IOP Trusted Reviewer status

We created IOP Trusted Reviewer certification as a way to recognise the hard work and expertise of our very best reviewers. Our editors rate all of the reviewer reports we receive on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 indicating a review of outstanding quality. Reviewers who score 5 out of 5 achieve IOP Trusted Reviewer status. In November 2022, we reached 10,000 Trusted Reviewers. Click here to read about the 10,000 Trusted Reviewer milestone. Successful graduates of our Peer Review Excellence course will be fast-tracked towards IOP Trusted Reviewer status. We aim to invite you to review as soon as a manuscript becomes available in your field of expertise. For training graduates, the threshold for achieving IOP Trusted Reviewer status is a report rated 4 or 5 out of 5. Over 50% of all Peer Review Excellence graduates go on to get IOP Trusted Reviewer status when they submit a reviewer report.

In 2023, we started awarding IOP Trusted Reviewer status to reviewers who consistently submit good reviews. We would like to thank these reviewers for supporting IOP Publishing and let them know we value the work they do. These reviewers will be eligible for our annual Outstanding Reviewer Awards.

 

 

Article publication charge discount for reviewers

To help recognise the vital contribution our reviewers make to the publishing process, IOP Publishing has a reward programme based on open access discounts. When you review a manuscript for an IOP Publishing journal, you may claim a 10% discount on the cost of publishing a manuscript in any IOP Publishing journal on a gold open access basis. Discounts are valid for two years from the date the reviewer report was submitted, and can be applied to an article processing charge by any co-author.

 

 

Overview of reviewer recognition

Click here for the Chinese language version of this page.

IOP Publishing is committed to recognising and rewarding peer review. Here are some of the benefits you can enjoy as a reviewer:

 

 

Reviewing a revised manuscript

This is normally a quicker process than reviewing an original manuscript. The deadline for your comments will be 5–21 days, depending on the journal. If you need an extension please get in touch with the editorial office.

When reviewing a revised manuscript, you are checking that the revisions are satisfactory. You will receive a copy of the revised manuscript as well as the author’s response to the reviewer reports.

It is generally not appropriate to request additional changes (not mentioned in your original reviewer report) at this stage.

If the author fails to answer your criticisms, please check the ‘Unsatisfactory Revision’ box on the reviewer report form and describe the areas that were not addressed in the revision in your comments.

You will be invited to update the original quality assessment scores you provided with your original review. If you feel the paper has been improved, your scores should increase.

You will be asked to give a recommendation. The editor will take into account your recommendation along with those provided by any other reviewers. Your recommendation should be either:

  • Accept
  • Amendments required before acceptance
  • Unsatisfactory revision

 

 

Using ScholarOne

We manage all our submissions and peer review through a web-based system called ScholarOne. It is really easy to set up your account and keep it up to date.

Watch this video to find out how to set-up a ScholarOne account.

ScholarOne now supports login and account creation via your ORCID iD. See our ScholarOne login and account creation via ORCID iD guide for further details.

 

How to create an account on ScholarOne

1) Follow this link to access ScholarOne

2) Select ‘Create an Account’ on the toolbar:

3) Fill in your name and email address, then select ‘Next’:

4) Enter details for your institution, then select ‘Next’:

5) Enter a User ID and Password. Select your gender and level of academic experience. Select if you would like to be contacted by IOP Publishing. Check the box to be invited for peer review, then scroll down:

6) Under ‘Unavailable Dates’, let us know when you are unavailable to prevent us from inviting you in this period of time. Fill in the section ‘Research Interests’. Read the IOP Publishing – Privacy Policy and the Clarivate – ScholarOne Privacy Notice, then check the box. Finally, select ‘Finish’:

Watch this video to find out how to update an existing ScholarOne account.

 

How to submit your reviewer report on ScholarOne

To submit your reviewer report, either click the link in the email you received with the paper attached, or log into your account on ScholarOne. If you have forgotten your log in details, click ‘Reset Password’ on the log in page. This video will take you through the stages of submitting your reviewer report.

Watch this video to find out how to submit your reviewer report on ScholarOne.

 

Updating your availability on ScholarOne

If you are planning on being unavailable for a period of time, please enter the dates into the ‘Unavailable Dates’ section of the ‘User ID/Password & Other Information’ area of your ScholarOne account. This will help ensure we do not send you requests to review a manuscript while you are unavailable.

 

Adding your research interests to ScholarOne

We recommend making sure that your research interests are detailed and up to date. Use these tips to maximise your chances of being selected:

  • Avoid abbreviations
  • Use as many keywords as possible: try to use as broad a range of terms as possible, including any synonyms or closely related fields
  • Separate each term with a comma, with no unnecessary commentary

Here is an example of a good list of research interests:

magnetic nanoparticle characterization, magnetic particle imaging, magnetic nanothermometer, measuring instruments, weak signal detecting, iron oxide nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticle thermometer, magnetic nanoparticles, biofunctionalization, dc magnetic field, magnetic fluid, magnetic particle susceptibility imaging, magnetic susceptibility imaging, magnetonanothermometry, phase delay, real-time and quantitative abilities, signal bandwidth, spatial resolution

 

 

Researchers from institutions within Oman

IOP Publishing (IOP) has a transformative agreement with Sultan Qaboos University to enable a transition to open access publishing from 1st January 2023.

“We are pleased to take our parternship with IOP Publishing to the next level and sign a transformative agreement that will enable SQU research to have more impact and visibility”
Yaqoob Al-Busaidi, Head of Periodicals Department, Sultan Quaboos University.

Who can benefit?

All corresponding authors that are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and visiting), or students at Sultan Qaboos University at the time of acceptance, can publish open access at no cost to themselves. The corresponding author is the author that submits the manuscript and is responsible for communicating with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process.

What’s included?

  • Articles accepted from 1st January 2023 will be eligible for transformative agreement funding to enable authors to publish open access with no cost to themselves
  • Research paper, special issue, letter and review article types
  • Included journals are those in lists A, B, C and D. Click here for a full title list of eligible journals.

Please note
A small number of journals attract additional charges including but not limited to, page charges. These remain payable by the authors.
You may find our author guide for submitting under a transformative agreement helpful located in our Transformative Agreement hub.
For more information, please contact your relevant library contact at your university.

Dr Ozbolat, Penn State University, The United States


Dr OzbolatDr Ibrahim Tarik Ozbolat is professor in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department of Penn State. He is a specialist in 3D bioprinting, artificial organs, and regenerative medicine and has recently published research in Biofabrication which looks at a new way to generate microgels; High-throughput microgel biofabrication via air-assisted co-axial jetting for cell encapsulation, 3D bioprinting, and scaffolding applications. This was published open access under the transformative agreement with Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Can you tell us about your latest findings?
Our latest study shows a new technique to make larger quantities of microgels in a much easier way. Due to their properties, microgels are gaining immense attention for use in tissue repair and regeneration. Currently, there are several microgel fabrication techniques, but their wide usage is challenged as they are expensive and time consuming.

With our new technique we can produce more microgels which can be used to create self-healing materials, drug-delivery systems and bioinks to assist 3D imaging of human tissues and organs. Our study has the potential to accelerate tissue engineering technologies and improve the quality of life for many people.

Why did you decide to publish the research open access?
I believe that the democratization of scientific knowledge is essential, and one way to accomplish this goal is by making research open to access. By removing barriers to accessing scientific information, we can ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or financial resources, has the opportunity to engage with and benefit from scientific research. Open access publishing is also an excellent way to make scientific information available to a broader audience, including researchers, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the general public.

What benefits did you see from publishing your work open access?
Publishing our research open access did lead to some surprising outcomes. One of the most notable things that happened was the increased visibility of our work. By making our article freely available, we were able to reach a much wider audience. As a result, we received more downloads and views of our article than we had anticipated. Additionally, some researchers working in the same field reached out with queries or for possible collaborations.

Did the transformative agreement make it easier to publish open access?
Typically, when publishing research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding agency, it is published on platforms like PubMed. However, the publication process can sometimes be time-consuming, with a delay in online availability. The transformative agreement streamlined the publication process, ensuring that our research was made available online as soon as it was accepted.

You can read the full interview with Dr Ozbolat here.

Magnus Jonsson, Linköping University, Sweden


Magnus Jonsson received the Journal of Optics Emerging Leaders Award for his outstanding research, Highly reflective optical nanocavities for structural coloration by combining broadband absorber and Fabry–Pérot effects. It was published open access in Journal of Optics, under the transformative agreement with the Swedish BIBSAM consortium.

How easy was it to publish open access under the transformative agreement?
It was easy and quick, which is important for us so that we use our time for the research and article writing. We have grants that instruct us to share our research findings open access. Publishing open access is rather standard for us, via open access in scientific journals and also by posting preprints.

Did it lead to anyone surprising seeing your work?
Our paper has received significant attention, which is great. Besides researchers, we are sometimes approached by companies that have read about our research and some of them may not have had access to the articles unless they were published open access.

What are the next steps for your research?
We are excited about several directions right now. As direct follow-up on the research on structural colors published in Journal of Optics, we have now managed to make the colors dynamically tuneable, by implementing an electroactive conducting polymer as the spacer layer of the optical cavities.

Why do you think it’s important to be able to publish open access?
Sharing the research results with the community is one of the most important aspects of the whole research process. It is important that other researchers, as well as industry and society, have access to read about the latest findings. Likewise, access to others’ research findings is essential for our own research.

Aline Ramires, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland


Aline RamiresAline’s research, Nonunitary superconductivity in complex quantum materials was published open access in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter under the transformative agreement with the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries.

How easy was it to publish open access under the transformative agreement?
To be honest, I do not remember the details. I think this means that there was no particular difficulty.

Why do you think it’s important to be able to publish open access?
I think open access is fundamental. Coming from a developing country, as a student I faced the pay-barrier multiple times while looking for scientific articles. I remember perceiving it as a strong message: “I am not part of the international scientific community.”

What are the next steps for your research?
My current research focuses on unconventional superconductors. We aim at a better understanding the behaviour of known materials and at the engineering of novel systems with useful properties for technological applications.

Dr. Jane Emily Hill, University of British Columbia, Canada


Dr Jane Emily Hill

Dr. Jane Emily Hill and her team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and in collaboration with National Jewish Health, is leading the development of a novel approach to diagnose nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infections based on molecules found in breath.

Read Dr. Hill’s article: Breath biomarkers associated with nontuberculosis mycobacteria disease status in persons with cystic fibrosis: a pilot study in Journal of Breath Research.

This article is free to read as it was published open access through a transformative agreement between IOP Publishing and Canadian Research Knowledge Network.

Congratulations on your paper getting published. Could you explain what nontuberculosis mycobacteria are and why it’s hard to diagnose a pulmonary disease caused by them?

Nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous environmental bacteria commonly found in water and soil. These pathogens are increasingly recognized as serious causes of human morbidity and mortality and pose a significant threat to individuals with an underlying lung disease, such as people with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Reaching a diagnosis of pulmonary NTM disease in patients with CF is very complex. In addition to monitoring clinical symptoms, NTM screening, diagnosis, and treatment relies on traditional culture techniques. However, NTM cultures grow slowly, taking up to 8 weeks, and the majority of patients have only transient positive cultures or indolent infections. In simple terms, the isolation of NTM from a respiratory sample is not enough to confirm a pulmonary NTM disease diagnosis and initiate antibiotic treatment. The decision to treat is consequential, requiring daily antibiotics for several months.

It sounds like culture-based methods might be too slow and inconclusive on their own to diagnose pulmonary NTM disease. Did you and your team come up with a solution to this?

In our pilot study, we investigated whether biomarkers found in exhaled breath can be leveraged to differentiate between people with CF with active-NTM lung disease, those with an indolent NTM infection, and those without any history of a positive NTM culture.

After collecting and analyzing breath samples from 11 patients with CF, we putatively identified 17 breath molecules that could be used for the diagnosis of pulmonary NTM disease. We are following this work up in a much larger clinical study, screening a few hundred patients throughout North America.

What motivated you to delve into this alternative diagnostic approach based on breath samples?

Breath holds great potential as a source of information on an individual’s health status. If we could diagnose a lung infection non-invasively and quickly using exhaled breath, it would improve the quality of lives of many people around the world. Elevating the human condition through the development of next-generation diagnostics was a fundamental motivator of this work.

Your paper was published in the context of a transformative agreement with IOP Publishing. What was this process like?

It was simple and easy, as the process required to utilize the agreement was automated. I actually learned about the transformative agreement by accident; after enquiring about the cost of publishing, I found it was free for me.

What do you think are the advantages of publishing through a transformative agreement?

While I am not sure of the costs to my institution, there are substantial advantages to researchers publishing through this agreement. The cost of publishing, especially that of making a publication open access, can be prohibitive. Yet, for many of us, open access is a key goal so that our findings can be shared as widely as possible. This was easy to do with a transformative agreement, which ensured that this study is published open access.

Do you have any word of advice for other authors interested in publishing open access through a transformative agreement?

It could be worthwhile for authors to learn about these agreements in advance, as this might affect their decision on where to publish. In my case, IOPP’s Journal of Breath Research was my target journal, and I hoped it would accept our article. Finding out that not only could we publish in this journal, but also have our article be open access without incurring any fee, was terrific.