ADADA Code of Ethics for Reviewers

Contribution to editorial decisions

Peer review is an essential component of scholarly communication and plays an important role in maintaining the quality, integrity, and academic value of the journal.

Reviewer evaluations assist the Editorial Committee in making editorial decisions and may also help authors improve their manuscripts through constructive feedback.

Promptness

Reviewers should respond to review invitations promptly.

If a reviewer feels unqualified to review a manuscript or cannot complete the review within the requested timeframe, the reviewer should promptly notify the Editorial Committee and decline the invitation so that alternative reviewers may be assigned.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must avoid conflicts of interest in the review process.

Reviewers should decline review invitations when personal, professional, institutional, financial, or collaborative relationships could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, their objectivity.

If reviewers become aware of potential conflicts of interest or compromised anonymity during the review process, they should notify the Editorial Committee immediately.

ADADA follows a double-blind peer review process in which authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another.

Reviewers should respect and preserve the integrity of the double-blind review process and should avoid actions that may reveal their identity to authors or the identity of authors to others.

Reviewers should not contact authors directly regarding submitted manuscripts.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Reviewers must not share, discuss, distribute, or use unpublished materials from submitted manuscripts without authorization from the Editorial Committee.

This obligation applies both during and after the review process, including in cases where reviewers decline the review invitation.

If reviewers suspect research misconduct or ethical concerns, they should communicate their concerns confidentially to the Editorial Committee.

Objectivity and Professionalism

Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and professionally.

Reviews should focus on the scholarly, technical, artistic, and methodological quality of the work and should avoid personal criticism of the authors.

Reviewer comments should be constructive, respectful, and sufficiently detailed to support their recommendations.

Reviewers should avoid hostile, discriminatory, defamatory, or inappropriate language.

Confidentiality:

Reviewers should respect the confidentiality of the review process. Any manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated as such; they must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the ADADA Chief Editorial Committee (who would only do so under exceptional and specific circumstances). This also applies to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Reviewers should not discuss the manuscript with anyone other than the ADADA Editorial Committee member, nor should they discuss any information from the manuscript without permission. If Reviewers suspect misconduct, they should notify the ADADA Editorial Committee member in confidence, and should not share their concerns with other parties unless officially notified by the journal that they may do so.

Accuracy and Research Integrity

Reviewers should carefully evaluate the originality, validity, clarity, and integrity of submitted manuscripts.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and should report possible plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabrication, falsification, copyright infringement, or other ethical concerns to the Editorial Committee.

Reviewer recommendations should be consistent with the comments provided in the review report.

Use of Generative AI

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, review materials, or unpublished data to generative AI systems or external services without explicit authorization from the Editorial Committee.

Reviewers remain fully responsible for the accuracy, confidentiality, professionalism, and integrity of their reviews.

Timeliness and Responsibility

Reviewers should complete reviews within the requested review period whenever possible.

If additional time is required, reviewers should contact the Editorial Committee promptly.

Reviewers are also expected to follow the ADADA reviewer guidelines and contribute to maintaining the quality and integrity of the journal’s peer review process.