How We Publish

Before submission, Authors are expected to confirm that the work meets the Journal’s scope, Track-alignment and quantum-relevance, format, and ethical requirements. This preparatory stage is the first safeguard; Authors must ensure that the manuscript is original, properly attributed and referenced, free from undisclosed conflicts of interest and aligned to one of the five Journal Tracks. The Journal provides Author Guidelines, Aims & Scope, Publication Ethics statements, the Fee Policy, a Data Availability Policy, as well as downstream statements on how we handle, process and store intellectual property. This is designed to help Authors assess suitability before formal submission.

At this point, Authors may also indicate their intended publication route: a Pre-Print release for early accepted works without undergoing peer review, a Single Issue for standalone publication (some of which may need an ISBN), or inclusion in a curated Volume Issue. Pre-Issue Releases, also known as Pre-Releases, can be made public prior to Volume release, when requested. Declaring this intent early allows the Editorial Office to assign the appropriate workflow and processing schedule. Assigning this locks the manuscript at the appropriate gate before proceeding, requiring consent from both the Author(s) and the Editorial Team before passing final quality control checks and safeguarding unpublished data.

Authors may also begin building a manuscript from their own Author account at any time. Work prepared this way is saved privately as Drafts in the Author’s own submissions inbox; it is not visible to the Editorial Office and does not enter the Editorial Article Inbox until the Author chooses to declare an intent to publish.

Triage is the Journal’s first act of assessment and the point at which an Author declares an intent to publish. It is a rapid, structured check of scope, the quality of completeness, and of the covering letter against the minimum information required: the title, the abstract (up to 250 words), up to six (6) keywords, the intended publication route, the intended Track, a correspondence email, the minimum number of references required and declarations.

During triage the Editorial Team assesses whether the described work falls within the Journal’s scope and shows the minimum standards of presentation, rigour, credibility, and originality. Track alignment is assessed here but is not, in itself, an exclusion criterion. Where a declaration does not align with the Track selected by the Author but is demonstrably within the Journal’s overall scope, the Editorial Team may redirect it to the appropriate Track and continue consideration.

The Journal's Unique Value Proposition

What makes JQBio unique is our approach to scope alignment. We assess each submission through three measures: its alignment with the Discovery Track, its coverage of our defined scope and keywords, and its position of quantum relevance.

Outcomes at this gate are recorded as one of the following: proceed to formal intake; return to the Author for clarification; or decline with reasons.

A manuscript enters the formal workflow once the full submission is logged through the designated channel accompanied by the required declarations. At this gate, the Editorial Team verifies that the submission system has fully extracted the title, abstract, Author information, body content, and references. We also check for Authors to have uploaded ny additional data and checked the formatting of Tables, Equations are only data content. Finally, we confirm intent to publish under the default Open Access Licence (CC BY 4.0).

Submissions that fail this intake check are returned to the Author(s) with a clear explanation of what is missing. A timestamped record is created for every submission received, and all correspondence is conducted by email to the declared correspondence email. Comments at each stage are also available through the same submission system.

At the Pre-Review stage the Editorial Office acts on the complete manuscript for the first time, examining the full content for suitability: structure, completeness of the reference and exhibit record, methodological transparency, and readiness to be placed before independent reviewers.

Publication fees, where applicable, are settled at this stage begins. The Journal deliberately decouples the declaration of intent from payment: no fee is sought to declare an intent to publish or to pass triage. Equally, no manual or automated editorial effort is expended on the full content until the payment queue has been cleared or a waiver or grant has been confirmed. Where no fee applies, the manuscript proceeds directly.

Manuscripts that pass Pre-Review are assigned to independent reviewers with relevant expertise via the traditional peer review model using a double-anonymous practice. We use the anonymised PDF (blinded) that was submitted for this purpose. Authors and reviewers are not identified to one another during the review process. This reduces bias and supports objective evaluation. Reviewers may be named after publication.

Reviewers are asked to assess the work against established criteria including scientific soundness, methodological clarity, significance within the field, and adherence to ethical and reporting standards. Reviewer recommendations are recorded as one of the following: Accept; Accept with Minor Revisions; Accept with Major Revisions; Reject; or Reject but Encourage Resubmission.

The editor in charge of the manuscript evaluates the reviewer reports, considers any additional input, and makes a decision based on the evidence. The Editorial decision is recorded and communicated to the Authors.

Alternatively, for authors participating in the Readmy Peer Review Programme and Readmy Reviewer Programme, peer reviewers are offered free access to Readmy Reviewer to assist with the peer review. Readmy is a free, AI software developed by PROTOCELL IO for JQBio to assist peer reviewers identify structural elements within manuscripts that require attention. Manuscripts, raw text and unpublished data, however, are never assessed directly by AI or used to train an AI model or Readmy functionality.

Under this same programme, JQBio opens a post-publication window allowing all members of the scientific community to continuously review and offer critical feedback on articles via Readmy.

When revisions are requested, Authors are given a clear deadline and a point-by-point response to the reviewer and editor comments. The revised manuscript is checked to ensure that the requested changes have been addressed. Major revisions may be returned to the original reviewers for further assessment; minor revisions may be verified by the editor.

If Authors cannot meet the required revisions within the requested timeframe, they may request an extension or withdraw the manuscript. Once the manuscript satisfies the Editorial requirements, it is formally accepted. Acceptance is a distinct milestone from publication: it confirms that the work is approved for the Journal, but does not itself release it to the public record.

After acceptance, the manuscript enters production. The Editorial office prepares the Version of Record, applying the Journal’s house style, formatting references, verifying metadata, and assigning identifiers. Authors are given the opportunity to review the final proof before it is locked for publication.

At this gate, the following checks are completed: title, abstract, Author list, affiliations, funding declarations, conflict-of-interest statements, data-availability statements, and any required licences or permissions. No work is published until these checks are complete and the production proof is approved.

The final publication release is controlled by the declared publication route and a separate approval step. This gate ensures that works intended for a Volume Issue are not accidentally published as standalone articles, and that Pre-Print releases are clearly labelled as such.

• Pre-Print: works that do not undergo peer review and released immediately after acceptance, clearly marked as a preliminary version.
• Pre-Issue Release (Pre-Release, early-access): articles that are intended for Volume Issue releases but released earlier for faster discoverability.
• Single Issue: published as an independent article or ISBN-registered work (where applicable), suitable for landmark papers or special collections.
• Volume Issue: compiled into a numbered Journal issue with volume, issue number, and DOI, following the standard schedule for the Journal.

Release to the public record requires an explicit approval action recorded against the manuscript. This creates a permanent, auditable trace of who Authorised publication and when.

Published works are not silently altered. If an error is discovered after publication, the Journal will issue a Correction notice, linked to the original article. If the integrity of the work is seriously compromised, a Retraction or Expression of Concern may be issued, following the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

All post-publication changes are recorded in the Journal’s audit record. Readers can see the original publication date alongside any subsequent notices, preserving the integrity of the scholarly record.

The Journal reviews its publication controls periodically to ensure they remain aligned with best practice in scholarly publishing. Editorial staff, reviewers, and Authors are expected to follow the policies set out in the Publication Ethics, Author Guidelines, Terms of Use, and Data Availability Policy. Any concern about the process may be raised through the complaints and feedback pathway described on the Contact page.