRO journals and the relationships between editors and authors, peer reviewers, and the media. The latter sections address the more technical aspects of preparing and submitting manuscripts. The WRO International Editorial Board believes that the entire document is relevant to the concerns of both authors and editors.

The WRO Standard Requirements can provide many other stakeholders such as governments, peer reviewers, publishers, the media, academics and general readers with useful insights into the WRO authoring and editing process.

The WRO Standard Requirements state the ethical principles in conducting and reporting of research and provide recommendations relating to specific elements of editing and writing. These recommendations are based largely on the shared experience of a moderate number of editors and authors, collected over many years, rather than on the results of methodical, planned investigation that aspires to be evidence-based. Wherever possible, recommendations are accompanied by a rationale that justifies them; as such, the document serves an educational purpose. Authors will find it helpful as described in the explanations, doing so improves the quality and clarity of reporting in manuscripts.

The Role of the Editor

The editor of a journal is the person responsible for its entire content. WRO Executive Council and editors of journals have a common endeavour, the publication of a reliable and readable journal, produced with due respect for the stated aims of the journal and for costs. The functions of WRO Executive Council and editors, however, are different. WRO Executive Council has the right to appoint and dismiss editors and to make important business decisions in which editors should be involved to the fullest extent possible. Editors must have full authority for determining the editorial content of the journal. This concept of editorial freedom should be resolutely defended by editors even to the extent of their placing their positions at stake. To secure this freedom in practice, the editor should have direct access to the highest level of ownership, not only to a delegated manager.

Editors of WRO journals have contracts that clearly state the editor’s rights and duties in addition to the general terms of the appointment and that define mechanisms for resolving conflict. An independent editorial advisory board is appointed to the editor establish and maintain editorial policy.

Peer Review

Unbiased, independent, critical assessment is an intrinsic part of all scholarly work, including the scientific process. Peer review is the critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts who are not part of the editorial staff. Peer review can therefore be viewed as an important extension of the scientific process. Although its actual value has been little studied, and is widely debated, peer review helps editors decide which manuscripts are suitable for their journals, and helps authors and editors in their efforts to improve the quality of reporting. A peer-reviewed journal is one that submits most of its published research articles for outside review. The number and kind of manuscripts sent for review, the number of reviewers, the reviewing procedures, and the use made of the reviewers’ opinions may vary. In the interests of transparency, WRO maintains to, publicly disclose its policies and its instructions to authors.

Conflict of Interest

Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how well conflict of interest is handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision making. Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author’s institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions (such relationships are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). These relationships vary from those with negligible potential to those with great potential to influence judgment, and not all relationships represent true conflict of interest. The potential for conflict of interest can exist whether or not an individual believes that the relationship affects his or her scientific judgment. Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.

All participants in the peer review and publication process are requested to disclose all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. Disclosure of these relationships is also important in connection with editorials and review articles, because it can be more difficult to detect bias in these types of publications than in reports of original research. Editors may use information disclosed in conflict of interest and financial interest statements as a basis for editorial decisions. Editors should publish this information if they believe it is important in judging the manuscript.