This page contains information on the peer review process for the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society.
For information on submitting to the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, see the submission guidelines, or find out what happens to an article after it is accepted.
Peer review principles
Articles published in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society undergo peer review before acceptance.
The Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society operates a single-anonymous peer review process. This means that:
- Reviewer identity is not made visible to author
- Author identity is visible to reviewer
- Reviewer and Author identity are both visible to the editor
The Reviewers interact only with the editor and/or journal team. Reviewers do not interact with each other or with the authors.
Information about the editors of the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society can be found on the journal’s homepage.
In accordance with the London Mathematical Society’s Ethical Policy for Journals, articles submitted to the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society are assessed on their intellectual content without regard to sex, gender identity, disability, age, nationality, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, belief system, neurodiversity, political philosophy, or socioeconomic status.
The peer review process
1) Assessment by editor
Submissions are initially assessed by an editor, who determines whether the paper is suitable for further consideration by the journal. Submissions may be rejected by the editor at this stage, if they are judged to be unsuitable.
2) Expert advice
The editor will send the submission to several independent experts in the field. The experts will advise the editor whether, in their opinion, the paper is likely to meet the mathematical and editorial standards of the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. The editor may ask the author(s) to revise their paper based on the advice of the expert(s).
3) Board approval
The advice of the experts is reported to the Editorial Board and a decision is taken as to whether to proceed with peer review. Submissions may be rejected at this stage.
4) Full peer review
The editor will obtain an in‐depth report on the paper from one or more reviewers.
5) Editor recommendation
The editor receives the reviewer’s report and makes a decision about how to proceed. The editor may ask the author to revise their paper based on the report of the reviewer. If the reviewer’s report is not positive, or identifies a major problem with the work, then the submission will be rejected.
6) Editorial decision
The editor will make a publication recommendation to the Editorial Board, who will agree whether the paper should be accepted, revised further, or rejected.
7) Revisions
If revisions are requested, the editor may obtain further reports from the reviewers about the revisions before returning to stage 6.
Manuscript transfer
If an article is not accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, we may offer the author the opportunity to transfer their submission to other suitable journals published by the London Mathematical Society.
The offer to transfer is made at the discretion of the editors, and may be made prior to or after full peer review.
Authors may accept or decline the offer to transfer. If the offer is accepted after peer review, then the paper will be transferred along with any advice or reviewer reports obtained during the review process.
Peer review times
The Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society aims to provide a fair, rigorous and efficient peer review process. In doing so, the editors must balance respect and consideration for the experts and reviewers who freely volunteer their time and effort, with the needs and expectations of authors.
Editors aim to review papers with a minimum of delay, but it can take time to find volunteers who are both able and willing to review papers. Once an expert or reviewer is secured, waiting times can vary depending on the length of the paper and the subject area.
If a submission is to be rejected from the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, the editors will do so at the earliest opportunity so that the authors may choose to submit to an alternative journal.
On rare occasions, editors may be unable to find suitable reviewers, or are unable to obtain a report from a reviewer long after the agreed deadline has passed. In such circumstances, as a last resort, the editor may offer the author the option to withdraw the paper and submit it elsewhere. Authors maintain the right to withdraw the current version of their article at any time during the review process.
We thank authors for their patience and understanding.
Solutions to famous problems
Some famous open problems or theorems result in large numbers of submissions with flawed proofs. Submissions purporting to solve these problems will only be considered if the argument is exceptionally clear, complete and precise. Submissions which appear implausible are rejected quickly. It is incumbent upon authors to provide convincing proofs, and not upon the journal to find errors.
Research integrity checks
The Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society may use third-party tools to screen submissions for research integrity issues, including plagiarism, duplicate submission, or similarity with fraudulent paper mill submissions.
Appeals
Authors are entitled to appeal against a rejection decision made by a journal where it is clear that the decision was based on a factual error in the review process. Decisions based on editorial judgement of novelty or significance may not be appealed.
More information on the appeals process can be found in the Ethical Policy for Journals.
Endorsement
Publication of individual authors' work in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society does not constitute endorsement by the London Mathematical Society of the policies or actions of any government or other agencies.
