Reviewer Guide

  1. INVITATION AND ACCEPTANCE

Before accepting our request to assess a manuscript, you must analyse whether the matters it deals with fall within your area of expertise. We recommend that you only accept if you feel comfortable with the subject of the manuscript. If not, please let us know and inform us of your thematic lines so that we bear this in mind for the future. Please, no matter what your decision is, inform us at the earliest opportunity. Delays in these responses make review and publication processes become longer than most authors wish.

  1. COMMITMENT AND ETHICS

If you accept our request, you must bear in mind that the documentation you receive is confidential. You are not allowed to share it with anyone without prior authorisation from the editor of this journal. Given that the assessment follows a double-blind peer review process, a process of a confidential nature, you are not allowed to share information about the review without the corresponding permission of both editors and authors. We kindly ask you to please submit the assessment report within 20 days of receipt of the manuscript.

  1. THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR DECISION

Your assessment will help the editor to decide whether or not the article will be published. Likewise, it will help the authors to improve their manuscripts. Providing a general opinion and general remarks is essential. This must be done in a constructive, confidential and responsible manner.

Unfavourable assessments or rejections must include the weaknesses of the work, as well as those aspects to be improved for the future publication of the manuscript in any other media. Every claim must be explained and justified so that both the editor and the author can understand the reasons behind the decision. Likewise, you must explain if your remarks come from your own opinion or if these are backed by other data or pieces of evidence. Bear in mind that your recommendations will be used by the editor to decide: rejection, acceptance (without review) or acceptance (with major or minor amendments). However, you must bear in mind that the final decision will be taken by the editor who may, in turn, request a third opinion.

- If rejection is recommended, you must explain the reasons to the author in the assessment report. Likewise, we ask you to please describe the aspects to be improved, so that the author can take these into consideration for the publication of this manuscript, or others, in any other media.

- If acceptance of the article with amendments is recommended, this decision can imply the request for two types of amendments that must be clearly specified. The first type, minor amendments, means that the author must amend or review a few aspects of the work. The second, major amendments, means that for final acceptance of the manuscript, the author must notably improve the work or even restructure it, to submit it for a new assessment process.

- If direct acceptance is recommended, the strengths of the work must be clearly indicated. This recommendation must be explained to the assessor, taking into account that other reviewers of the same manuscript may have different points of view and that the Editor may have to decide whilst considering reports with different recommendations.

  1. YOUR REVIEW

You must bear in mind that both the reviewer and the author will always receive the information of the assessment in an anonymous manner. In order for a manuscript to be published in Proyecta56 it is essential that:

- The title is clear, brief and concise (maximum 150 characters). It must describe the essence of the text.
- The abstract must concisely expound the motive and objective of the research, the methodology applied, the most relevant results, and the main conclusions, highlighting the most novel and relevant aspects of the work.

- The introduction must present the problem dealt with, its current status, and its importance. It must include the reasons and motives that gave rise to the work, and also the aims established.

- The methodology must describe the research process followed.

- The results must offer information on the achievements of the research process of the author or authors.

- The conclusions must compare the results with the initial objectives of the research, offering solutions for their global application and their continuity in the long term.

- The references must follow the APA style.

The levels of originality and innovation, usefulness and interest, clarity, scientific rigour, and maturity level with regards to its application to industrial design and product development, will always be assessed. All manuscripts accepted by our journal must tie in with our thematic strand and consider both the application and the applicability of the work to Industrial Design and Product Development.

  1. ASSESSMENT REPORT

In the assessment report, the reviewer will not only include the comments of interest for the author and recommendations for the editor, but will also recommend, if the manuscript is accepted, the section considered more appropriate for the manuscript, taking into account the type of work.