Instructions for Reviewers

Thank you for your service for the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME) by volunteering your time and expertise to review the submitted manuscripts. As TBME Reviewer you plays an extremely important role.

Review time for TBME is THREE WEEKs from the date an invitation is extended. Reminders of deadlines will be sent automatically from the Manuscript Central in pursuit of this deadline. In case you would need extension to complete the review, please contact the handling editor who invited you.

By log on the site, you will find the instructions to create account, access manuscript and electronically submit your review.

Manuscripts should not grow appreciably after a review, and when appropriate probably should contract a bit. Authors should not state the obvious in their papers, but only refer to established science by providing a reference. In principle, most references should be from refereed periodicals instead of conference proceedings papers with little peer reviews.

The review categories are self-explanatory. However, four criteria are NECESSARY for a recommendation of acceptance for publication: NOVELTY (new science or a new approach to established science), QUALITY (technical content is accurate), APPROPRIATENESS (a manuscript that is complete in and of itself, and a good “fit” with the transactions to which it was submitted), and IMPACT (will the work have a significant impact to the field or just a incremental step).

You are to score the manuscript according to the following codes:

  • Accept = Manuscript is ready for publication as is.
  • Minor Revision = Manuscript is almost ready for publication; the author should be required to make some small amendments. The amended manuscript may not be returned to the reviewers.
  • Major Revision = Manuscript has significant scientific merits but requires some major changes or revisions by the author, and should be returned to the reviewers for a second review round.
  • Reject and Resubmit = Manuscript has some scientific merits but some critical issues to be addressed. Most likely this will involve conducting substantial additional studies generating experimental or computational data to further validate the developed methods or demonstrate the values of the central idea.
  • Reject = Manuscript should be rejected and should not be considered again by TBME for publication.

Confidential recommendations to the editors can be entered in the electronic form. Sometimes a more informal judgment about the paper summarizes better a more technical evaluation, and you should share your ideas privately with the editors.

Please provide detailed comments to the author in the electronic form. A good review will guide the effort of the author in amending the manuscript and preparing it for publication; or in the event of recommended rejection, that will help the author understand why the manuscript is considered unworthy for publication at this time. If recommending “Reject and Resubmit”, please clearly state what key issues should be addressed that would likely lead to your recommendation for accept of the re-submission. In completing this and all sections of the form, please be courteous to the authors, even if you may have formed some strong negative opinions about the manuscript. Please make sure to rate the manuscript which is only available to the editors. A “good” rating is minimum for possible acceptance by TBME. Please pay particular attention to the ratings of “innovation” and “overall impact”.

Reviews of manuscripts submitted to the transactions are “blind” reviews, and the identity of every reviewer is carefully protected.

The Editorial Office will inform you of the decision taken in the manuscripts you are a reviewer. If you have any questions regarding the manuscript or the review process, please contact the editor who is handling the review process with Manuscript Number referred.

Once again, thank you for serving as a reviewer for the IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Engineering. Your participation adds value to the peer review process.