Avaliação de Mesa (Desk Review)

Desk review, or desk evaluation, constitutes the primary and indispensable stage of the editorial process in scientific journals. It is a screening carried out by editors before the manuscript is sent to external reviewers (peer review).

At this stage, the work undergoes a rigorous screening to determine whether it meets the fundamental requirements and the quality standards demanded by the journal. Failure to comply with these requirements results in the summary rejection of the manuscript (desk rejection).

Main Objectives of the Desk Review:

Relevance to the Scope:
Assess whether the object of study and the proposed approach align with the editorial lines and institutional purposes of the journal.

Technical and Scientific Quality:
Evaluate the clarity of the argumentation, the robustness of the methodology employed, and the academic contribution to the field of knowledge.

Normative Compliance:
Verify the strict adherence to formatting guidelines, as well as the standardization of citations and the reference list, in accordance with the instructions for authors.

Integrity and Ethics:
Implement administrative verification protocols, including the use of automated systems for similarity detection and plagiarism prevention.

Operational Optimization:
Filter submissions that present a low probability of final acceptance, preserving the time of reviewers and ensuring faster responses to authors.

Possible Editorial Outcomes:

Proceeding to Peer Review:
Once approved in the initial screening, the manuscript proceeds to detailed evaluation under the double-blind peer review system.

Editorial Requests for Revision:
The editor may request specific adjustments — either formal or linguistic — as a prerequisite for continuing the process.

Desk Rejection:
The evaluation process is summarily interrupted, and the author is notified, generally with a justification explaining the lack of alignment with the journal’s profile.