Reviewer

The Brazilian Journal of Fabaceae – BJOF provides this guide with specific instructions for ad hoc reviewers, outlining the editorial process, ethical responsibilities, and best practices expected during peer review. Full reading of this document is strongly recommended.

1.Reviewer Responsibilities

1.Registration on the BJOF’s website

Authors, editors and reviewers are required to complete their registration on the journal’s official website.

1.2 Registration on the Credit Reviewer

The journal recommends that reviewers register on the Credit Reviewer, a reviewer recognition platform. Link: https://www.reviewercredits.com/reviewer-signup/

1.3Contribution to the Editorial Process

 Peer review is essential to ensure the scientific quality of publications.

Reviewer feedback assists:

  • Editors in making editorial decisions
  • Authors in improving their manuscripts

Reviewers must treat manuscripts with professionalism, respect, and impartiality—always considering how they would like to be evaluated themselves.

If a reviewer feels unqualified to assess the content or cannot complete the review on time, they must notify the editor immediately.

1.4 Confidentiality

Submitted manuscripts are confidential documents. Reviewers must:

  • Not share or disclose the content in any way
  • Not contact the authors directly
  • Request editor approval if involving colleagues in the review

Manuscript content, ideas, and unpublished data must not be used for personal gain or incorporated into the reviewer’s own research without the author's explicit written consent.

2.Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Due to the rise of generative AI and AI-assisted tools, BJOF adopts the following guidelines:

  • The use of AI to analyze or write technical reviews is prohibited.
  • The content of the manuscript and review must be processed exclusively by humans, using critical and ethical judgment.
  • Reviewers may not upload manuscripts or reviews to AI platforms, as this violates the principle of confidentiality.
  • If the reviewer identifies misuse of AI by authors, they must report it to the editor.

 3. Ethical Standards and Conduct

3.1 Ethical Awareness

Reviewers must watch for:

  • Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or scientific misconduct
  • Substantial similarity with previously published works
  • Data manipulation or lack of methodological integrity
  • Any signs of misconduct must be immediately reported to the editor.

 3.2 Objectivity and Impartiality

  • Reviews must be clear, respectful, and objective
  • Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate
  • Suggestions must be supported by technical arguments and, when applicable, references
  • Conflicts of interest must be declared when reviewers have ties to authors, institutions, or funders

4.Citation Recommendations

Suggestions for including citations must:

  • Be scientifically justified
  • Relate directly to the manuscript’s content
  • Not aim to inflate citation counts of the reviewer or their collaborators

Current and relevant citations are encouraged, as long as they are appropriate to the topic and accessible in widely available databases.

5.Deadline for Revisions

The BJOF recommends to its reviewers that the deadline for reviewing the manuscript is 30 days after the section editor's designation.

During the review process, authors are given 15 days to address and incorporate the corrections or suggestions proposed by the reviewers.

Upon completion of the evaluation, the Section Editor issues the final decision—acceptance or rejection—within 10 days.

6.Post-Acceptance Process

6.1 Proofreading

Authors review the final version of the article before publication. Corrections at this stage should be limited to:

  • Spelling
  • Style
  • Formatting

No content changes are accepted during this phase.

6.2Corrections

At the proofreading stage, authors have up to 7 days to submit corrections.

6.3 Final Version

After the corrections have been made, the author submits the final version through the system.

The editorial team has up to 7 days to complete the publication of the article.

6.4 Publication

Once approved and typeset, the article is published in the BJOF and indexed in scientific databases and repositories.

7.Training for Reviewers

The trainings are available via the links below:

  • Registration on the BJOF’s website
  • Registration on the Credit Reviewers
  • BJOF Access
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Process
  • Sending documents during review process
  • Virus precautions
  • Removal of personal data in WORD format files