Producing authoritative, actual and reliable information sources is a complex process. It starts with the Authors and ends with the satisfied Readers and their feedback. The role of CRICKETT Editors is in the very middle of this all. They must patiently and tirelessly work with the Authors, Peer-Reviewers, Readers, and the Publisher - to ensure that the final articles meet the highest standards of the international scientific community, as well as the additional journal-specific values. The following rules are rigorously applied, and procedures followed, before the public can be exposed to CRICKETT contents:

Novelty

Manuscripts not bringing any new findings, or not delivering a new level or clarity of human understanding, will be rejected.

Originality

Any contributions that are redundant to a previous work published anywhere else will be rejected. Accordingly, Authors must declare that their manuscript sent to CRICKETT has not been published, accepted for publication, or submitted for any other publisher's consideration elsewhere, prior to their submission to CRICKETT, and that the same will not occur concurrently with the CRICKETT submission, pre-publication, publication and post-publication processes and stages; the only exception is that the manuscript gets rejected by CRICKETT (which gives the Authors the freedom to act with other publishers as they see fit). The following exceptions apply: (i) Presenting at scientific meetings. Meeting organizers may promote Authors' presentations in press releases or press conferences, publish abstracts in meeting proceedings, or post presentations on their websites. CRICKETT should not be mentioned in such instances. (ii) Releasing results to government agencies to meet statutory or funding requirements or urgent public health needs. (iii) Media outreach, when Authors respond to peer or media inquiries at meetings or elsewhere. However, Authors are required to refrain from indicating that their research has been submitted to or accepted by CRICKETT.

Preprint

CRICKETT accepts manuscripts that have previously been posted on a non-profit pre-print server, but the Authors must notify CRICKETT of any pre-print related to their manuscript submission. CRICKETT itself is a non-profit journal and can provide pre-print exposure to articles (for example, to obtain public pre-publication open feedback / peer-review).

Scientific accuracy

All scientific studies must be reproducible, which means that other researchers must be able to repeat them and obtain equal or comparable results. Articles that do not present precise information on how the results were obtained and conclusions reached, will be rejected. Measurement units, definitions and terminologies used in CRICKETT articles must minimize any possibility of error, misunderstanding, or ambiguity.

Importance and applicability

In addition to the above criteria, articles published in CRICKETT shall be charged with intellectual importance, practical applicability, or both.

Research integrity and ethics

Even the most thrilling results and transformative discoveries cannot be published in CRICKETT if they were obtained by illegal actions or in ethically unacceptable ways. The same applies to any work resulting from wrong methodology, study design flaws, or outright lies (such as mimicking the work of others, or false data, and other failures). The role of our Editors is to detect and eliminate any signs of the above wrongdoings to the maximal possible extent. CRICKETT Editors make sure that Authors sign all prescribed declarations and provide the required evidence of their claims. The seek advice from Peer-Reviewers. They verify facts on the Internet. And if possible, they go back to Authors and work with them until the shortcomings are eliminated. Only then an article can be recommended for publication.

Manuscript processing pipeline

1. Upon receiving a manuscript, the Redaction (typically, one of the Editors who is on duty at that time) checks the submission package for completeness. Submissions not meeting the essential criteria for further consideration and peer-review will be postponed. The Corresponding Author will be notified of that fact, and invited to make corrections.

2. Only manuscripts passing the above initial screening will be forwarded to the pool awaiting the assignment to a suitable Managing Editor. He or she then determines whether the manuscript meets the fundamental criteria for novelty, originality, accuracy, importance, applicability, research integrity, and ethics.

3. If the Managing Editor suggests to decline a manuscript without peer-review, the Chief Editor is contacted for a second opinion, whose decision is binding.

4. If not declined in the steps 2 or 3, the Managing Editor sends the manuscript to at least two peer-reviewers.

5. Using the obtained peer-reviews and their own professional judgment, the Managing Editors then decides whether to decline a manuscript. In such cases, again, the Chief Editor is contacted for a second opinion, whose decision is binding.

6. If not declined in the step 5, the manuscript is presented to the entire Editorial Board and their eventual consultants for discussion. Each manuscript is assigned one of these statutes:

• Rejected - Publication is declined. The Reviewers’ comments are provided to Authors.

• Major Revision Required - The manuscript is not suitable for publication. The Reviewers’ comments are provided to Authors. The Authors are invited to conduct further research, add more data, re-analyze data, and/or make other improvements. The Authors are notified that a second peer-review will be necessary. The process goes back to step 1.

• Minor Revision Required - CRICKETT has interest in the manuscript, but its current status or form is not acceptable and must be revised before further consideration for publication. The Reviewers’ comments are provided to Authors. A second peer-review is not necessary. The process goes back to step 5.

• Recommended for Publication - The Editorial Board proposes that the manuscript can be published. The process continues by step 7.

7. The Chief Editor reviews all final (revised) submissions and may raise further questions and make additional suggestions. The Chief Editor is the only person who can officially accept a paper for finalization. Upon such formal acceptance for finalization, every manuscript will then move through rigorous processes for manuscript editing, production, illustration, design, production approvals, and publication.