Editorial Process

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Pubnursing Sciences (JPS) will be processed for possible publication on the condition that the manuscript is submitted exclusively to JPS, has not been published elsewhere, is not currently under consideration by another journal, and has not been accepted for publication elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract, as part of published lecture materials, academic theses, or archived in institutional repositories or the author’s personal website, in accordance with archiving policies).

Editorial Review Stage

Once a manuscript is received, the Editor conducts an initial assessment to determine whether the manuscript merits further review. Manuscripts that lack originality, fail to present new ideas, have significant scientific or technical flaws, show indications of plagiarism, or are irrelevant to JPS readers will be rejected before entering the formal peer review process. Additionally, manuscripts deemed unlikely to interest JPS readers may also be rejected at this stage. The editorial review process typically takes 1–7 days.

Peer Review Stage

Manuscripts that pass the editorial review will be forwarded to one or more members of the Editorial Board, who will recommend appropriate expert reviewers. If recommendations are unavailable, the Editor-in-Chief will appoint reviewers directly. The peer review process at JPS follows a double-blind review system, ensuring that both authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other. At least two independent reviewers are involved in this process. The peer review typically takes 2–6 weeks. However, for editorials and letters to the editor, decisions are made during the editorial review stage without requiring formal peer review.

Editorial Decision Stage

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for making the final decision based on input from reviewers and the Editorial Board. Board members provide initial recommendations, but the final decision is made through discussion with the Editor-in-Chief. Authors will receive the decision as acceptance, rejection, or a request for revisions. If revisions are required, authors are asked to address the reviewers' comments and submit a revised version. This process is repeated until the manuscript meets publication standards.

Manuscript Editing Stage

Accepted manuscripts undergo editing to ensure proper grammar, punctuation, writing style, and formatting. The corresponding author will receive page proofs in Word format during this stage. Editors may request clarifications, verifications, or adjustments to reference formatting. Authors are expected to return the revised proofs within 3–7 days. Corrections received after this period may not be incorporated.

Proofreading and Layout Editing Stage

After editing is complete, the manuscript will be reviewed by proofreaders to ensure the layout adheres to the journal’s format. Final proofs in PDF format will be sent to the authors for verification. At this stage, only minor corrections such as typographical, grammatical, punctuation, or formatting errors are allowed. Authors must return the final proofs within 5 days.

Online Publication and Accepted Articles

To expedite the dissemination of research, JPS publishes articles in the Accepted Article format immediately after proofreading is completed. These articles represent the official peer-reviewed versions but do not yet have page numbers or registered DOIs. The final version of the article will be published in the regular journal issue.

The only differences between an Accepted Article and the final version are the addition of page numbers and the activation of the DOI. The DOI and layout format remain consistent across both versions. This approach ensures that research findings are promptly accessible to readers.