How to submit an appeal
If an author feels that an Editor handling their manuscript has issued an inappropriate decision (e.g., because of bias, conflict of interest, unprofessional language/comments, or other serious errors), authors may submit an appeal by sending an email to ed-support@jmir.org that contains the following information:
- Include the journal, manuscript number, and "Appeal" in the subject line.
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In the body of the text:
- state the specific nature of the author complaint regarding the editorial decision issued; and
- provide specific and relevant documentation or policy that authors view as evidence of bias, error, or other serious issues during the peer-review process; and
- state whether you are willing to transfer the manuscript with the existing peer-reviews to another JMIR Publications journal, especially if a transfer to another journal was suggested during the review process (see list of journals published by JMIR Publications). While you may state constraints you have (e.g. in regards to impact factor or indexing), the fewer constraints you have, the higher the chance for a potential transfer to another journal.
Appeals will not be considered if:
- Required information (above) is missing;
- The appeal consists of a generic disagreement with a decision without substantiation;
- The sole basis of the appeal is a difference in reviewer assessment and editor assessment. For more information on how to address editor and reviewer comments, please refer to this article - As an author, how do I respond to reviewer comments and upload a revised manuscript (resubmission/revision of a manuscript)?
Appeals related to editorial decisions that an article is out of scope for the journal at any stage, including desk decisions, are unlikely to be considered unless authors suggest an alternative journal.
When an author submits an appeal, the article is considered "under review" until the appeal is addressed. This applies even if technically (i.e., article status shows) the manuscript has been removed from the JMIR Publications submission queues. In other words, all appeals must be finalized before an article is submitted or transferred to another journal within JMIR Publications or elsewhere, as papers cannot be under consideration at multiple journals simultaneously. See Policy on duplicate submissions/publications.
Appeal review and outcome
If an appeal is granted, the manuscript, all supporting files, and the peer-review process undergo a full re-evaluation by one or more of the following: (1) a second editorial board member, (2) a panel of editors from the journal’s editorial board in which the manuscript was under review, or, in exceptional cases, (3) a staff scientific editor.
After review of the appeal request, authors will be notified of the outcome and, if applicable, authors will be provided with next steps or options on how to proceed.
Once a decision on the appeal is rendered, it is considered final for the manuscript.
Exceptions
The following determinations are final and non-appealable and in accordance with COPE guidance:
- Rejections based on research integrity issues, including misconduct: Manuscripts rejected following an investigation that documents research integrity (RI) violations (e.g., data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism or text recycling, duplication submission or publication, image manipulation, undisclosed generative AI misuse, peer review manipulation, etc) are not eligible for appeal. In cases involving research integrity or misconduct, JMIR Publications reserves the right to withhold investigation details to protect procedural integrity.
- Decisions to retract a published article, issued by the Research Integrity team in consultation with and formally acknowledged by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, are final. See: Procedure for Retractions of Published Articles