The peer review and publication process of the Journal of Community Medicine is described in the following diagram:

Publication process flowchart

The publication process is divided into 3 basic stages: Preliminary screening, Peer review, and Editorial approval

After the author submits the article, the editorial office will respond directly or respond via email that the article has been received. These articles will be reviewed by the Editorial Board and editorial leadership. The appraisal content includes: Does the article meet all processes and standards according to the Journal's Publication Regulations regarding format, structure, and content:

• If the article meets the standards, the Journal editorial office will send the author a notice of acceptance of the article to enter the peer review process.
• If the article does not meet the regulations, there are 2 cases: (1) The article can be revised and reconsidered, the editorial office will return it to allow the author to edit to meet the prescribed standards; (2) The article cannot be edited further / The article, even if it satisfies formal criteria, has fundamental academic errors or content contrary to the Journal's principles, purposes, and scope of activities, the Editorial Office will send a notification of non-acceptance into the peer review process.
• Time for the editorial office to reply to the author that the article has been received: From 1 to 3 days, starting from the time the author sends the email.
• Time for the editorial office to provide preliminary screening feedback: From 1 to 5 days, starting from the time the Editorial Office notifies receipt of the article from the author.

After preliminary screening, the article is encoded and sent to two reviewers (double-blind review) as assigned by the Editor-in-Chief or Deputy Editor-in-Chief based on the recommendation of the Editorial Council:

The reviewers will read and comment on the article based on specific criteria to evaluate the article. Overall, the review content focuses on the following 6 main contents:

• Assessment of the format and structure of the article
• Assessment of the consistency between the article title, abstract, and full-text content.
• Assessment of the appropriateness of the theoretical framework used in the study
• Assessment of research methods
• Assessment of the reliability of research data
• Assessment of scientific and practical significance of the article

The conclusion of the peer review stage may be:

• The article is of good quality, can be published, requires no editing or only minor edits in wording and spelling
• The article needs revision in content/structure for the reviewers to review again before making a decision to publish/not publish.

When the author receives comments from the reviewers, the author revises and resubmits to the editorial office to forward to the reviewers for review until the reviewers reach a conclusion: Accepted for publication or Rejected.

• Time for reviewers to read and submit comments: From 7 to 15 days, starting from the date the editorial office sends the article to each reviewer. For complex studies, the review time may extend up to 30 days. (In special cases, the Editor-in-Chief may request reviewers to give urgent feedback).
• Time for the author to revise and resubmit the article: From 1 to 15 days, starting from the date the editorial office sends comments to the author (in special cases, the editorial office may request the author to revise and resubmit urgently).
• Time to complete the peer review stage: Within 30 days, starting from when the editorial office announces receipt of the article and enters the peer review process until a decision is made on the article's status.

The editorial leadership will give opinions on approval or non-approval for publication in 2 cases:

• The article is recommended for publication by the reviewers.
• If the editorial leadership approves publication, the editorial office will send the author a notice of acceptance to place the article on the waiting list for publication. In case the author needs confirmation that the article has been accepted, the editorial office will issue an acceptance letter for the author before the issue is published.
• If the editorial leadership requests further review and recommends sending to additional reviewers to verify the authenticity and novelty of the study, the editorial office will return the article to the peer review stage for continued processing.
• The article is recommended for rejection by the reviewers.
• If the editorial leadership decides not to publish, the editorial office will send a notification to the author that the article has not been accepted for publication in the Journal of Community Medicine. The time for the editorial office to announce the approval result to the author is within 30 days, starting from when the editorial office announces receipt of the article and enters the peer review process.

After being approved for publication by the editorial leadership, the article will be transferred to the editorial department for copyediting of content, language, style, presentation, and formatting. During the publication editing process, the copyeditor may contact the author to assist in accurately editing the content. After the editorial leadership gives final approval, the manuscript is sent for printing.

Finally, the editorial secretary archives the publication records of the journal issue, including the raw submissions, review reports, and manuscripts during the inspection and editing process.

Time for copyeditors to perform steps 2-4 is a maximum of 2 days/step. Time for IT staff to perform steps 4-6 is a maximum of 1 day/step. Time to complete the editing and publishing stage: 7-10 days, starting from when the approved article is received.