MECS Press welcomes expressions of interest from qualified researchers and scholars who wish to contribute as editors or independent peer reviewers.
Editors and reviewers perform different roles.
Editorial Board members provide academic oversight, manage appropriate editorial processes, and make or recommend decisions in accordance with journal policy.
External reviewers provide independent, confidential, subject-specific evaluations of individual manuscripts. They are not Editorial Board members merely because they are included in the reviewer database.
Applying does not guarantee appointment as an editor or inclusion in the reviewer database. All applications are evaluated according to academic qualifications, subject expertise, publication experience, research integrity, and the current needs of the relevant journal.
Apply as an Editor
Recommended Qualifications
Applicants for editorial roles should normally:
- hold a doctoral degree or equivalent research qualification;
- have recognized expertise relevant to the journal's aims and scope;
- maintain an active and verifiable research profile;
- have a sustained record of peer-reviewed publications;
- have appropriate peer-review or editorial experience;
- be affiliated with a recognized university, research institution, professional organization, or relevant scholarly body;
- demonstrate familiarity with publication ethics and research-integrity standards; and
- be able to communicate professionally and complete editorial work within reasonable timeframes.
Equivalent professional or scholarly experience may be considered in appropriate fields.
Editorial Responsibilities
Depending on the appointed role, editors may be expected to:
- support the academic development and scope of the journal;
- conduct initial academic assessments of manuscripts;
- identify suitably qualified and independent external reviewers;
- evaluate reviewer reports and author revisions;
- make or recommend fair and evidence-based editorial decisions;
- protect manuscript and peer-review confidentiality;
- disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves when necessary;
- identify potential ethical or research-integrity concerns;
- avoid coercive citation and inappropriate influence;
- contribute to periodic policy, scope, or quality reviews; and
- uphold the journal's editorial and publication-ethics policies.
Editorial Board membership does not replace the required independent external peer review of research articles.
Apply as a Reviewer
Recommended Qualifications
Reviewer applicants should normally:
- have demonstrated expertise in one or more subjects covered by a MECS Press journal;
- hold a doctoral degree or have equivalent research or professional experience;
- have recent peer-reviewed publications or other verifiable scholarly expertise;
- understand research methods and publication-ethics requirements;
- be able to provide objective, constructive, and sufficiently detailed reports;
- agree to protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and review records; and
- complete accepted review assignments within the agreed period.
Early-career researchers may be considered when they have suitable expertise and appropriate publication or research experience.
Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers must:
- accept assignments only within their areas of expertise;
- disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest;
- decline assignments when independence cannot be maintained;
- treat manuscripts and related information as confidential;
- follow the peer-review model of the relevant journal;
- evaluate manuscripts objectively and respectfully;
- support comments with clear scholarly reasoning;
- avoid personal criticism, discriminatory language, or coercive citation;
- not use unpublished information for personal advantage;
- not upload confidential manuscripts to unauthorized artificial-intelligence or third-party services; and
- notify the journal of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, manipulated data, or other ethical concerns.
Inclusion in the reviewer database does not constitute membership of the Editorial Board and does not guarantee that review invitations will be issued.
Independence and Conflicts of Interest
Editors and reviewers must act independently of personal, institutional, financial, political, or commercial interests.
An editor with a conflict of interest must not handle the relevant manuscript. A reviewer with a conflict must decline the invitation or disclose the matter before accepting it.
Editors must not select reviewers solely because they are colleagues, collaborators, students, supervisors, or close associates of the authors. Reviewer selection should be based on relevant expertise, independence, availability, and the needs of the manuscript.
Financial relationships, subscriptions, sponsorship, Article Processing Charges, and an author's ability or willingness to pay have no influence on editorial appointments, reviewer recommendations, or manuscript decisions.
Application and Verification
Applicants should provide:
- full name and current institutional affiliation;
- institutional or professional email address;
- current position and academic qualifications;
- areas of subject expertise;
- curriculum vitae or academic resume;
- ORCID identifier, where available;
- links to verifiable publication or researcher profiles;
- previous editorial and peer-review experience;
- the MECS Press journal or subject area of interest; and
- a declaration of relevant conflicts of interest.
MECS Press may verify identity, affiliation, publication record, qualifications, and experience. Additional information or references may be requested. Incomplete, unverifiable, misleading, or false applications may be declined.
Appointment and Review
Editorial appointments are made for a defined role and may be subject to a stated term, periodic review, renewal, or conclusion according to journal needs and performance.
Reviewer records may also be reviewed and updated periodically. MECS Press may discontinue an editorial appointment or remove a reviewer from its database when responsibilities are not fulfilled, information becomes inaccurate, confidentiality is breached, serious conflicts are undisclosed, or publication-ethics standards are not followed.
Names and affiliations of Editorial Board members will be published only after appointment and confirmation. Reviewer names will not normally be publicly listed without their consent.
Recognition
MECS Press values the voluntary scholarly contributions of editors and reviewers.
Appropriate recognition may include appointment letters, confirmation of completed review activities, acknowledgements, certificates, or other forms of academic-service recognition. Recognition does not depend on recommending acceptance and must not influence independent judgment.
How to Apply
Applicants should download and complete the official Editor and Reviewer Application Form.
The completed application form, together with any requested supporting information, should be sent by email to service@mecs-press.org.
Please indicate either Editor Application or Reviewer Application in the email subject line so that the application can be directed to the appropriate review process.
There is no application fee. Downloading or submitting the application form does not create an appointment, employment relationship, financial obligation, or guarantee of future editorial or review assignments. MECS Press will contact applicants if further information is required or if the application proceeds to the next stage.