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General


The entire editorial procedure for papers -from submission to publication - is automatic and carried out electronically. Hence the time required to process a contribution is significantly reduced compared to traditional journals.

Authors, editors and referees run their specific stages of the editorial procedure through personal web pages, which are automatically updated in real time as soon as new events occur.

Authors can access their personal page where they can check the status of their preprints throughout the editorial procedure and communicate with the Editorial Office and with the editor in charge of the preprint.

Referees also operate from a personal page where they can read and download the preprints to be reviewed, upload their reports and communicate with the Editorial Office.

From their personal pages editors can read and download preprints, select referees, communicate with the Editorial Office and make their decisions about the preprints.

In every page there are buttons for internal communication. Users should always use these tools instead of normal e-mail. These messages will be saved in the database and associated to the document they refer to. One can find them in the link "correspondence" on every document page.


Timing for processing contributions


JSTAT aims at shorter processing times with respect to traditional journals. The following table gives a rough estimate for the different stages in the review procedure. In any case, scientific quality and relevance should have priority over speed.

Editors are requested to do their best to complete the review procedure for Papers within 5 weeks.

Submission Editor Referee

Preprints are sent to the editor in charge immediately upon submission.

Editors should send the new preprints to one or more referee within 5 days.

If this should not occur the editor will receive reminders from the Editorial Office.

If the editor does not react within 10 days of the article's submission the Scientific Director will take action.

Referees should accept/decline the assignment within 3 days of the editor's request.

If this should not occur they will be automatically reminded.

If referees do not act the editor is requested to step in either sending them a reminder or selecting another referee.

If the referees do not react despite the automatic reminders, the editor is notified and should take action as quickly as possible.

Referees should review Papers in 4 weeks at most (from the date of the editor's review request).

Submission


Authors submit their manuscripts via the Internet, from the JSTAT website at SISSA Medialab. They can either upload the necessary files or simply enter the corresponding arXiv number.

At the time of the submission the preprint receives a preprint number which identifies it throughout the editorial procedure (fig. 1).

The preprint number
Figure 1. Preprint number

After submission the system automatically assigns the preprint to the appropriate editor according to the keywords chosen by the authors to characterise their work.

To submit preprints authors must carefully follow the instructions given in the help for Authors.


Refereeing


The JSTAT refereeing procedure is based on the traditional peer review system in which an editor receives the submitted preprint, examines it, asks a number of referees for an opinion, and then decides accordingly. The confidentiality of both the submission and the identity of the referee are guaranteed.


Decision


Editors make their decision according to the JSTAT Editorial policy. They are ultimately responsible for deciding about preprints, although their decision is generally supported by one or more referees. As a rule preprints are processed as quickly as possible, in proportion to the time required to evaluate their scientific quality.


After acceptance


Accepted contributions are formatted according to the JSTAT style. Linguistic editing is provided. Authors can then proofread them once. At the time of publication, contributions are assigned an ID which can be used for bibliographic reference (for example, J. Stat. Mech. (2016) 013206) and a DOI.

Published contributions are made available to all interested readers on the IOP EJ's website in PDF format.

Published contributions can be updated by publishing errata and addenda.


After a request for revision


If the editor requires a revision, authors must tend to the modifications requested and provide a new version of their preprint and a cover letter within 1 month. Author may ask the editor-in-charge to extend these deadlines if strictly necessary. Revised versions are submitted by the authors from their preprint page. They are reviewed again before a final decision or a further round of revision.


After rejection


Contributions are selected, processed and reviewed as fairly as possible, with no discrimination by active scientists in the field. Authors of contributions that have been rejected can appeal and reply to the editor and referee(s). Appeals must be scientifically justified and not polemic. Please send your rebuttal letters by connecting to the preprint page and using the "write to Editorial Office" button.


Author inquiries and appeals


Although the identity of editors is anonymous, authors can communicate at all times with them through the appropriate "write to editor" button on their pages, or through the Editorial Office.

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