Appeals & Ombudsman Service — per year

Overview

An author writes to say the rejection was unfair, the reviewer was biased and they intend to take it to the vice-chancellor. Your journal’s policy page says appeals are “considered by the editor,” which the author reads, correctly, as the editor marking their own homework. Without an independent route, disputes escalate to the institution, the society council or social media, and the journal’s credibility is judged by people who never read the file. This service gives the journal a real appeals procedure and someone independent to hear cases. It is for journals owned by universities and societies, journals applying for indexing that asks about appeals procedures, and any editor who wants a fair process to point to.

What’s Included

• A written appeals and complaints procedure for the journal, covering grounds for appeal, timelines, who hears what, and how outcomes are communicated
• An ombudsman, drawn from a panel of experienced editors outside the journal’s editorial chain, assigned to each case
• Case handling: acknowledgment to the appellant, review of the manuscript, reviews and correspondence, and consultation with the editor
• A reasoned written recommendation to the editor-in-chief or the board: uphold the decision, seek a further review, or reconsider, with the reasons
• Communication of the outcome to the appellant in the journal’s name, on the editor’s approval
• An annual summary of appeals and complaints for the board or owner, with any process recommendations

How It Works

1. We draft the procedure with the editor and the owner, and the journal publishes it.
2. When an appeal or complaint arrives, the editorial office forwards it and the case file.
3. The assigned ombudsman reviews the file and consults the editor and, if needed, the appellant.
4. The ombudsman’s recommendation goes to the editor-in-chief or, for complaints about the editor, to the board or owner.
5. Pricing is an annual retainer that covers the procedure and a set number of cases, or per case for journals that prefer not to hold a retainer.

What Stays With Your Editors

The ombudsman recommends; the editor-in-chief decides on appeals against editorial decisions, and the board or owner decides on complaints about the editor. A recommendation to reconsider does not overturn the decision or accept the paper. Reviewer selection, editorial assessment and acceptance remain with the journal’s editors throughout.

Important Limitations

• Appeals are heard on process and on whether the decision was reasonable on the evidence, not as a fresh peer review. An appeal is not a second chance to be reviewed by different people.
• The ombudsman is independent of the journal’s editorial chain but engaged by the journal. Where a case requires fully external adjudication, we say so.
• We do not adjudicate research misconduct; see Publication Ethics Case Handling and the authors’ institution.
• An appeals procedure supports indexing applications that ask for one; it does not by itself secure indexing.

Common Questions

How many appeals should we expect? Most small journals see very few. The value is in having the route, and in the cases that would otherwise escalate.

Who are the ombudsmen? Former and current editors of peer-reviewed journals in a range of fields, selected for each case to avoid conflicts of interest. Names are disclosed to the journal.

Can the procedure cover complaints against reviewers or about delays? Yes. The procedure is scoped with the journal and can cover editorial decisions, conduct and service complaints.

Request a proposal, or begin with the Journal Health Check.