Peer-Review Process

Journal Mestro applies a double-blind peer review: the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other throughout the process, so that manuscripts are evaluated solely on their scientific merit. Every manuscript sent to review is evaluated by at least two reviewers with expertise in the relevant field.

Review Stages

1. Submission
The corresponding author submits the manuscript through this journal's Open Journal Systems (OJS). Submissions by email are not processed.

2. Initial Screening (3–7 days)
The editorial office checks completeness (title, abstract, keywords, author information), compliance with the Author Guidelines and Article Template, and fit with the Focus and Scope, using the Manuscript Readiness Level checklist. Each manuscript is checked with Turnitin (see Screening for Plagiarism). Manuscripts that are out of scope, insufficiently original, or seriously flawed may be declined at this stage.

3. Editor Assessment (1 week)
A section editor with relevant expertise evaluates the manuscript's relevance, methodology, and potential contribution. Editors who are authors of a manuscript, or who have another conflict of interest, do not handle it.

4. Reviewer Invitation (1–2 weeks)
The editor invites reviewers based on expertise and the absence of conflicts of interest.

5. Double-Blind Review (2–4 weeks)
Reviewers assess originality, technical and methodological quality, clarity of presentation, adequacy of references, and contribution to engineering knowledge, and recommend one of: Accept, Minor Revisions, Major Revisions, Resubmit Elsewhere, or Decline.

6. Editorial Decision (3–7 days)
The editor considers all reviews but is not bound by them. When recommendations differ substantially, an additional reviewer may be invited. Decisions are confirmed by the Editor in Chief.

7. Revision (1–4 weeks)
Authors submit a revised manuscript with a point-by-point response to the reviewers. Major revisions may be returned to the original reviewers.

8. Final Decision, Copyediting, and Layout (2–4 weeks)
Accepted manuscripts are copyedited, typeset in the journal layout, and proofread by the authors before publication.

9. Publication
The final article receives a DOI (prefix 10.47685) and is published open access in the next scheduled issue (June or December). There are no publication fees (see Article Processing Charge).

Editorial Decisions

Decision	Meaning
Accept	The manuscript is acceptable for publication, subject to minor editing.
Revisions Required	Changes are required before a final decision; revisions may undergo further review.
Resubmit for Review	Major revision is needed; the revised manuscript is reviewed again.
Resubmit Elsewhere	The manuscript is better suited to another journal.
Decline	The manuscript is not acceptable for publication and may not be resubmitted.

Authorship During Review

The author list and order must be final at submission. Changes to authorship are not permitted after the manuscript enters review, except in exceptional cases approved by the editorial board, and never after acceptance.

Overall Timeline

The time from submission to publication varies, depending on reviewer response times, the number of revision rounds, and alignment with the June and December issue schedule.