Editorial Team Structure – Each manuscript submitted will be assigned an editorial team by the editors-in-chief and student editors. Each editorial team will consist of one faculty editor, one student editor, and two student reviewers, with the student editor serving as a third reviewer. The primary roles and responsibilities of each member of the editorial team are as follows:

Faculty Editors – Will be assigned to a manuscript based on their disciplinary expertise and the content of the manuscript submitted. The faculty editor will be responsible for providing a synopsis of the manuscript to the student editor. The synopsis should comment on the perceived general strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript with the intention of mentoring and directing student reviewers to thoroughly consider particular aspects of the work. Following completion of student critiques, the faculty editor will work with the student editor to finalize a summary statement and make a recommendation (e.g. accept, accept with major revisions, accept with minor revisions, or reject) 

Faculty editors with expertise in specific disciplinary areas are recruited to serve by invitation of a member of the editorial board.

Student Editors – Responsible for leading the team of student reviewers by disseminating and discussing the faculty editor’s synopsis. The student editor will also serve as an independent student reviewer and be responsible for initially compiling student reviews and drafting a summary statement and recommendation. The student editor will work with the faculty editor to finalize the summary statement and recommendation, will communicate the recommendation to the editors-in-chief, and will return the reviews and decision to the manuscript authors.

Student editors are recruited once each academic year and should be senior (3rd or 4th year) medical or graduate students with interests in a variety of disciplinary areas. Student editors will be required to (i) have previously served as a student reviewer, (ii) complete online peer review training, (iii) attend an introductory peer review training session organized by Creighton’s American Physician Scientists Association (APSA), and (iv) must commit to reviewing revised manuscripts to ensure continuity.

Student Reviewers – Responsible for independently conducting a thorough review and composing a detailed critique that includes but is not limited to considerations from the faculty editor’s synopsis or discussions with the student editor.

Student Peer Reviewers will be recruited twice yearly and will be required to complete online peer reviewer training.

Editors-in-Chief – Responsible for oversight of the editorial process, management of editorial board member assignments and workloads, resolution of apparent conflicts of interest, final decisions on manuscripts, superintendence of editorial board membership, administration of journal operations, production of biannual issues, and journal policies and governance. Editors-in-chief may also serve as editors for manuscript review.

Editors-in-chief are selected by Creighton University School of Medicine leadership with the recommendation of the editorial board.