Advanced Genetics recognizes that the assessment of conceptual advance and potential utility and interest are subjective. The journal’s editors therefore keep the following questions in mind when assessing a submitted manuscript and then provide specific explanation how these considerations apply to the selection of this particular manuscript.
Initial Editorial Assessment
Available to authors of all manuscripts. Open if the article is published
Scope
- Do the research, methods or topics fit within the aims of this, or another journal?
Conceptual advance
- What is already known in this area and related fields?
- What gap in knowledge motivates this research?
- How do the main claims of this study relate to benchmark prior publications?
- Is this field new, growing or mature?
- What new insight is offered by the current submission?
- If confirmatory, or a negative finding, what is the value added?
Potential Interest
- Are many labs likely to conduct their research differently because of these findings?
- Is the paper likely attract readers beyond the immediate research community of the study?
- Can the main conclusion be generalized to other areas of genetics and genomics?
Strength of conclusion
- What evidence and methods support the main claim of the study?
- Are the experimental and analytical approaches aligned with the current community standards?
- What are the technical issues with key datasets and workflows, what reviewer expertise is needed?
- Are the authors skeptical, are alternative interpretations ruled out?
- Is there clear separation of hypothesis generation and testing?
- Are conclusions replicated or supported by multiple lines of evidence?
Reviewer instructions:
All reviewer comments are read by the authors and editors, and are open if the article is published
Article types with data and analysis:
- Summarize the main claims in the context of prior publications
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses in evidence, design and methods
- Please number each of your comments to the author, starting with the most important
- Are all data, analysis and methods usefully available as declared in accordance with relevant community standards?
- Are there any ethical concerns about human or animal research subjects, perceived conflicts or attribution?
- How should the editor interpret your comments in making a decision?
- Declare your own conflicts of interest, or no conflict of interest
Perspective (literature review) article type:
- Which of the main concepts and advances in the field has the author fairly represented?
- Will this Perspective lead a large number of researchers to conduct their research differently?
- Are the claims, evidence and recommendations presented in a clear and logical order?
- Declare your own conflicts of interest, or no conflict of interest
- Are all of the display items compelling or needed?