Peer Review Process
International Journal of Pharma Studies · Scholar Unity, New Delhi
Structured and Impartial Peer Review
International Journal of Pharma Studies
The International Journal of Pharma Studies follows a structured and impartial peer-review process to evaluate the scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, and scholarly contribution of submitted manuscripts.
The peer-review process is intended to ensure that manuscripts published by the International Journal of Pharma Studies meet appropriate standards of scientific rigor, research integrity, reproducibility, clarity, and relevance to pharmaceutical sciences and related fields.
On This Page
1. Initial Editorial Screening
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening before being considered for external peer review. During this stage, the editorial team may assess the manuscript for:
✓ Alignment with the journal's aims and scope
✓ Basic academic, scientific, and technical requirements
✓ Originality and contribution to pharmaceutical sciences
✓ Compliance with manuscript preparation requirements
✓ Research, publication, and pharmaceutical ethics
✓ Appropriate reporting of experimental methods, analytical results, and scientific findings
✓ Potential plagiarism or significant textual similarity
✓ Relevant ethical approvals, informed consent, and clinical trial registration where applicable
Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic requirements may be returned to the authors for correction or declined before external peer review.
2. Similarity & Originality Check
Manuscripts may be checked for textual similarity using appropriate similarity-detection tools as part of the editorial screening process.
Similarity results are evaluated in context and are not treated as an automatic indication of plagiarism. The editorial team may consider the nature, location, extent, and source of matching text when determining whether further action is required.
Where substantial or inappropriate similarity is identified, the manuscript may be returned to the authors for revision, clarification, or appropriate citation, or may be rejected depending on the nature and severity of the issue.
Authors must ensure that pharmaceutical data, experimental results, analytical findings, scientific images, and reported observations are presented accurately and are not fabricated, falsified, or misleadingly manipulated.
3. Double-Blind Peer Review
The International Journal of Pharma Studies follows a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another during the review process, to the extent practicable.
Authors should prepare manuscripts for double-blind review in accordance with the journal's manuscript preparation requirements and remove identifying information where required.
Manuscripts should contain sufficient scientific and methodological detail for reviewers to assess the validity, reproducibility, and significance of the reported pharmaceutical research.
4. Selection of Reviewers
Manuscripts that proceed beyond the initial editorial screening are assigned to qualified and independent reviewers with relevant academic, scientific, or professional expertise in pharmaceutical sciences and associated fields.
Depending on the subject matter, reviewers may have expertise in pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical analysis, drug discovery, clinical pharmacy, pharmacovigilance, pharmaceutical biotechnology, or related disciplines.
The journal normally seeks evaluation from two or more independent reviewers, depending on the nature of the manuscript and the requirements of the editorial process.
Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and scientifically appropriate assessments of the manuscript.
5. Review Criteria
Reviewers may evaluate manuscripts with consideration of the following factors:
✓ Originality, novelty, and scientific significance
✓ Research design, methodology, and overall scientific rigor
✓ Clarity and organization of the manuscript
✓ Quality, reliability, and appropriateness of experimental data and analysis
✓ Validity and reproducibility of the reported findings, where applicable
✓ Appropriateness of statistical methods and interpretation of results
✓ Adequacy and relevance of the scientific literature and citations
✓ Compliance with applicable pharmaceutical, clinical, and research ethics requirements
✓ Appropriate reporting of limitations, uncertainties, and potential sources of bias
✓ Overall contribution and relevance to pharmaceutical sciences and healthcare
Depending on the manuscript type, reviewers may also examine formulation characteristics, analytical method validation, drug safety information, experimental controls, clinical study design, statistical analysis, and the interpretation of pharmacological or therapeutic findings.
The specific criteria may vary according to the article type, research methodology, and subject matter.
6. Reviewer Recommendations
Following evaluation, reviewers provide comments and recommendations to assist the editor in reaching a publication decision. Possible recommendations include:
Accept
The manuscript is considered suitable for publication without substantial changes.
Minor Revision
The manuscript requires limited revisions before a final decision can be made.
Major Revision
The manuscript requires substantial revision and may require further evaluation.
Reject
The manuscript does not meet the journal's requirements for publication.
Reviewer recommendations are advisory. The final publication decision is made by the editorial team based on the overall assessment of the manuscript and the available peer-review reports.
7. Revision by Authors
When revisions are requested, authors are expected to address the reviewers' comments carefully and provide a clear response to the issues raised. Authors may be required to submit:
A revised version of the manuscript
A point-by-point response to reviewer comments
An explanation of the changes made in response to the reviews
Additional methodological details, analyses, or supporting data where reasonably required
For pharmaceutical and experimental studies, reviewers may request clarification concerning experimental procedures, analytical methods, statistical analyses, data interpretation, scientific figures, or research limitations.
Where appropriate, revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers for further evaluation.
8. Editorial Decision
The editorial decision is based on the manuscript's scientific quality, originality, research methodology, ethical compliance, reviewer evaluations, and overall suitability for publication in the International Journal of Pharma Studies.
The editor may consider reviewer recommendations but retains independent editorial judgment and may reach a decision that differs from a particular reviewer recommendation where appropriate.
A manuscript may be declined if substantial scientific, methodological, ethical, or reporting concerns remain unresolved.
9. Final Acceptance & Publication
Once a manuscript has successfully completed the peer-review and editorial process and has been formally accepted, it proceeds to the journal's publication and production procedures.
Where applicable, information regarding the Article Processing Charge (APC), copyright and licensing, formatting, production, DOI assignment, and publication procedures is communicated to the authors in accordance with the relevant journal policies.
Payment of an Article Processing Charge does not influence the peer-review decision and does not guarantee acceptance, publication, indexing, or citation.
10. Confidentiality & Editorial Independence
Manuscripts submitted to the International Journal of Pharma Studies and the contents of peer-review reports are treated as confidential within the editorial and peer-review process, subject to applicable policies and legal or ethical requirements.
Reviewers should not disclose unpublished manuscript content, use confidential research information for personal advantage, or share submitted materials with unauthorized individuals.
Editorial and peer-review decisions are intended to be based on scientific merit and scholarly considerations. Commercial considerations, including Article Processing Charges, should not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.
11. Estimated Review Timeline
The duration of peer review may vary depending on the pharmaceutical subject area, reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, methodological requirements, revision needs, and other factors affecting the editorial process.
The International Journal of Pharma Studies does not guarantee a specific peer-review or publication timeline. Authors may be contacted when additional information, clarification, supporting documentation, or revisions are required.
12. Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts are original, scientifically accurate, properly referenced, ethically conducted where applicable, and prepared in accordance with the journal's submission and publication requirements.
Authors must report research methods and findings transparently, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and provide applicable ethical approvals, consent statements, clinical trial registration details, and supporting declarations where required.
By submitting a manuscript to the International Journal of Pharma Studies, authors acknowledge that the manuscript may undergo editorial screening, similarity checking, peer review, revision, and final editorial evaluation before a publication decision is made.