The Strides in Development of Medical Education Journal (SDME) is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal and its purpose is providing an accurate and fair critical review of all submitted manuscripts.

For paper submission, the author should register on the journal website (https://sdme.kmu.ac.ir) and register. After receiving their username and password via e-mail, the authors could use the "Submit paper" link, log in, and submit their manuscript.

To ensure the correct review process, the following steps are seriously considered:

After the submission of the manuscript by the corresponding author, the manuscript is checked firstly upon Ethics and Plagiarism issues. In case of any fraud, the manuscript is rejected. In a similar vein, the editorial office staff check the manuscript about Aim/Scope, Language and Format/Style. If there is something wrong, the manuscript is sent back to the author to be resubmitted.

All manuscripts are considered to be confidential. The Editor-in-Chief will assign the manuscript to at least 2 anonymous reviewers. Manuscripts are evaluated through peer review. Reviewers provide recommendations, but the Editor-in-Chief has sole and final responsibility for the editorial decision. The Editor-in-Chief may consult the Academic Editor or members of the Editorial Board when appropriate; however, the final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

All reviewers are selected according to their expertise and are blinded to the authors' identities and their affiliations.

As SDME is a rapid response journal, the review process takes between 1 to 2 months. SDME decision letter determines the status of the manuscript in four ways:

1.Accept:

This means that the journal will publish the paper in its original form, and no changes are required.

2. Minor Revision: 

Authors will receive comments on their manuscript and will be asked to submit a revised copy (showing all changes they have made to the manuscript using Track and Change or highlighted color) beside a response to the reviewer file in which they need to respond to each and every comment of the reviewer one by one (for each reviewer separately). Revisions should be submitted in 4 weeks after the decision letter.

3.Major Revision: 

It means a chance to reorganize the manuscript to meet the required scientific criteria for another review process. Here also authors are asked to submit a revised copy (showing all changes they have made to the manuscript using Track and Change or highlighted color) beside a response to the reviewer file in which they need to respond to each and every comment of the reviewer one by one (for each reviewer separately). Revisions should be submitted in 4 weeks after the decision letter. Otherwise, authors need to go through a resubmission process.

4. Rejection: 

In most cases, methodological and scientific concerns are the main origins of rejection. Causes of rejection will be sent to the authors to provide more chance for them for publication in other journals.

Appeals and Complaints Procedure 

Authors who believe their manuscript was rejected due to a factual misunderstanding, technical misinterpretation, or substantial procedural irregularity during the peer review process have the right to lodge a formal scientific appeal. Disagreements with the editorial judgment alone (such as novelty or clinical significance) are not eligible grounds for appeal. To submit an appeal, the corresponding author must send a detailed, point-by-point rebuttal addressing the reviewers’ and editors’ comments, supported by objective scientific evidence, within 30 days of receiving the final decision. Appeals are evaluated objectively by an independent editor or an ad-hoc committee who were not involved in the initial decision. To submit an appeal or file a procedural complaint, please submit your request through our Complaints and Suggestions Page or contact the editorial office at [medcj@kmu.ac.ir].

 Editing

Accepted manuscripts will be edited according to the SDME Guide for Authors (our journal provides English language service to non-English speaking authors too) and returned to the corresponding author for final approval. All contributing authors are responsible for all statements made in their manuscript during editing and production that are authorized by the corresponding author.

Corrections

Requests for publishing corrections should be sent to the editorial office. Corrections will be reviewed by editors and are published immediately and linked online to the original paper. Below diagram shows the review process of SDME journal in detail.

Handling Submissions from Editors and Editorial Board Members 

To guarantee editorial independence, absolute transparency, and prevent any real or perceived conflict of interest, submissions authored or co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, or members of the Editorial Board are subject to rigorous independent oversight.

Recusal and Blinding: The authoring editor/board member is completely recused from the entire peer-review, handling, and decision-making pipeline. Their access to the manuscript record within the journal’s editorial management system is blocked to ensure strict confidentiality.

Independent Assignment: The manuscript is assigned exclusively to an independent Associate Editor, Guest Editor, or an independent senior member of the Editorial Advisory Board who has no institutional, scholarly, or personal ties to the authors.

Peer Review & Final Decision: The submission undergoes the standard double-blind peer-review process with external, independent reviewers. The handling editor independently makes all final editorial decisions.

Transparent Disclosure: If accepted, a clear statement is included in the published article declaring the author’s editorial affiliation alongside an explicit note that the peer review and editorial handling were conducted independently without their participation.

Policy on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Reviewers