PEER-REVIEW AND JOURNAL PUBLICATION SEQUENCE - GUIDELINES
The SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI
HAZARDS (STH) is a scholarly international journal published
for more than 25 years by the Tsunami Society. The Journal covers
various research results and interdisciplinary studies dealing
with different aspects of the tsunami hazards - not readily found
in other journals. The use of the journal by the international
scientific community was considerably expanded when it begun
being published in electronic format. An archive of all past
journals has been hosted at the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory
website and now serves as a mirror storage site. This archive,
duplicated and expanded presently at this website, contains hundreds
of scientific papers and represents a very extensive reference
resource and database used presently by tsunami researchers around
the world.
THE PEER REVIEW
PROCESS
All papers submitted for publication
in the SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS undergo a peer review process
by the Editor, members of the Editorial Board and reviewers with
specialized expertise. The "peer review" process is
standardized to make the editing job easier and to ensure that
the journal meets high and thorough standards of scholarly excellence.
The following is a summary of guidelines that govern and streamline
the "peer-review" process for manuscripts submitted
for publication.
The Editor and at least
two members of the editorial board provide initial reviews for
each submitted manuscript. The manuscript is then sent to one
or two other colleagues with specialized expertise for additional
"peer-review" and evaluation. The extensive review
process - which may take up to a month - ensures the highest
standards of professional quality for papers which may be subsequently
accepted for publication. The evaluation determines whether the
submission represents original research results and studies that
can make a valuable contribution to the understanding of the
tsunami hazards, or whether further work or clarification is
needed before publishing.
The peer-review process is straightforward. When a manuscript
is submitted for publication, the Editor or a member of the Editorial
board initiates contact with the potential peer reviewers from
a roster of experts by means of an e-mail inquiry. Once assigned,
copies of the paper (without the authors name) and the accompanying
illustrations are sent to two reviewers, who are given approximately
two to four weeks to complete their evaluation. Guidelines and
a response form are provided with each paper to facilitate the
process. The response form may include additional comments.
Reviewers are asked
in the evaluation form to consider and grade the following criteria:
Does the paper contribute
new knowledge to the understanding of the tsunami hazards?
Are the concepts in the paper based on thorough research, including
investigation of original source materials and a comprehensive
knowledge of the subject?
Does the paper contain purely speculative material?
Does the paper cover its stated objective?
Is there sufficient evidence to support the author's premise?
Is the information accurate and consistent?
Is background information treated adequately?
Are descriptions clear and presented in enough detail?
Does the title reflect clearly the content of the article?
Should the text be expanded or condensed?
Is the text written clearly and organized logically?
Are the figures used appropriately to illustrate the text?
Are the references sufficient?
The forms and comments
returned to the journal's Editor or to the responsible member
of the Editorial Board that requested the reviews, are further
evaluated before a recommendation is made to the Editor on whether
to accept or reject a manuscript. A response of the decision
and an explanation are then provided to the submitting author
together with additional guidance for changes, additions or deletions
- if needed.
BREADTH OF
COVERAGE
While papers submitted
to the SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS receive the above described
basic screening, they don't have to attain the standard of representing
groundbreaking work in order to be published. An article published
in the journal only has to be based on solid science.
The SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI
HAZARDS will consider for publications papers from a wide range
of scientific disciplines, encompassing the most basic research
to the most innovative technologies. Data reports on tsunami
effects, on tsunami runup or other observations on manifestations
of the tsunami phenomenon, may be included in the journal together
with theoretical or applied research papers. For example, a paper
may be included which describes tsunami impacts on agricultural
coastal land and strategies for soil restoration in the same
issue as papers addressing remote sensing applications to surveying
tsunami effects, or papers dealing with seismotectonics of tsunami
source mechanisms or mathematical modeling studies of tsunami
propagation and energy flux. The content of the Journal is multidisciplinary.
The idea is that the
more valid research is published, the better, as it contributes
to an online database on which future research can be expanded.
Furthermore, scientific debate is encouraged as it can lead to
new research and discoveries. Opinions and ideas based on scientific
observations are welcome for possible publication in the journal
in the form of editorials or commentaries. In brief, The Tsunami
Society strives for objectivity, significance and scientific
quality and balance in publishing SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS.
____________
SCIENCE OF
TSUNAMI HAZARDS
The International Journal of The Tsunami Society
ISSN 8755-6839
