What an invitation includes

The email invitation and portal notification include:

• Manuscript title and abstract
• Article type and scope keywords
• Required completion timeline (typically 3 weeks)
• A one-click magic-link — signs you in automatically, no password required (valid for 30 days)
• Link to the full manuscript (visible only after accepting)

Before accepting — self-check

Before accepting, ask yourself:

• Do I have expertise in this subject area?
• Do I have time to provide a thorough review within the required timeline?
• Do I have any conflicts of interest (recent collaboration, competing work, personal or financial interests)?
• Have I seen this submission before — perhaps as a colleague's draft or in another journal's review?

Before you can click Accept, the portal will ask you to confirm — with a required checkbox — that you have no conflict of interest with this manuscript. Please answer honestly. If a conflict exists, decline instead.

Declining an invitation

If you cannot review, please respond promptly so the editor can seek another reviewer. Declining with a suggestion for an alternative reviewer is enormously helpful — even just a name and an institution. We accept declines without explanation; we appreciate them with one.

After accepting

Once you accept, you will see:

• The anonymised manuscript (author names removed) and any supplementary files, downloadable from the invitation page
• A review form with:

1. Summary of the work
2. Overall assessment — strengths and contribution
3. Major issues (optional)
4. Minor issues (optional)
5. Confidential comments to the editor (optional)
6. An optional slot to upload an annotated .docx with tracked changes and comments — your name is automatically stripped from the file before it reaches the author

• A recommendation (Accept / Minor revision / Major revision / Reject)
• Your expertise level on this topic (High / Medium / Low)
• An option to sign the review with your name (opt-in — off by default)

Automatic reminders arrive 7 days before your due date, 1 day before, and every 5 days after if you have not yet submitted.

The annotated .docx (optional but encouraged)

Many authors find inline mark-up (Track Changes + Word comments) more actionable than a prose review report.

How to do it:

1. Download the anonymised .docx from the invitation page
2. Open in Microsoft Word
3. Review → Track Changes → On
4. Edit inline, or Right-click → New Comment for margin notes
5. Save and upload through the review form

Privacy safeguards:

• CJES automatically strips your name from: the file's metadata (creator, last-modified-by, timestamps) · the author attribution on every tracked change · the author attribution on every comment · initials
• The handling editor decides per file whether to release it to the author (default: withhold)
• Please also avoid writing your own name inside the text of a comment — anonymisation cannot detect prose
• .docm files (macro-enabled) are refused for security; please save as .docx

Extensions

If you need more time, email the handling editor and we will grant a 7–14 day extension in most cases. We understand peer review is volunteer work alongside your other commitments. What we ask in return: tell us as early as you can.

Related guides

• Guidelines

  Reviewer guidelines

  What makes a good peer review: how to evaluate manuscripts systematically, the criteria CJES uses, and how to write a constructive review report.

• Ethics

  Confidentiality and ethics

  Reviewers handle unpublished work and confidential author information. Ethical commitments govern your conduct at every stage of the review.

• Recognition

  Reviewer recognition

  Signing in via ORCID links your reviewer role to a verified academic identifier — the primary recognition mechanism currently available. Additional recognition programs (annual certificates, an annual reviewer list, and an Outstanding Reviewer award) are under development and will launch when ready.