Peer Review Process

Peer review in the Ukrainian Journal of Medicine, Biology and Sports is a mandatory process that ensures the scientific quality and ethical standards of the publications.

Privacy and Ethics Policy

The editorial office employs a Double Blind Peer Review system:

• The identity of the author is concealed from the reviewer.
• The identity of the reviewer is concealed from the author.
• All participants in the process are required to adhere to the principles of Publication Ethics.

Stages of Manuscript Processing

• Incoming control: checking for compliance with the Publication Terms, General Requirements, and uniqueness control (copyrights).
• Initial assessment: the Editor-in-Chief checks the manuscript for alignment with the journal’s scope. In case of a potential conflict of interest (e.g., if the editor is a co-author or has ties to the authors), these functions are transferred to the Deputy Editor.
• Coding: the technical editor removes any references to the authors from the manuscript and assigns an identification code to the work.

Expert Review (External Peer Review)

The anonymised article is sent to a member of the Editorial Board responsible for the relevant field and to two independent reviewers (PhDs).

• Reviewer requirements: specialisation in the relevant field, no affiliation with the same institution as the author, and no conflict of interest.
• Subject of analysis: relevance of the problem, novelty, title-content alignment, practical significance, and interest to the scientific community.

Possible Decisions and Outcomes

Based on the completed review form, the reviewer may choose one of the following options:

1. Accept without revisions.
2. Accept after revisions (minor or major).
3. Reject (with mandatory justification).

If the article requires changes, the author receives an anonymous review text. After revisions, the material may undergo a second review. The final verdict is made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the experts’ conclusions and the journal’s requirements. To avoid conflicts of interest, articles by the Editor-in-Chief, their family members, or close colleagues are reviewed independently, with decisions taken by the Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

Expert evaluation period:                          2-4 weeks

Time to first decision:                  4-8 weeks

Review storage period:                                             3 years after publication