Reviewer Guidelines

Before accepting

•     Accept only if the topic and methods are within your expertise and you can respond within 21 days.

•     Declare competing interests; tell the editor if you think you know who the authors are.

•     Do not involve colleagues or students without the editor’s permission.

What to assess

•     Relevance: Is the question important for public health in South Asia or similar settings? Is the contribution new?

•     Design and sampling: Is the design appropriate? Is the sample size justified? Is the sampling method (e.g., multistage cluster sampling) clearly described and accounted for in analysis?

•     Measurement: Are tools validated and culturally adapted, including translation and back-translation? Are case definitions standard (e.g., WHO growth standards, WHO anaemia cut-offs)?

•     Analysis: Are statistical methods appropriate, including adjustment for confounders, survey weights and design effects? For qualitative research, are sampling, saturation, reflexivity and analysis described?

•     Ethics: Is there ethics approval? Is consent appropriate for the literacy level and context? Were vulnerable groups protected? Are communities anonymised?

•     Reporting: Does the manuscript follow the relevant reporting guideline (STROBE, CONSORT, PRISMA, COREQ, etc.)?

•     Interpretation: Are conclusions supported by the data? Are causal claims made only where justified? Are limitations acknowledged?

•     Policy relevance: Are the implications for programmes and policy realistic and specific?

•     Equity: Are local researchers appropriately involved and credited in studies conducted in South Asia?

Writing the report

1.    Short summary of the study and its main findings.

2.    Major comments that affect validity or conclusions, numbered.

3.    Minor comments on presentation, clarity, tables and references.

4.    Confidential comments to the editor (optional), including any ethical concerns.

5.    Recommendation: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject.

Please be courteous and constructive. Do not request citation of your own work unless it is essential. Do not comment on language errors in detail; a general note is sufficient.

Ethical obligations

•     Keep the manuscript confidential and delete it after completing the review.

•     Do not upload any part of the manuscript or your report into generative AI tools.

•     Do not contact the authors.

•     Report suspected plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication or unethical research to the editor.