Research articles and most other article types submitted to Artificial Intelligence & Environment undergo peer review, normally involving at least two independent expert reviewers.
Artificial Intelligence & Environment operates a single-blind peer review model, in which reviewers know the identities of the authors, but reviewer identities are not disclosed to the authors unless otherwise agreed or required by the journal.
Submitted manuscripts first undergo an editorial quality check for completeness, scope, formatting, and potential ethical or originality concerns. Manuscripts that pass the initial check are assigned to an appropriate editor for assessment and, where suitable, external peer review.
Editors consider reviewer reports when making decisions, but final editorial decisions rest with the Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editor. If an editor has a competing interest in relation to a manuscript, another qualified editor will be assigned to handle the manuscript.
The journal aims to conduct peer review in a timely manner, but review times may vary depending on reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, and editorial requirements.
Editorial conflicts of interest and editor-authored submissions
Members of the editorial team may publish in Artificial Intelligence & Environment, but they never take part in decisions on their own work. This section applies to every manuscript in which at least one author is the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, an editorial board member, a guest editor, a reviewer for the journal, or a member of the publisher's staff.
How these manuscripts are handled
Independent handling editor. The manuscript is assigned to an editor who has no competing interest with any author: not at the same institution, not a co-author in the previous three years, and not a current or recent supervisor or student of any author.
When the Editor-in-Chief is an author. The manuscript is handled by the other Editor-in-Chief, provided that they have no competing interest in relation to the manuscript or its authors. If both Editors-in-Chief are authors, or if the other Editor-in-Chief has a competing interest, an independent senior member of the editorial board is designated to oversee peer review and make the final editorial decision. No author of the manuscript takes part in selecting reviewers or making editorial decisions.
Information barrier. The author who is an editor is removed from the manuscript's editorial record in the submission system, cannot see reviewer identities, reports or discussions, and receives only the decision letter sent to all authors.
Review standard. At least two independent external reviewers, chosen by the handling editor alone. The author who is an editor may not suggest reviewers.
Disclosure. The published article states that it was handled independently and identifies the role of the editor who handled it.
Limit on editor-authored research articles
Research articles with at least one author from the groups above may not exceed 25% of the research articles in any single issue, or in each of the two most recent issues. The publisher checks this proportion before each issue closes; where the limit would be exceeded, the article is published in a later issue.
Other editorial conflicts
An editor with any other competing interest in a manuscript, such as a recent collaboration, a personal relationship or a financial interest, declares it and passes the manuscript to another editor. Guest editors may not handle their own submissions, and articles by the guest editors of a special issue may not exceed 25% of that issue.
These rules apply the publisher's policy on Editorial Decision-Making and Editor-Authored Submissions.