Review Process

Manuscripts will not be considered if they have been published either in print or electronically and should also not be in consideration anywhere else. The journal expects that authors would authorize one of them to correspond with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript. All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged. On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws or lack of a significant message are rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the Blue Economy readers are also liable to be rejected at this stage itself.

Manuscripts that are found suitable for publication in the Blue Economy are sent to two or more expert reviewers. During submission, the contributor is requested to provide names of three to five qualified reviewers who have had experience in the subject of the submitted manuscript, this is mandatory for the authors, and at the same time it is not obligatory for the editorial board to choose these reviewers. The reviewers should not be affiliated with the same institutes as the contributor(s). However, the selection of these reviewers is at the sole discretion of the editor. The journal follows a double-blind review process, wherein the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other’s identities. Every manuscript is also assigned to a member of the editorial team, who based on the comments from the reviewers takes a final decision on the manuscript. The comments and suggestions (acceptance/rejection/amendments in manuscript) received from reviewers are conveyed to the corresponding author. If required, the author is requested to provide a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated till reviewers and editors are satisfied with the manuscript.

Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author. The corresponding author is expected to return the corrected proofs within two days. It may not be possible to incorporate corrections received after that period. The whole process of submission of the manuscript to the final decision and sending and receiving proofs is completed online.