An international journal dedicated to the investigation and innovative use of materials in construction and repair
Peer Review Policy for the journal Construction and Building Materials
The practice of peer review is to ensure that good science is published. It is an objective process at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out on all reputable scientific journals. Our referees therefore play a vital role in maintaining the high standards of Construction and Building Materials and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.
Special issues and/or conference proceedings may have different peer review procedures involving, for example, Guest Editors, conference organisers or scientific committees. Authors contributing to these projects may receive full details of the peer review process on request from the editorial office.
Initial manuscript evaluation The Editor first evaluates all manuscripts. It is rare, but it is entirely feasible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Those rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, make only a very limited contribution to knowledge, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to at least two experts for review in most cases.
Type of Peer Review This journal employs single blind review, where the referee remains anonymous throughout the process.
How the referee is selected Referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise. Our database is constantly being updated. We welcome (and indeed, encourage) suggestions for referees from the author though these recommendations may or may not be used.
Referee reports Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript: • Is original • Is methodologically sound • Follows appropriate ethical guidelines • Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions • Correctly references previous relevant work
Referees are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer review process.
How long does the review process take? Typically the manuscript will be reviewed within 4-6 months. Should the referees' reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed a further expert opinion will be sought. Revised manuscripts are usually returned to the initial referees within two weeks. The journal does not usually consider more than one revision of a manuscript before a final editorial decision is made.
Final report A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees, and may include verbatim comments by the referees.
Editor's Decision is final Referees advise the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.
Becoming a Referee for Construction and Building Materials If you are not currently a referee for Construction and Building Materials but would like to be added to the list of referees for this title, please contact the editorial office at m.forde@ed.ac.uk. The benefits of refereeing for Construction and Building Materials include the opportunity to see and evaluate the latest work in your research area at an early stage. You may also be able to cite your work for Construction and Building Materials as part of your professional development requirements for various Professional Societies and Organisations.
