As an Editor (or Guest Editor), you will perform the following duties.

(1) Create an account in the manuscript central (MC) using your preferred email address at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jflex and manage the paper review.

(2) When you get a paper assignment notification, please first check whether there is any conflict of interest (COI) with authors. If yes, please let the Topical Editor know immediately so that he or she can reassign it to another Editor.

(3) Before you assign the paper to reviewers, you may judge whether the paper is suitable for this journal. If it is out of scope or has very poor quality, you can recommend immediate rejection with detail comments.

(4) The Editor should assign the manuscript to at least 2 independent reviewers (3 reviewers are preferred) and make sure you have at least two reviewers agreed to review.

• The Editor should not change the number of reviewers required by the system to allow for issuing a recommendation. It is very important to find qualified reviewers.
• In general, there should be no new reviewer invited in subsequent review rounds. However, if during the subsequent review process, a reviewer does not accept to perform the follow-up review, the Editor may invite new reviewer. Editor is also encouraged to check the paper and see if the reviewers’ comments have been sufficiently addressed by authors in the revised manuscript and issue his/her recommendation once enough reviews are available.

(5) Once you receive enough reviews for a paper, you will be asked to make preliminary editorial recommendation to EiC, which should include your own explanations to support the recommendation. Please check all the reviewers’ comment carefully and ask the reviewers to revise the comments, if needed (it needs to rescind the review for review resubmission). We aim to give constructive comments to the authors and avoid possible unpleasant rebuttals. The reviewers may have different perception of the meaning of their recommendations. We expect that the Editor’s decision should be based on the content of the reviews and his/her personal observation of the paper. If one or more reviewers suggest rejection, a reject recommendation can be recommended on the basis of only 2 independent reviews.

(6) After you submit your preliminary recommendations, EiC will check on them and make the final decision based on your recommendation and assessment and the reviewers’ reports.

(7) When we receive rebuttal from authors, the responsible Editor is encouraged to give constructive explanations.