The criteria for JPG articles consist of possessing high scientific value material and contributing to marine science fields in terms of making new progress and advancement in the field.

The specialization of the journal together with the high impact of the journal should attract marine experts' interest in addition to the scientists outside the field.

Articles in JPG should be thorough and fluent and the results should be accessible and significant to a broad readership. Different parts of the article should contain abstract, introduction and conclusion which should not be meticulous on the scientific issues but technical enough to enable peers to verify results and follow the details of the work.

JPG asks all qualified referees to register in the journal's website and send their latest resume to jpg@inio.ac.ir for consideration. After confirmation by JPG Editor-in-Chief, relevant manuscripts will be sent through journal system for review.

Selecting referees for review is an important task and much effort has been applied for choosing appropriate candidates. Referees should have specific characteristics to match the standards of reviewing JPG journal and are selected based on their expertise, reputation, and specific qualities such as punctuality, fairness, moderation and experience.      

Journal of the Persian Gulf (JPG) is an open-access, electronic journal publishing original research articles across the whole of marine science and technology.

A JPG article should report new and original results that are (i) of high scientific value, and (ii) make a substantial advance within a subfield of marine science. The impact of the research should be significant enough that marine scientist outside the immediate field would be interested in the work. Authors of technically correct work that is only likely to be of some interest to a few experts in the field will, in general, be advised to seek publication in a more specialized journal.

Articles in JPG should have an abstract, introduction and conclusion that highlights, and makes accessible, the main results and their significance to a broad, non-specialist readership. The main body of the article should not however compromise on the scientific rigour and detail, and there should be sufficient technical and background information to enable peers to corroborate results and follow the details of the work described.

JPG ask all qualified referee to register in journal website and send us their latest resume to jpg@inio.ac.ir for consideration. After confirmation by JPG Editor-in-Chief, related manuscript will be sent through journal system for judgment.

Referee selection is critical to the review process, and we base our choice on many factors, including expertise, reputation, specific recommendations and our own previous experience of a referee's characteristics. For instance, we avoid using referees who are chronically slow, careless, too harsh or too lenient. We normally check with potential referees before sending them manuscripts to review.

JPG is committed to rapid editorial decisions and publication, and we believe that an efficient editorial process is a valuable service both to our authors and to the scientific community as a whole. We therefore ask referees to respond promptly (normally within three weeks of receiving a manuscript, although this may be either longer or shorter by prior arrangement). If referees anticipate a longer delay, we ask them to let us know so that we can keep the authors informed and, where necessary, find alternative referees.

The JPG referee report form and accompanying notes below outline the main areas and criteria we ask referees to consider in assessing whether an article meets the standards of the journal.

Guide to the key points of the referee report form

Referees are asked to complete the report form to assist the Editorial Board in judging the suitability of an article for publication in JPG. It should always however be supplemented by a full and detailed written report that justifies the decision as to why an articles does, or does not, meet JPG’s editorial criteria.

In assessing an article, referees are requested to address a number of key points relating to the scientific quality and significance of the research, and the accessibility of its presentation to the journal's broad readership.

Global rating of the paper

·         Has the article been written with scientific rigour, accuracy and correctness?

·         Is there a clear discussion of the ideas presented, with appropriate referencing for the context of the paper?

·         Does the article contain information not known before and how important is this to the research field in question?

·         Is the research presented put in context of the research field as a whole?

Clarity

·         JPG articles should be accessible to both specialists and non-specialists. The abstract, introduction and conclusion should be clearly written (accessible to the non-specialist) and the main body of the article should contain enough information for other researchers in the field to check the results presented. Do you think this has been achieved?

·         Is the article written in an easy to follow format, with a clear, informative title?

·         Is the standard of English acceptable? [Note: referees are not expected to correct punctuation or grammar except when the meaning needs clarification by an expert.]

·         Are the diagrams, tables and captions clear and essential?