PaperNest resources

Reviewer Guidelines

Last updated: 9 October 2026

Provide independent, confidential, and constructive assessment of research.

Onboarding and expertise

Keep your affiliation, research topics, ORCID, and availability accurate. Use reviewer onboarding where appropriate; access to assignments depends on venue invitations and authorized roles, not registration alone.

Evaluate invitations

Before accepting, check the manuscript topic, review window, workload, and conflicts. Decline if the work is outside your expertise or you cannot provide an independent assessment. Ask the editor or chair for clarification without downloading or sharing material beyond your permitted access.

Declare conflicts

Disclose relevant collaborative, institutional, supervisory, financial, personal, or competitive relationships under the venue’s rules. Do not accept an assignment you know is conflicted. If a conflict becomes apparent later, stop and notify the responsible editor or chair.

Protect confidential material

Use review files only for the assignment. Do not distribute unpublished manuscripts, contact authors independently, identify blinded authors, or use unpublished ideas for your own work. Obtain explicit authorization before involving another person or an external AI or analysis service.

Prepare a useful review

Assess the contribution, methods, evidence, clarity, limitations, and relevant prior work. Explain recommendations with specific reasoning and constructive suggestions. Distinguish essential changes from optional improvements, and do not demand irrelevant citations or personal favors. Raise suspected misconduct privately with the editor rather than making unsupported accusations.

Save and submit

Open your reviewer workspace for assigned tasks. Complete required scores and comments, keeping author-facing feedback separate from confidential editor notes. Saving a draft is not final submission; verify the recorded review state after submitting.

Deadlines and later rounds

Notify the editor or chair promptly if you need to decline or cannot meet a deadline. An extension is effective only when approved under the venue’s process. Revisions or new rounds may require a new assessment; do not assume a previous recommendation is an editorial decision.

Policy and support

See Peer Review Policy and Publishing Ethics & Appeals. For access problems, contact support with the venue and assignment reference without attaching confidential research.

Contact

For reviewer access or workflow assistance, email media.brainfoundation@gmail.com.
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