Reviewers Guidelines
The majority of the articles reviewed will be related to the reviewers areas of interest but occasionally referees are asked to act as a 'general reader'.
The online review form should be completed and general recommendations given as directed. You may find it easier to type your review in your usual Word processing program and copy/paste into the online form.
Additional comments/suggested changes made directly to the article are also welcomed and can be uploaded as attachments at the bottom of the online review page.
Comments to the Editors on the suitability of the paper for publication in the Journal should be given in the space provided. Please give as much detail as possible for your opinion as these may differ from that of the other reviewers. Areas to consider when reviewing the paper are (not exclusively):
- Importance of the subject
- Originality of approach
- Soundness of the scholarship displayed
- Level of interest and pertinence for the journal's readership
- Quality of article structure
- Depth and strength of the argument
- Clarity of expression
In addition, feedback for the author should be supplied for all papers. Comments to authors should be constructive and designed to help the author to produce a better article, even if it is already good. In addition to content, please consider presentation, analysis of data, effectiveness of tables and figures, appropriateness of discussion, references, and areas where the paper might be shortened. Such comments may assist in revision or, where the defects are irremediable, simply show where they are going wrong. Unnecessarily negative language should be avoided. Please note that the editors reserve the right to edit your comments before forwarding them to the author.
Reviewers should not recommend acceptance or rejection of a paper simply because the article does, or does not, accord with their personal views or theoretical preferences. An article should be judged in the context of its own aims, whilst forming a judgement about whether those aims are justified and clearly articulated.
If an author is asked to make considerable changes to their article it may go out for second review in which case we prefer to return these articles to the same reviewers. You may therefore be asked to perform a second review within a few weeks.
Reviewer Instructions
Review Process
The manuscript submission and peer review process is broken down into the following 6 steps:
- The Author submits a manuscript.
- The Editors decide if the manuscript will be sent to review.
- The Editors assign Reviewers to the manuscript.
- The Reviewers review the manuscript.
- The Editors makes a decision based on the reviews.
- The Editors draft and send the decision letter to the Author.
Navigating the System
When you first log into the system, you will be taken to your "Home" page. It will have different catagories of tasks. If you are required to perform a pending action item, there will be a red arrow 
next to a manuscript link. After clicking on this link, you will be presented with a "Manuscript" screen containing:
- Detailed Information about a specific manuscript.
- Links to the manuscript and associated figures/images.
- A list of "Manuscript Tasks" or links allowing you to:
- Accept/Decline Reviewer Position
- Check Status
- Review Manuscript
If there are no red arrows visible on the "Home" page, then you are finished. There is no pending work you need to worry about.
Review Manuscript
After logging into the system and clicking on a manuscript link preceded by a red arrow, you will be presented with a "Manuscript" screen as described above. At the bottom of this screen under "Manuscript Tasks" will be displayed a "Review Manuscript" link. Clicking on this link will display the "Review Manuscript" screen.
If you prefer to work offline, you may find it quickest to download and print the PDF file, draft your review remarks using your favorite word processor and cut/paste it back into the reviewer remarks text area on this screen.
Getting Help
If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs 
spread throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context-senstive help.
Manuscript Status
You can get the status of the manuscript(s) you review by:
- Logging into the system with your user name and password.
- Clicking on the link represented by the manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.
- Clicking on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.
Please press HOME to continue.
Reviewer Availability
We understand that, for a variety of reasons, reviewers are unable to take on additional responsibilities or tasks, such as reviewing journal articles. Your profile on UDI's manuscript portal allows you to indicate dates where you are not available, without needing to provide any additional detail or explanation: please do try to remember to use this facility on our portal, as this will mean UDI's Editorial team won't send you review requests in the time periods you have indicated you are not available.
