Our Process

Axios Review is a non-profit independent review service. We are an editorial board of respected researchers that is not affiliated with a journal or publisher. We have your paper rigorously assessed by our editors and external reviewers and then help it find the right journal.

Here’s an overview of our peer review process:

The first part is similar to a regular journal:

  1. Papers are submitted to us via a simple online interface.
  2. Authors provide a ranked list of four target journals for their paper (e.g. journals A, B, C and D).
  3. The paper is passed to an editor. Inappropriate papers are returned without review. Editors suggest reviewers and we send out review requests.
  4. Reviewers are asked to assess the quality of the paper and also comment on its suitability for each of the four target journals.
  5. The editor uses the reviews to decide on where the paper can be referred (e.g. “this paper could fit in journal B, C or D, but is not suitable for journal A”.).

And then it gets interesting:

  1. We send the editor’s decision to the authors, our fee ($250) is due at this point.
  2. With the authors’ approval, Journal B is sent our referral. We send them the reviews, the reviewer identities, and the editor’s recommendation.
  3. If journal B agrees that the paper could fit in their journal, the authors revise accordingly and submit through the journal’s normal submission route.
  4. If journal B does not want the paper, the referral is then sent to journal C. This process is repeated until the paper finds an outlet.
  5. When a journal has seen external reviews and is interested in the paper, it is much less likely to be rejected on the grounds of novelty or scope.

Once referred, 85% of papers reviewed by Axios are accepted for publication at the first journal they’re sent to, and half of the accepted papers do not go back out for external review.


Axios Review is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics and we adhere to their code of conduct and guidelines for best practice in peer review. Have questions? See our Common Questions page, or email us. Axios Review is a registered BC non-profit, cert. no. S0065926.