What is a PCI RR-interested journal?
A PCI RR-interested journal does not automatically accept PCI RR recommendations but has signed up to be alerted (with the consent of the authors) when a new Stage 1 in-principle acceptance (IPA) or Stage 2 acceptance is recommended by PCI RR. The journal may then contact the authors to arrange additional peer review or make a direct publication offer to the authors. Any such communications or offers are beyond the purview of PCI RR, and PCI RR does not broker or mediate negotiations.
A journal may prefer to be listed as PCI RR-interested where it wants to reserve the right to perform additional peer review of RRs that receive a positive recommendation by PCI RR. For example, in determining the publishability of a RR, the journal may decide to apply additional review criteria to those assessed by PCI RR, or the journal may want to perform its own scientific evaluation of the existing PCI RR review criteria, the level of bias control, the pre-planned evidence strength, or the disciplinary fit of the submission.
As part of the Stage 1 submission checklist, authors are asked whether they want PCI RR-interested journals to be informed when (and if) their manuscript receives a positive Stage 1 or Stage 2 recommendation from PCI RR. Where this consent is provided, PCI RR-interested journals will gain access to a list of recommended submissions, including author names, contact details, the Stage 1 recommendation and reviews where authors elect to publish them prior to Stage 2 acceptance, and the URL to the Stage 1 manuscript registered by PCI RR. The journal then has the option to contact the authors directly, and independently of PCI RR, to suggest additional peer review or to make a direct offer of Stage 1 IPA or Stage 2 acceptance. A PCI RR-interested journal can also wait until a positive Stage 2 recommendation before making any such contact or a publication offer.
