Peer Review

Peer review is a commonly adopted system for evaluating academic papers in academic journals, and it is an essential step in the entire review process. In order to ensure objectivity and fairness, “Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica” follows a single-blind and three-level system for manuscript review. This journal does not charge any manuscript processing fees.

Review Policy

All manuscripts will be initially reviewed by the editorial office. Any papers that fail to meet the journal’s basic standards, such as relevance to the journal’s scope, ethical concerns, academic misconduct, etc., will be rejected. Manuscripts passing the initial review will be forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief, who will evaluate their suitability for publication in terms of scope, originality, and significance. Manuscripts approved by the Editor-in-Chief will be assigned to an associate editor responsible for overseeing the review process, including reassessing the manuscript’s alignment with the journal’s scope, originality, and significance, and sending it for peer review by at least 2 expert reviewers. The editorial office will monitor the progress of manuscript processing, and after collecting at least two review reports, the manuscript will be forwarded to the associate editor for a decision on acceptance. Before seeking the associate editor’s decision, authors must revise the manuscript in accordance with the reviewers’ comments (conducting additional peer review if necessary) and submit a revised manuscript along with a response to the reviewers’ comments. After approval by the associate editor based on the review reports, the manuscript will be forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief for final approval for acceptance. The final decision on whether to publish a submission lies with the Editor-in-Chief.

The editorial office handles manuscripts in accordance with the principles of academic integrity and strictly adheres to the professional ethics of scientific journal editing.

Reviewers

As part of the submission process, we recommend authors provide 3-5 expert reviewers in the relevant field who may be invited to participate in the peer review process. Reviewers should not have prior knowledge of your submission, and they should not be affiliated with the same institution or have close ties to the authors. Reviewers who can reasonably be identified from the content of the paper will be excluded from the pool of potential reviewers. Please note that the editorial team reserves the right to decide whether to use the reviewers recommended by the authors.

Special Issue Notes

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the entire journal’s content, including all special issues (special issue articles fall within the scope of the journal). Special issue articles follow the same three-level system for manuscript review as regular papers and will be clearly labeled as part of a special issue. Ensure that guest editors meet the qualification criteria and receive approval from the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief or full-time committee members must oversee the work of guest editors. Papers submitted to special issues by guest editors must undergo an independent review process and should not exceed 25% of the total content of the special issue.

Review and Revision Timeline

The editorial team generally provides a response to the manuscript within 2 months. Authors can contact the editorial team by phone or email to inquire about the progress of their manuscript. Authors are required to upload the revised manuscript and a response to the reviews to the submission system within 1 month of receiving the manuscript.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in ACTA HYDROBIOLOGICA SINICA are those of the authors and contributors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, the editorial board, or the organization to which the authors are affiliated.