ITP Review process

1. When a paper has been submitted to ITP, the paper is checked and the review managers (editors and associate editors) are informed that a new paper has been submitted.
2. Based on the submitted abstract, a review manager will 'pick up' the paper and screen its suitability for sending out for review.  Decisions on unsuitable papers are made after this screening and authors informed of the decision.
3. If a paper is suitable for sending out for review, the review manager identifies suitable reviewers and invites them to review the paper.  Reviewers are normally asked to complete their reviews within three weeks of receiving the paper.
4. Once  all reviews have been received, the review manager makes an overall decision about the paper and notifies the author of the recommendation.  Copies of the reviews and decision are also sent to the reviewers.  These decisions could be accept (or accept subject to minor editorial changes), revise and resubmit the paper (within six months) or reject the paper after reviews.
5. Once a paper has been accepted, it is scheduled for appearance in the next regular issue.  Typically this means the paper appears in print in less than six months from acceptance.

Thus, in an ideal world, a strong paper that could be through the review process and appear in print within 8 months of submission: 7 days for review manager screening, 21 days for reviews, 7 days for review manager to accept the paper, six months for the paper to appear in print.

For example, of the 360 papers submitted since January 2007, 99 were not suitable for sending out for review and authors were notified of this decision within three days of submission

Of the remaining 261 papers submitted since January 2007, the average duration of the review period was 124 days (i.e. from step 1 to step 4) although over half were processed within 100 days.