Peer Review Process

Peer Review Process

The Journal of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Neural Network (JAIMLNN) is a refereed journal that operates a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers remain mutually anonymous throughout. Every submission undergoes initial editorial screening followed by external review by two independent expert reviewers.

Time from submission to first decision is typically around five weeks. The full process, through to final online publication, normally takes 12–16 weeks, depending on the number of revision rounds and author response time.

Step 1 — Editorial Screening (Pre-check)
On receipt, the Editor-in-Chief (or an assigned Handling Editor) screens the manuscript for scope, originality, structure, language, and compliance with the journal's ethical and formatting requirements. Manuscripts that fall outside the aims and scope, duplicate existing work, or are incomplete or poorly prepared may be rejected at this stage without external review (desk rejection). Authors are normally informed of a desk rejection within three weeks of receipt.

Step 2 — Double-Blind Peer Review
Manuscripts that pass screening are sent to two independent external reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Author-identifying information is removed from the files provided to reviewers, and reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors. Reviewers assess originality, significance, technical soundness, methodology, clarity, ethical compliance, and adequacy of references, and return a recommendation with supporting comments. Where the two reports diverge, the Handling Editor may invite an additional referee.

Step 3 — Editorial Decision
Based on the reviewers' reports, the editor reaches one of the following decisions: accept; accept with minor revisions; major revision (re-review required); or reject. The decision, together with the reviewers' anonymized comments, is communicated to the corresponding author. Authors invited to revise should return the revised manuscript, with a point-by-point response to the reviewers, within the period stated in the decision letter.

Step 4 — Revision and Re-review
Revised manuscripts are evaluated by the editor and, where necessary, returned to the original or new reviewers for a further round of review. One round of major revision is normally permitted; minor corrections may be verified by the editor directly.

Step 5 — Final Decision
The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on acceptance or rejection and may consult members of the Editorial Board where appropriate. The Editor-in-Chief's decision is final.

Post-Acceptance
Accepted manuscripts undergo copy-editing and proofreading, are assigned a Crossref DOI and are then published in the next available issue as fully open-access articles under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence. Published articles are disseminated and made available for indexing.

Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest
Editors and reviewers must declare any conflict of interest and are excluded from handling manuscripts where such a conflict exists. Where an editor is an author of a submission, an alternative editor or board member is assigned to manage the review independently. Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential.

Publication Frequency
JAIMLNN publishes two issues per year (January–June and July–December).

Contact
For questions about the peer-review process or editorial policies, contact the editorial office at jaimlnn@hmjournals.com.