The "Three-Review and Three-Proofreading" system is a fundamental editorial framework for books, newspapers, and journals. To ensure transparency, the Journal of Tropical Biology outlines its specific workflow below. Authors can contact the relevant editor via the "Contact Us" section on our website.

1. Authors must submit manuscripts through the system; see the Submission Guidelines section for details.  

2. Editor-in-Chief Preliminary Review: Estimated processing time: 3 days. This review is conducted by the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Editor-in-Chief, or Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Manuscripts that do not meet the basic requirements are directly rejected (rejection comments are visible to the author). Manuscripts with scholarly merit but containing deficiencies are returned to the author for revision (revision comments are visible to the author).

3. Handling Editor Initial Review: Estimated processing time: 3 days. The handling editor does not have the authority to reject manuscripts. Manuscripts deemed suitable for further review are assigned to the column host for preliminary evaluation (review comments are visible to the handling editor, Editor-in-Chief, and column host, but not to the author). Manuscripts requiring improvement are returned to the author for revision (revision comments are visible to the author).  

4. Column Host Preliminary Review: Estimated processing time: 5 days. The column host does not have the authority to reject manuscripts. Manuscripts that are usable but require improvement are returned to the author for revision (revision comments are visible to the author). Manuscripts meeting the standards for external review are forwarded to the handling editor for review arrangement (review comments are not visible to the author).

5. Handling Editor Arrangement for External Review: Estimated processing time: 19 days. The handling editor does not have the authority to reject manuscripts. Usable manuscripts requiring revision are returned to the author for revision (revision comments are visible to the author). Manuscripts meeting the standards for external review are anonymized and sent for expert double‑blind peer review (review assignment details are not visible to the author).  

6. Expert Double‑Blind Peer Review: Estimated processing time: 14 days. Review comments are returned to the handling editor (not visible to the author), who relays them to the author.  

7. Expert Re‑Review: Estimated processing time: 5 days. Re‑review comments are returned to the handling editor (not visible to the author), who relays them to the author.

8. Handling Editor Final Review: Estimated processing time: 5 days. Manuscripts requiring revision are returned to the author for revision (revision comments are visible to the author). Manuscripts that have passed editorial and proofreading stages are submitted to the Executive Editor-in-Chief or Editor-in-Chief for final approval (comments are not visible to the author).  

9. Editor-in-Chief Final Approval: Estimated processing time: 5 days. Manuscripts that do not meet the standards are rejected (rejection comments are visible to the author). Manuscripts that are approved are transferred to the handling editor for processing of publication fees, copyediting, proofreading, and layout. If payment is not completed within the stipulated time, the manuscript will be rejected.