Submission, Review, Acceptance, Production, Publication, and Indexing Process

The Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology (JWMAP), owned, managed, and published by KODISA Foundation, operates a transparent editorial and peer-review process designed to maintain academic quality, scientific validity, originality, research integrity, ethical compliance, confidentiality, and publication standards.

JWMAP publishes research within the broad field of Environmental, Occupational, and Human Wellbeing Sciences, including environmental exposure and health, occupational health and safety, human physiology and measurable wellbeing, applied psychology and human factors related to health and safety, health/environment/safety technologies, climate and community resilience, and emerging scientific applications consistent with the journal’s Aims and Scope.

The editorial and publication process generally consists of the following stages.

Step 1. Submission and Initial Editorial Screening

All manuscripts submitted to JWMAP undergo an initial administrative and editorial screening before external peer review.

The Editorial Office may examine:

• completeness of the manuscript and required submission materials;
• conformity with the Aims and Scope of JWMAP;
• compliance with the journal’s manuscript template and submission requirements;
• authorship, affiliations, and corresponding-author information;
• required ethical and publication declarations;
• conflicts of interest;
• funding information;
• ethics approval and informed consent, where applicable;
• data availability information, where applicable;
• disclosure of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies, where applicable;
• originality and text-overlap concerns;
• completeness and apparent accuracy of citations and references; and
• general scholarly and methodological suitability for external peer review.

JWMAP may use iThenticate, Crossref Similarity Check, KCI Similarity Check, or other appropriate similarity-screening systems, where available.

Similarity-screening results are used as supplementary evidence in editorial assessment and do not independently determine an editorial decision.

Manuscripts that are incomplete or do not comply with the journal’s technical, ethical, or formatting requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before further consideration.

Manuscripts involving serious concerns regarding research integrity, publication ethics, fabricated or unreliable content, inappropriate AI use, or substantial non-compliance with journal policies may be rejected during the initial screening stage.

Step 2. Desk Review by the Editor-in-Chief or Handling Editor

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated Handling Editor.

The desk review considers:

• relevance to the Aims and Scope of JWMAP;
• originality and scientific contribution;
• importance of the research question;
• adequacy of the theoretical or scientific background;
• appropriateness of the research design;
• methodological rigor;
• adequacy of data collection and analysis;
• reliability and validity of measurements or analyses, where applicable;
• ethical compliance;
• transparency of research reporting;
• quality and appropriateness of references; and
• overall suitability for external peer review.

JWMAP welcomes appropriate quantitative, qualitative, experimental, observational, mixed-methods, systematic-review, meta-analytic, computational, AI-based, machine-learning, wearable, sensor-based, environmental, occupational, physiological, behavioral, and other scientifically appropriate research methods consistent with the journal’s Aims and Scope.

The use of artificial intelligence or machine learning as a legitimate scientific research methodology is not, by itself, grounds for rejection. Such methods must, however, be transparently described and scientifically validated in accordance with the journal’s Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy and research-reporting requirements.

Manuscripts that fall outside the journal’s scope or fail to meet the minimum scientific, methodological, ethical, or scholarly standards may be rejected without external peer review.

Step 3. External Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the desk review are normally sent to at least two independent expert reviewers with appropriate academic or scientific expertise.

JWMAP operates a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential during the review process.

Reviewers may evaluate, as appropriate:

• originality;
• scientific or scholarly contribution;
• relevance to the field;
• appropriateness of the research design;
• adequacy of sampling or data sources;
• validity and reliability of measurements;
• appropriateness of statistical, qualitative, computational, or other analytical procedures;
• transparency and reproducibility of the methods;
• interpretation of results;
• consistency between results and conclusions;
• ethical compliance;
• adequacy and accuracy of references;
• limitations of the study; and
• clarity and quality of presentation.

For research involving specialized methods, such as structural equation modeling, experimental designs, qualitative analysis, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, physiological measurements, environmental exposure assessment, or other advanced methods, reviewers with relevant expertise may be selected.

Reviewers provide comments and recommendations to the journal. Reviewer recommendations are advisory.

The final editorial decision remains the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief or authorized editor and is not determined automatically by reviewer recommendations or by artificial intelligence systems.

Submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, and other confidential peer-review materials must not be uploaded to external generative AI systems by editors or reviewers, except where specifically permitted under the journal’s AI policy without compromising confidentiality.

Step 4. Editorial Decision and Revision

Following peer review, the editorial decision may include:

• Accept
• Minor Revision
• Major Revision
• Re-review after Revision
• Reject

When revision is requested, authors should submit:

1. a revised manuscript; and
2. a detailed response to reviewers explaining how each comment has been addressed.

Where an author does not agree with a reviewer comment, the author should provide a clear and academically reasoned explanation.

Revised manuscripts may be assessed by the Handling Editor, Editor-in-Chief, original reviewers, or additional reviewers, depending on the nature and extent of the revisions.

If reviewer opinions differ substantially, the Editor-in-Chief may:

• obtain an additional independent review;
• consult an Associate Editor or other qualified editor;
• consult the Editorial Board; or
• request additional clarification, data, analyses, or revisions from the authors.

The final decision is based on the scientific quality, methodological adequacy, ethical compliance, originality, transparency, and overall suitability of the manuscript for JWMAP.

Step 5. Final Acceptance and Editorial Verification

A manuscript may be accepted when the responsible editor determines that it satisfies the scientific, ethical, methodological, and editorial requirements of JWMAP.

Before final publication processing, the Editorial Office may verify:

• article title;
• abstract and keywords;
• author names and affiliations;
• corresponding-author information;
• ORCID information, where provided;
• in-text citations and references;
• tables, figures, and captions;
• statistical and methodological presentation;
• ethics approval statements;
• informed-consent statements, where applicable;
• funding statements;
• competing-interest or conflict-of-interest statements;
• author-contribution statements;
• data availability statements;
• acknowledgements;
• declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, where applicable; and
• other required publication declarations.

Acceptance does not prevent the journal from investigating subsequently discovered concerns involving research integrity, publication ethics, data integrity, citations, images, authorship, AI use, or other matters affecting the reliability of the scholarly record.

Step 6. Copyediting and Production

Accepted manuscripts proceed to copyediting and production.

Copyediting may include:

• grammar and language correction;
• punctuation and stylistic consistency;
• formatting according to JWMAP style;
• consistency of terminology;
• reference formatting;
• table and figure formatting;
• author-name and affiliation verification;
• declaration formatting; and
• preparation of article metadata.

Copyediting is intended to improve presentation and consistency without changing the scientific meaning of the manuscript approved through peer review.

The production process may include preparation and verification of:

• DOI information;
• article title and author information;
• affiliations;
• corresponding-author information;
• received date;
• revised date;
• accepted date;
• publication date;
• volume and issue information;
• pagination or article numbering;
• final article layout;
• PDF;
• XML, HTML, or other electronic publication formats, where applicable;
• references;
• supplementary information; and
• article metadata.

Step 7. Author Proof and Final Publication

The corresponding author may be asked to review the final proof before publication.

At the proof stage, authors should carefully verify:

• author names;
• affiliations;
• article title;
• abstract;
• tables and figures;
• equations;
• references;
• acknowledgements;
• funding information;
• ethical declarations;
• DOI and publication information; and
• typographical or production errors.

Only minor corrections are normally permitted at the proof stage.

Substantial changes to data, analyses, authorship, interpretations, conclusions, tables, figures, or other scientific content require prior editorial approval and may require additional review.

Following final approval, the article is published online through the official JWMAP publication platform.

Step 8. DOI Registration, Metadata, Archiving, and Indexing

After publication, JWMAP processes article information for DOI registration, metadata management, digital preservation, scholarly discovery, and indexing in accordance with the journal’s current publication and indexing status.

Article metadata may be registered, deposited, transmitted, or updated through applicable:

• DOI registration services;
• journal publication platforms;
• scholarly metadata services;
• academic information systems;
• digital archives;
• library and discovery systems;
• abstracting and indexing databases; and
• other scholarly information services with which JWMAP participates.

JWMAP seeks to maintain accurate metadata, including:

• article title;
• author names;
• affiliations;
• ORCID identifiers, where available;
• abstract;
• keywords;
• DOI;
• volume and issue information;
• publication date;
• received, revised, and accepted dates;
• references;
• funding information;
• full-text access information; and
• other required bibliographic metadata.

Inclusion of an article in a particular external database depends on the journal’s current indexing status, the policies of the relevant database, and the technical or editorial requirements of that service.

JWMAP does not guarantee indexing of individual articles in databases for which the journal has not been formally accepted or registered.

Step 9. Post-Publication Review and Scholarly Record

Publication does not end the journal’s responsibility for the integrity of the scholarly record.

If concerns are raised after publication regarding:

• data integrity;
• image integrity;
• citation or reference accuracy;
• plagiarism or text overlap;
• authorship;
• conflicts of interest;
• ethical approval;
• undisclosed or inappropriate generative AI use;
• fabrication or falsification;
• duplicate or redundant publication; or
• other research or publication ethics matters,

JWMAP may conduct an editorial investigation and request relevant explanations or supporting materials from the authors.

Where appropriate, post-publication action may include:

• correction;
• addendum;
• editorial notice;
• expression of concern;
• retraction; or
• other action in accordance with JWMAP’s research and publication ethics policies.

Relationship with Other JWMAP Policies

This editorial process should be read together with the journal’s current:

• Aims and Scope
• Instructions for Authors
• Manuscript Template
• Research and Publication Ethics Policy
• Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
• Authorship and Contributor Policy
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Data Availability Policy
• Corrections and Retractions Policy
• Peer Review and Confidentiality Policy

Where there is a question concerning a specialized methodological, ethical, or editorial matter, the applicable JWMAP policy should also be consulted.

Editorial Contact

Questions concerning submission, peer review, editorial procedures, research ethics, publication policies, or individual manuscript cases may be directed to:

Professor Woo-Taeg KWON
Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology (JWMAP)
KODISA Foundation
Email: awtkw@eulji.ac.kr