Table 3.

Reviewers' responsibilities to editors

• Respond to the editors promptly if unable or unavailable to review a manuscript

• Recommend names of other experts as potential reviewers if unavailable

• Determine the scientific merit of the submission, with recommendations for acceptance or rejection

• Identify possibilities to improve the manuscript to the authors

• Point out potential ethical concerns about research methodologies or similarities with other papers or ongoing research

• Acknowledge personal or author conflicts of interest and inform the editor of these

Adapted with permission from Jordan K, Pederick R. Guidelines for reviewers [cited 2009 Jul 18]. Available from: http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/journal/reviewgd.htm.³⁰