Review Process and Guidelines

    Duties, Procedures and Timing

    Thank you for showing an interest in judging at the next NYCSEF Expo.  Judges have two roles such as to evaluate the posstersand to encourage the students. When judging research projects you will spend approximately 15-20 minutes viewing each presentation as displayed on the poster board, and discussing the research involved with the student(s) present. You will then assess each project and tabulate the score earned by the student(s) using an evaluation sheet which will be provided to you and explained before the judging starts. Judges can then individually interview the team(s) in their competition.  The interview process includes talking with the students, viewing poster, and checking notebooks. We encourage you to register and to let others know about the Expo so they might judge as well.

    NYCSEF finds it important to share how our fair operates in the interest of our contributors. Firstly, the submissions are reviewed by an editorial board or judges to determine whether it suits the philosophy of NYCSEF. The initial round of papers are then further reviewed for their level of sophistication and content; this phase of submission review ensures that papers are evaluated fairly and equally. To ensure academic integrity, the papers are cross-examined for plagiarism as NYCSEF does not accept papers duplicated from other existing works. Plagiarism is met with penalties which may include getting in contact with employers.

    Questions in the Report

    Following the first two stages is pre-judging the posters and papers. Judges will ensure that the students answer the following questions in their report:

    • In general, is the paper easy to follow and does it have a logical flow?
    • Do the title and abstract cover the main aspects of the work?
    • Are the results novel? Does the study provide an advance in the field?
    • Did the study gain ethical approval appropriate to the country in which the research was performed if human or animal subjects were involved and is it stated in the manuscript?
    • Does the paper raise any ethical concerns?
    • Are the methods clear and replicable?
    • Do all the results presented match the methods described?
    • Is the statistical analysis appropriate to the study design?
    • Are the controls appropriate for the study design?
    • Is the data clearly and appropriately presented using clear language?
    • Did the authors make the underlying data available to the readers?
    • Do the conclusions correlate to the results found?
    • Are the figures and tables clear and legible?
    • Are images appropriate for the article? If there are any concerns about duplication or manipulation in images, please raise potential issues by email or in your report.
    • Does the paper use appropriate references in the correct style to promote understanding of the content?
    • Does the English grammar, punctuation or spelling need to be corrected?

    Managing judge ensures that papers and posters in NYCSEF maintain our standard; therefore our team uses discretion in rejecting submissions that do not meet our expectations. To proceed from the final round of review, all editors must vote unanimously on the submission. If conflict occurs, a third reviewer considers the submission. Submission authors reserve the right to withdraw at any time.

    The Peer Review Philosophy

    The process of an author’s work from submission to publishing is infamously lengthy. NYCSEF strives to process and review papers not only fairly but also efficiently. Our peer reviewers are required to submit comments within 7 business days.

    Every single manuscript NYCSEF receives is subject to single blind peer review. Our philosophy on paper writing values anonymous peer review for an academic environment based on honesty. Peer reviewers at NYCSEF are not allowed to contact authors directly. All reviewers consider the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers before taking on the responsibility of reviewing a manuscript via the peer review process.

    Peer reviewers provide the Editor-in-Chief with a recommendation regarding the suitability of the manuscript for publication. Reviewers grade the manuscripts and gives a score from 1to 6detailing the quality of the manuscript. 

    The table for the scoring system will be given to the judges at the judge meeting.