Editorial and Publishing Process

At Archives of Operative Medicine (AOM), we are committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, and rigorous editorial and publishing process. All submissions undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure scientific integrity, ethical compliance, and timely communication.

 

  1. Initial Editorial Screening

After submission:

  • The editorial office verifies compliance with the Author Guidelines, formatting standards, and ethical declarations.
  • Manuscripts that are incomplete, outside the journal’s scope, or lacking ethical approval are desk rejected without external review.
  • Manuscripts passing this stage are assigned to an Associate Editor or Editor-in-Chief for peer review coordination.

Timeline: 3–7 days after submission

 

  1. Double-Blind Peer Review
  • AOM operates a double-blind peer review system.
  • Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent experts in the relevant field.
  • Reviewers assess the manuscript based on originality, methodology, scientific validity, ethical soundness, and relevance.
  • Additional reviewers may be consulted in case of conflicting reviews.

Timeline: Typically 4–6 weeks to initial decision

 

  1. Editorial Decision

The Editor-in-Chief, together with the Associate Editor, considers reviewer comments and makes one of the following decisions:

  • Accept without revision
  • Minor revision
  • Major revision
  • Reject

Authors will receive:

  • A summary of the decision
  • Anonymous reviewer reports
  • Instructions for revision (if applicable)

Timeline for revision resubmission: usually 2–4 weeks depending on revision scope

 

  1. Revised Submission & Final Evaluation
  • Revised manuscripts are checked for responsiveness to reviewer feedback.
  • Minor revisions may be assessed by the handling editor alone; major revisions may be sent for re-review.
  • Final acceptance decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief.

 

  1. Copyediting and Proof Production

Once accepted:

  • The manuscript undergoes professional copyediting for clarity, grammar, consistency, and reference formatting.
  • Authors receive proofs for final review and minor corrections.
  • No major content changes are permitted at this stage.

Timeline: 1–2 weeks from acceptance to proof approval

 

  1. Online Publication
  • Finalized articles are published online-first with DOIs assigned.
  • Articles appear in the upcoming issue archive, fully open access and indexed once eligible.

 

  1. Indexing and Archiving

All published articles are:

  • Assigned DOIs via Crossref
  • Included in the journal’s digital archiving policy (LOCKSS/PKP PN)
  • Made available to indexing databases as per their inclusion schedule

 

Ethical Oversight

  • The entire editorial process adheres to the standards of COPE, ICMJE, and WAME.
  • Suspected plagiarism, duplicate submission, or research misconduct is handled following COPE flowcharts.
  • Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to uphold the highest ethical standards throughout the process.