Peer Review Works

From the outside, peer review can feel like a black box. You upload your manuscript, wait in suspense, and, eventually, you get a decision. But what actually happens behind the scenes? Our peer review process isn’t an accident; it’s engineered. We invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to streamline the submission system, achieve editorial excellence, and uphold academic rigor. Our editors and referees are carefully selected and trained to deliver high-quality, constructive feedback. We ensure that published research reaches the right audience, so your efforts lead to recognition, reuse, and real-world impact. There’s a lot more to peer review than you see. AIP Publishing receives 40,000+ submissions each year. Each one is a milestone in a researcher’s journey. Behind the scenes, our whole system is working to make sure your paper gets fair, timely, and expert attention. Here’s how:

• Our streamlined manuscript submission service makes it easy to check for technical and language errors, reducing delays and minimizing back-and-forth between authors and editors.
• Our team of peer review management experts work with authors to check submissions are ready for review, enabling a more structured and predictable editorial process.
• Research integrity checks and integrated plagiarism detection ensure every submission meets ethical and quality standards from the start, allowing reviewers to focus on evaluating the science, not the paperwork.
• Our teams work closely and meet regularly with our world-class editors, online and in person, to reinforce quality standards. We invest in recruiting, training, and supporting editorial leaders who guide our journals and serve our authors.
• Editors are supported by smart tools and services to help them find the right reviewers, globally, and quickly.
• We customize processes for journals like AIP Advances, where tailored checklists and reviewer expectations focus on inclusive science, checking whether a manuscript is technically correct and original, rather than significance.

We do a lot more than move your article on to a reviewer. Recruiting the right referees, tracking deadlines, updating policies, and ensuring a fair process are all essential parts of what we do. Backed by over $1M in annual investment, our infrastructure ensures faster decisions, efficient workflows, and the best possible version of your research reaching the right audience. Robust peer review depends on a wide range of voices. That’s why we work hard to ensure your work is assessed by the right experts worldwide.

• Research shows that when feedback comes from a small network (such as an editor or author’s immediate connections), there are fewer novel or dissenting views, a lack of critical feedback, and a likelihood of groupthink.
• We actively expand our reviewer pool by engaging early-career researchers, using advanced reviewer-matching tools, and recognizing reviewer contributions, helping to avoid echo chambers and ensure balanced, high-quality peer review.

An average of 10 or more reviewer requests are sent for each submission to ensure you get timely feedback. Last year, that worked out as 284,331 review requests to 126,970 unique reviewers from 167 countries worldwide.

• We train editors and reviewers to ensure that the review process is fair and robust. That includes training for early career researchers and new reviewers, so they understand what constructive, useful peer review really looks like.

 “I trust in the review process. …In fact, reviewers’ comments have prevented me from inadvertently publishing subpar papers a couple of times now.”– AIPP scientist roundtable, 2023[1]

• Our editors don’t just send on your papers; they are invested in delivering valuable comments. They engage, follow up, and shape final decisions.
• Quality peer review takes time, but we keep everyone on track to keep your paper moving along and be the best it can be with fair, constructive feedback.

“…what is of utmost importance to me is the quality of the reviews.”–AIPP scientist roundtable, 2023

By ensuring our peer review process is diverse and fair, we provide rigorous, thoughtful critique designed to strengthen your research and increase the impact of your work. No one loves a rejection email, but we won’t leave you unsupported. Authors consistently agree that specific, actionable suggestions help them improve their work, even when their paper isn’t accepted. Constructive feedback matters, especially after rejection.

• At AIPP we train our editors and reviews to give you the feedback you need to develop your work, so you’re closer to publication regardless of the decision outcome.

 “Rejection with justified comments from either editor or reviewers always help to improve scientific quality of the article. Therefore, if my article is rejected with sufficient logical reasons, I wouldn’t mind.” – AIPP scientist roundtable, 2023

 Transfers save time and preserve peer review value. Authors, especially early career researchers, benefit when rejection doesn’t mean starting over. We support the process by making workflows for transferring to another AIP Publishing journal straightforward, including sharing reviewer comments, and working with editors to ensure transfers are offered.

 “If my submitted article is recommended for transfer to a partner journal and is published, I feel happy for not putting in additional time to submit to the journal myself.” – AIPP scientist roundtable, 2023

• We offered 9,961 transfers last year.

Good peer review doesn’t stop at the decision letter. We prepare you for the next step. In a world of growing research volume and AI-generated content, 79% of surveyed authors[2] agree that peer review will continue to be essential:

• It upholds quality and trust.
• It filters for research integrity.
• It connects you to the scholarly community.

As the volume and complexity of submissions grow, we’re balancing rigor with speed and efficiency to manage peer review and protect the scholarly record. Our role doesn’t end when your article is accepted. As publishers, we curate your research, ensuring it can be discovered, credited, and protected.

• We manage all the information that categorizes your research, such as metadata and stable URLs, as well as licensing and copyright to ensure your work is discoverable and properly attributed to you.
• We protect the scholarly record, managing plagiarism issues, post-publication changes, corrections, and even the occasional messy authorship dispute, so you can rest easy knowing your published research is accurate and fair.
• We ensure your work gets properly indexed and meets all the requirements of major databases, making it easier for others to find and cite your research.
• Our dedicated marketing team showcases your work to the global community, making it highly visible and widely shared.

From submission to publication and beyond, you have our support every step of the way. Ready to submit your research? Find out more about AIP Publishing journals

Learn more about the role of a reviewer

Find out more about reviewing for AIP Publishing journals

 

[1] The Scientist Roundtable is an online community of engaged global authors and researchers that participate in customer insights studies with AIP Publishing.

[2] 1,900 author researchers in the physical sciences surveyed, 2023.