Guide for Reviewers
ROLE OF REVIEWERS.
Reviewers help the Journal maintain scientific quality, originality, integrity and relevance. Reviews should provide the editor with an informed assessment of the manuscript's scholarly merit and should help authors improve their work through clear, constructive and respectful comments. Tourism operates a double-anonymized peer review process. Manuscripts should therefore be evaluated solely on their academic merits.
BEFORE ACCEPTING A REVIEW INVITATION.
Please accept a review invitation only if the manuscript falls within your area of expertise and if you can return the review within the requested time. If you are unable to review, please decline promptly. A review should also be declined in the event of any personal, professional, institutional or financial conflict of interest, or whenever there is any circumstance that may compromise objective judgement.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND REVIEW ETHICS.
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They may not be shared, circulated, discussed with others, or used for personal advantage. Information obtained through peer review must not be used in the reviewer's own work before publication. Reviews should be objective, evidence-based and free from personal criticism. If you suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, unethical research conduct or any other form of misconduct, please alert the editor in your confidential comments.
WHAT TO EVALUATE.
Reviewers are asked to assess whether the manuscript addresses a relevant and interesting question for the interdisciplinary field of tourism studies; whether it offers a clear contribution to theory, method and/or practice; whether the argument is logically developed and adequately grounded in the literature; whether the research design, data and analytical procedures are appropriate and sufficiently rigorous; whether the interpretation of findings is credible and balanced; and whether the paper is clearly written, well organized and properly referenced.
HOW TO WRITE THE REVIEW REPORT.
A good review report is concise, specific and constructive. It is helpful to begin with a short overall assessment of the manuscript, followed by the main strengths, principal concerns and concrete suggestions for improvement. Comments should distinguish clearly between major issues and minor points. Criticisms should, whenever possible, be accompanied by reasons and practical guidance.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE EDITOR.
Reviewers are normally asked to recommend one of the following editorial outcomes: accept; accept subject to minor revisions; reconsider after major revisions; or reject. The recommendation should be consistent with the written report. Please use the confidential comments to the editor for matters that should not be shared with the authors.
REVIEWING A REVISED MANUSCRIPT.
When evaluating a revised manuscript, please consider whether the authors have responded adequately to the substantive concerns raised in the earlier round of review. Reviewers are not expected to introduce entirely new major criticisms at a late stage unless these arise directly from the revision itself or concern serious scholarly or ethical problems.
USE OF GENERATIVE AI TOOLS.
Because manuscripts under review are confidential, their content should not be uploaded into generative AI systems or other external tools that may retain, learn from or expose submitted material. Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, tone and confidentiality of their reports.
TIMELINESS AND PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT.
Timely peer review is essential for an efficient editorial process. If unforeseen circumstances prevent you from completing the review on time, please inform the editor as soon as possible. The Journal values reviews that are fair, collegial and developmental, especially where a manuscript shows promise but requires improvement before it can be considered for publication.
This guide should be read together with the Journal's Guide for Authors and Publication Ethics statement.
Josip Mikulić, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal
josip.mikulic@iztzg.hr