Peer Review Process
Authors who submit to Future-AILS Journal are presumed by the journal to make certain representations about their submission and about their rights to publish it. Authors are strongly encouraged to consult the journal’s Author Representations Policy for further details.
How to Submit
Manuscripts intended for publication should be submitted by uploading an electronic version through the journal's submission portal: Future-AILS Submission Portal.
Submission requires that the lead author creates an account, providing full contact details and a statement that the material contained in the submitted paper has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. If the submission is an expanded version of a conference or workshop paper, the lead author must identify the conference/workshop and specify the differences between the submitted manuscript and the conference version.
The journal supports the ORCID identification system for researchers and scholars. If you do not already have an ORCID identifier, you will be prompted to create one at ORCID when uploading your submission.
Review Process
All papers will undergo a rigorous peer-review process typical of scientific journals. The review process is managed within the Manuscript Central system. The sequence of steps is as follows:
- Initial Submission: Authors submit the paper to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC).
- Associate Editor Assignment: The EIC assigns an Associate Editor (AE) based on the topic, availability, and potential conflicts of interest. If the EIC has a conflict of interest with any of the authors, an AE is designated to handle the entire review process, and the EIC will not be involved further.
- Referee Selection: The AE recommends 3-4 referees to the EIC. The EIC ensures that the referees have not been overly solicited and have no conflicts of interest with the authors. After agreeing on deadlines, the paper is made available to the referees. The majority of referees commit to a 4-week review period, while some request 6 weeks, and fewer than 10% may require up to 10 weeks.
- Paper Review: The AE and referees review the paper. The EIC monitors the progress of reviews to ensure that deadlines are met.
- Decision Proposal: Upon receiving all reviews, the EIC asks the AE to propose an editorial decision, with a justification based on the referees' main concerns. Possible decisions include:
- Accept
- Minor Revisions
- Major Revisions
- Reject
- Author Notification: The EIC sends the decision letter to the authors along with referees' reports. Anonymous copies of the reviews are also sent to the AE and referees for acknowledgment.
- Production Processing: Accepted papers are forwarded to the journal's production team at Future-AILS for processing.
For papers requiring revisions (Minor or Major), authors are expected to make revisions as requested and submit the revised version. In cases of Major Revisions, the revised paper typically undergoes a new round of review, generally by the original referees. A second round of Major Revisions that warrants another rejection is rare, but possible. Authors may resubmit rejected papers as new submissions, and in some cases, the AE and EIC may encourage resubmission.
Address Updates
Authors must inform the EIC of any changes in their address. Correspondence on editorial matters should be directed to ails@fupress.org. For questions regarding accepted papers, please contact: ails@fupress.org.
Technical Correspondence
Letters and notes with detailed technical content may be considered for publication as Technical Correspondence. These submissions are reviewed but not subjected to the same in-depth review process as regular full-length papers.
Author Appeals
In the event an author has concerns about the handling of their paper, they should first bring these concerns to the attention of the EIC. If the concerns remain unresolved, the author may appeal to the Chair of the Publications Board in accordance with Future-AILS' policy.
