Manuscript Evaluation

The Evaluation Process

Cercetări Marine – Recherches Marines follows a double-blind peer review process to ensure the quality and integrity of all published articles. After submission, each manuscript undergoes an initial editorial screening to assess relevance, formatting, and ethical compliance. Manuscripts that pass this stage are sent to at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the subject area. Reviewers remain anonymous to the authors, and vice versa. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s scientific rigor, originality, clarity, and contribution to the field. They provide detailed comments and one of the following recommendations: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject. Based on the reviewers' feedback, the editor makes a decision. Authors receiving revision requests are asked to submit revised manuscripts within 2–4 weeks. Revised papers may be returned to reviewers for re-evaluation. Once accepted, articles are copyedited and published online with a DOI. The average review and publication time is approximately 4 months from submission to publication. The journal adheres to COPE’s ethical standards.

The evaluation will consider the following aspects:

  • Language of the manuscript;

  • Page layout (including page size and margin width);

  • Font types and sizes used;

  • Formatting of titles (article title and section headings);

  • Author details (names, institutional affiliations, and addresses);

  • Presence and formatting of the Abstract and Keywords (including word count);

  • Structure and formatting of the main text;

  • Disclosure of funding sources for the research;

  • Formatting and completeness of the References section.

The reviewers' recommendations will be based on a comprehensive evaluation of the following criteria:

  • Clarity and conciseness of the manuscript title;

  • Accuracy of the abstract in reflecting the structure and content of the manuscript;

  • Appropriateness of the selected keywords;

  • Clarity and coherence of the background/introduction;

  • Sufficient detail in the materials and methods section;

  • Compliance with ethical standards for animal or clinical research;

  • Originality of the data presented;

  • Novelty and significance of the manuscript and its findings;

  • Use of internationally accepted symbols and units of measurement;

  • Application of standardized international nomenclature (e.g., zoological, botanical);

  • Overall quality of writing—clear, concise, and logically structured;

  • Strength of the discussion and conclusions in relation to the results;

  • Proper citation and referencing throughout the manuscript;

  • Quality and clarity of tables and figures;

  • Appropriateness of manuscript length in relation to the topic.

Based on this assessment, the reviewers may issue one of the following recommendations:

  • Acceptance without revision;

  • Acceptance with minor revisions (e.g., editorial or stylistic changes);

  • Acceptance pending major revisions;

  • Rejection for the current volume with encouragement to resubmit after revision;

  • Rejection.

Reviewers will submit a standardized evaluation form to the Chief Editor detailing their findings and final recommendation. In cases where there is significant disagreement between reviewers, a third expert will be consulted for an additional review.

Only manuscripts receiving favorable evaluations will be accepted for publication. If minor or major revisions are recommended, authors will be asked to submit a revised version for inclusion in the same volume of Cercetări Marine – Recherches Marines.

For manuscripts rejected by the reviewers but recommended for resubmission, authors will be invited to revise and submit their work for consideration in the next volume of Cercetări Marine – Recherches Marines.

After final editing, an electronic proof of the manuscript will be sent to the author. If the author does not return the corrected proof within the specified time frame, the manuscript may not be published.