Peer Review Policy

Primary Care Science and Practice (PCSP) implements a double-blind peer review process for all articles, including those invited by editors.

  • Process: The identities of authors and reviewers are kept anonymous from one another. Only the editor (as the decision-maker) can see the identities of both.
  • Reviewer Selection: Reviewers are selected by the Editorial Board based on expertise, publication history, and previous review track record.
  • Review Time: Initial editorial decisions will usually be made within 1–2 weeks after a reviewer agrees to review the manuscript.
  • Confidentiality: The entire review process (including reviewer identities and reports) is confidential and is not published on the article page.
  • AI Guidelines for Reviewers: To maintain manuscript confidentiality and scientific integrity, reviewers are required to adhere to the following guidelines:
    • Upload Ban: Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading manuscripts (or any part thereof) to generative AI tools. This is to prevent breaches of sensitive data confidentiality and avoid the risk of biased or incorrect information from AI.
    • Usage Declaration: If reviewers use AI tools to support manuscript evaluation (without uploading data), they are required to state this transparently in their review report.

Policy on Handling Ethical Misconduct, Complaints, and Appeals

PCSP takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. This includes (but is not limited to) plagiarism, false data (fabrication), duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, manuscript ethical issues, or complaints against editors and reviewers. The PCSP Editorial Board will discuss and make decisions on all suspected cases. The entire resolution process, as well as the handling of formal complaints and appeals, will follow the flowcharts provided by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). This policy aims to protect the integrity of the journal as well as all stakeholders, including authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers. If necessary, we will publish an Author Correction, Publisher Correction, clarification, retraction, or apology.