Editorial Independence and Non-Interference

The International Journal of Disaster Risk Management (IJDRM) safeguards full editorial autonomy. Decisions on manuscripts are made solely within the journal’s academic evaluation process, without undue influence from administrative or operational roles. Every submission is considered through peer review and handled by independent academic editors and reviewers. Journal administration does not participate in, direct, or override accept/reject decisions.

Editorial outcomes are based only on scholarly considerations, including:

  • whether reviewers are appropriately qualified, unbiased, and suitably matched to the manuscript;
  • whether reviews are substantive and whether the authors’ replies and revisions address the key points raised;
  • the manuscript’s overall scientific merit (originality, rigor, methodological soundness, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope).

Across all stages of editorial work, IJDRM applies transparent standards to ensure research in disaster risk management is disseminated responsibly and in a timely manner.

Editors and Editorial Staff as Authors

To prevent conflicts of interest and protect impartiality, editors and editorial staff do not handle or make decisions on manuscripts in which they are authors or have any competing interest (e.g., co-authorship, close collaboration, shared institutional affiliation, personal relationships, or other connections that could reasonably be perceived as bias).

When a submission includes an editor, editorial board member, or editorial staff member as an author/co-author, IJDRM applies the following safeguards:

  • the manuscript is reassigned to an independent handling editor (or guest editor) with no conflict of interest;
  • the paper is evaluated by at least two external, independent reviewers;
  • the final decision is issued by a non-conflicted editor or editorial board member, independent of the author(s);
  • the author-editor is excluded from access to the editorial workflow for that manuscript and cannot influence reviewer selection, correspondence, or the decision process.

These measures ensure that manuscripts authored by individuals affiliated with the editorial team are assessed under the same standards and level of scrutiny as all other submissions.