Article Selection Process

The Macrothink Institute has developed a manuscript-selection system called the Star System for Journal Quality.

Step 1: Basic Check

The editor or editorial assistant checks a received manuscript to determine whether it fits the journal’s aim and scope. Manuscripts out of the journal’s scope are rejected. Articles published fully or partly in other publications/websites are not reviewed or accepted.

Step 2: Similarity Check

Please be aware that we check all submitted manuscripts for plagiarism. We use CrossCheck (powered by iThenticate, the leading plagiarism-detection system) to check for similarity to previously published documents. All manuscripts containing plagiarism, including self- plagiarism, and dishonesty are rejected.

Upon receipt of paper submission, the Editor sends an E-mail of confirmation to the corresponding author within 1-3 working days. If you fail to receive this confirmation, your submission/e-mail may be missed. Please contact the Editor in time for that.

Step 3: Peer Review

We use a double-blind system for peer review; both reviewers’ and authors' identities remain anonymous. The submitted manuscript will be reviewed by at least two experts: one editorial staff member as well as one to three external reviewers.

The review process may take four to ten weeks. In some rare cases, according to the recommendations from editors and reviewers, a second round of peer review may be initiated. 

Step 4: Acceptance/Rejection Decision

The decision to accept an article is based on the average score given by reviewers. The reviewers grade a submitted manuscript on a scale of 1 to 5. To be accepted for publication, the manuscript must obtain an average score not less than 2.5 (some journals require a higher score). However, we may reject a manuscript with a score higher than 2.5 when an editor or reviewer thinks it is not suitable for publication. 

Step 5: Pay and Published

Once the editorial board accepts the revised version, the author must pay the article processing charge and send the payment receipt to the editorial assistant for confirmation. The editorial assistant will then prepare the layout version and ensure your paper is published online within two weeks.

Journal Publishing Workflow

Please see the workflow for the article publication: