The review process at EM consists of three main steps: desk reject check, technical check and the review rounds. These steps are briefly explained below, more detail is included in the editorial "Electronic Markets on reviewing". Please also consider to check the reviewer resources provided by EM's publisher Springer.

Desk reject check

All submissions are subject to a desk reject check by the Editor-in-Chief or the Co-Editors. This ensures that papers, which are either out of our journal’s scope or immature in nature, are returned early and we can give feedback to the authors as soon as possible.

Technical check

During the technical check the submitted paper will be checked for the use of the correct templates, for its anonymization and for correct citations. Please:

• make sure that your submission has not been published, submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere
• choose a paper category as well as a section (see Sections and Paper Categories). Please note the preferred article length must be in a range of 8,000 to 10,000 words (excl. reference list) according to the chosen paper category
• use American English spelling throughout.

Two files are required for submission: a title page with author information and biographies and a blinded manuscript without author names, affiliations etc. It must include:

• the title page with abstract and authors' information
• the manuscript in the EM template with the table on the first page containing additional information (keywords, JEL classifications, number of words and word processing program name)
• no indications on authors' names and addresses. Please eliminate all of them from the manuscript, document properties or file names. References to the authors must be blinded (e.g. [blindref], [blinded for review process]
• citations and references in APA style.
• a cover letter presenting your paper and indicating your suggestions concerning possible editors and/or reviewers who could handle your submission (see below for more information).

Manuscripts that do not comply with these guidelines will be automatically desk-rejected. Please use the templates for the title page and the manuscript available at Springer Link under “Title Page and Manuscript Templates” 

Additional files with tables, figures, etc. may be attached when submitting the manuscript but this is not required. It is sufficient to have all tables and figures in the manuscript.

Review rounds

After a manuscript has passed the desk reject check and the technical check, it will be forwarded to an Associate or Senior Editor (special issue submissions will be sent to a Guest Editor), who invites reviewers and usually provides a summary (meta) review with the decision to the authors. A Senior Editor could double-check the decision prior to being sent to the authors. An Editorial Decision is possible if the revisions formulated by the reviewers are precise and may be easily checked by the editors.

Depending on the feedback of reviewers and the responsible Editor, multiple review rounds are possible at Electronic Markets and only the final decision "Accept without revisions" means that the article is accepted for publication. 

Reviewing for EM

Colleagues interested in joining the EM database of reviewers are always welcome. Kindly note the following steps before approaching EM:

• Inquiries must be sent from an institutional e-mail address. Any inquiry sent by a personal address (Gmail or similar) will not be answered.
• Kindly attach to your inquiry a resumé/CV and a link to your professional page (Google Scholar, ORCID or similar)
• Your research field should have a link to the IS-Community and in general to the EM scope.