Guest Editors play a key role in the editorial and peer-review process at the International Journal of Animal and Wildlife Research (IJAWR). In taking on this role, Guest Editors are expected to act with independence, fairness, confidentiality, and academic integrity at every stage of manuscript handling, particularly for research involving animal biology, wildlife ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and animal welfare.

Editorial Independence and Impartiality

Every editorial decision should be based on the manuscript's academic merit, including its originality, relevance, scientific quality, and methodological rigor. Personal, professional, financial, or institutional interests must not influence editorial judgment.

Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest can arise from any personal, professional, financial, academic, or institutional relationship that might reasonably influence editorial judgment. Common examples include:

When a conflict is identified, IJAWR will reassign the manuscript to another qualified and independent editor.

Confidentiality

All information encountered during the editorial process, including manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and supporting research materials, must be treated as confidential. Guest Editors must not disclose this information to unauthorized parties or use it for personal, professional, financial, or competitive gain.

Particular care should be taken with unpublished wildlife observations, sensitive species locations, conservation data, and information concerning animal handling or welfare.

The Peer-Review Process

IJAWR follows a structured double-blind peer-review process, with each manuscript typically evaluated by two or more independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Guest Editors are responsible for selecting appropriately qualified reviewers and ensuring that the review process remains fair, confidential, and free from undue influence.

For manuscripts involving animal studies, wildlife surveys, field observations, biodiversity assessments, or conservation interventions, Guest Editors should ensure that relevant ethical considerations and applicable research permissions are appropriately evaluated.

What Reviewers Assess

Manuscripts are evaluated, where applicable, on:

Editorial Decisions

Based on reviewer feedback and the Guest Editor's overall assessment, a manuscript may receive one of the following recommendations:

Authors asked to revise their work should receive clear guidance and a reasonable period to resubmit.

Publication Ethics and Misconduct

Guest Editors are expected to safeguard research and publication integrity and to report concerns, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication or falsification, authorship disputes, peer-review manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and improper use of artificial intelligence, in accordance with IJAWR policies.

For animal and wildlife research, concerns may also include questionable animal handling practices, inadequate ethical approval, missing research permissions, misleading wildlife observations, or inappropriate disclosure of sensitive species locations.

Depending on the circumstances, these concerns may lead to rejection, correction, retraction, or other appropriate corrective action.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to:

Responsible Use of the Editorial System

Anyone using the IJAWR submission and review platform must not manipulate the peer-review process, submit false reviewer information, access manuscripts without authorization, improperly disclose peer-review information, or otherwise interfere with editorial decisions or system operations.

Editorial Records

IJAWR may retain editorial and peer-review records for legitimate purposes related to quality control, publication ethics, research integrity, and recordkeeping, in accordance with its Privacy Policy and applicable requirements.