The corresponding or submitting author submits the article via ScholarOne at https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/apmaj. Author is required to register before submitting the article. Prior submitting the article, author needs to ensure that he or she follows the submission guideline as outlined in the journal website. This includes removing the authors and affiliations list in the article for the blind review process.

The Managing Editor will check whether the article submitted is appropriate for the journal and is sufficiently original and interesting. If not, the article may be rejected without being reviewed any further (desk reject).

Via the ScholarOne, the handling editors send invitation to two suitable reviewers according to their expertise. As APMAJ is using “double blind review system”, handling editors need to ensure that the authors name and affiliations list are not in the article. Potential reviewers are given a week or two to response to the invitations. Potential reviewers may consider the invitation against their own expertise or availability. If the potential reviewers decline, handling editors are required to invite another suitable potential reviewer and the process repeat.

Once the reviewers accept the invitation, they will be given sometimes to review the article. During the review process, the reviewers are required to fill up the Reviewer’s Evaluation Form. The review is then submitted to the journal, with a recommendation to accept or reject the article – or else with a request for revision (either major or minor) before it is reconsidered.

The handling editors consider all the returned reviews before making an overall decision. If the reviews differ widely, the editor may invite an additional reviewer to get an extra opinion before making the decision.

The author will be informed about the decision via the ScholarOne.

If the article is accepted, it will be sent to the production team. If the article is rejected or sent back to author for either major or minor revision, the handling editor will include constructive comments from the reviewers to help the author to improve the article. The handling editor needs to ensure that the reviewers of the manuscript remain anonymous.