EDITORIAL POLICY
1. Editorial Board
The Editorial Board plays the most vital role in ensuring the success of the journal, its contributors, and its readership. For the contributors, the editors are their point of contact with the journal and they help the contributors to improving their manuscript. For the readership, the editors assure that the journal publishes only original submissions and is of value to knowledge, policy, and practice.
2. Purpose
The purpose of the board is to manage the journal and ensure its quality and timely publication.
3. Nature
The position of the editor is a voluntary position and no remuneration shall be paid for the editorial services.
4. Terms of Membership
The terms of membership of the editor shall be for 3 years and can be renewed for another term by one year.
5. Roles and responsibilities of the Editorial Board;
The Editorial Board shall;
1. Promote the Bhutan Journal of Research and Development
2. Determine whether a submitted manuscript is appropriate for the Bhutan Journal of Research and Development (BJRD).
3. Review manuscripts submitted to the journal.
4. Render a final editorial decision in each manuscript.
5. Identify reviewers for the journal and facilitate review of manuscripts.
6. Schedule accepted manuscripts and ensure timely publication of the journal
7. Resolve any conflicts.
6. Roles and Responsibilities of Advisory Editors
1. Promote the Bhutan Journal of Research and Development (BJRD).
2. Identify potential BJRD editors.
3. Identify potential reviewers for relevant BJRD articles when necessary.
4. Advice on diplomatic issues (e.g. resolution of editorial conflict, prioritizing and manuscript invitations, etc)
7. Meetings
The Editorial Board shall meet at least two times before the scheduled publication. The meetings shall be chaired by the Managing Editor.
8. Responsibilities of the Managing Editor
The Managing Editor shall be responsible to;
1. Coordinate peer review of a manuscript submitted for publication in Bhutan Journal of Research and Development.
2. Identify and seek the consent of appropriate reviewers with relevant expertise based on the content of the manuscript for review.
3. Ensure that each manuscript is evaluated by at least two reviewers.
4. Edit the submitted papers in the order it is received.
5. Decide either to accept or reject a manuscript upon revision of papers based on reviewers' comments and suggestions.
6. Provide a final decision on the manuscript if the recommendations from two reviewers contradict.
9. Roles of the Production Editor
1. Ensure timely publication of the journal in both soft and hard copies.
2. Ensure appropriate layout and format of the articles in consistent with its previous format.
3. Assist Managing Editor in the compilation of articles for the peer review process and publications.
4. Maintain the archive and records of all the previous publications.
5. Handle all correspondence with the author.
6. Return papers needing revision to the authors based on reviewers’ comments.
7. Send the revised manuscript to reviewers to check if the manuscript is revised as suggested.
8. Ensure that all reviewers' comments/suggestions are incorporated in the manuscript before consideration for publication.
9. Rely outcome on acceptance or rejection of paper to the author via e-mail.
10. Bring out the Journal on time.
10. Responsibilities of the reviewers/editor
The reviewers shall be responsible for;
1. Submit the reviewer consent form with the decision of acceptance or rejection within 5(five) working days.
2. If the reviewer is unable to review on time, he/she should notify the Managing Editor immediately and provide a timeline within which the task can be completed to ensure a professional and timely review of articles.
3. In case, the reviewer has concerns about his/her expertise in reviewing the content/article, he/she should inform the Managing Editor within 2 working days and/or suggest an alternative reviewer.
4. For consideration in the list of journal editorial boards, an individual reviewer must review a minimum of two manuscripts.
5. Familiarize with the BJRD format, instructions, and guidelines for the author for preparation/submission of articles.
6. Declare and inform the Managing Editor of any competing interests or conflict of interest.
7. Treat the review process as confidential and not use any manuscript content to further their interests
8. Reviewers shall recommend acceptance as it is, acceptance after minor revision, resubmission after major revision, or rejection of manuscript to the Managing Editor within 14 working days.
9. All comments/suggestions will be given in the format prescribed as per the Manuscript Review Form and if there are additional comments and suggestions, they can be given as track changes by strictly maintaining the anonymity of the reviewer in the track change documents.
11. Roles and responsibilities of Authors
1. Ensure that the manuscript submitted has followed the manuscript guidelines enshrined on the BJRD web page.
2. Author must duly follow the license terms and copyright policy of the journal for the accessibility of the articles to the readers.
3. Ensure that their submitted work follows the originality, clarity, or no plagiarism is there. And if a copy case is found by the review panel, they can reject the paper.
4. Avoid Unethical behavior by submitting the same paper in more than one journal.
5. The corresponding authors/co-authors should ensure that the final research paper is also approved by their researchers.
6. If any error or modification is needed and commented on by the publisher, the author's responsibility is to improve it and again send it for publication.
7. For the project, any financial support sources must be disclosed. At the initial stage, they can disclose the conflicts of interest that interpret their results.
