Significance

• What is the importance of the findings to researchers in the field?
• Are the findings of general to interest to researchers in related and broader fields?

Novelty

• Are the claims in the paper sufficiently novel to warrant publication?
• Does the study represent a conceptual advance over previously published work?

Introduction

• Does the introduction provide sufficient background information for readers not in the immediate field to understand the problem/hypotheses?
• Are the reasons for performing the study clearly defined?
• Are sufficient and appropriate references cited to justify the work performed?
• Are the study objectives clearly defined?

Methods/Technical rigour

• Are the methods used appropriate to the aims of the study?
• Is sufficient information provided for a capable researcher to reproduce the experiments described?
• Are any additional experiments required to validate the results of those that were performed?
• Are there any additional experiments that would greatly enhance the quality of this paper?
• Are appropriate references cited where previously established methods are used?

Results/Statistics

• Are the results clearly explained and presented in an appropriate format?
• Do the figures and tables show essential data or are there any that could easily be summarised in the text?
• Is any of the data duplicated in the graphics and/or text?
• Are the figures and tables easy to interpret?
• Are there any additional graphics that would add clarity to the text?
• Have appropriate statistical methods been used to test the significance of the results?

Discussion

• Are all possible interpretations of the data considered or are there alternative hypotheses that are consistent with the available data?
• Are the findings properly described in the context of the published literature?
• Are appropriate references cited?
• Are the limitations of the study discussed?

Conclusion

• Are the conclusions of the study supported by appropriate evidence or are the claims exaggerated?
• Are the significance/applicability/implications of the findings clearly discussed?

Literature cited

• Is the literature cited balanced or are there important studies not cited, or other studies disproportionately cited?

Journal selection

• Is the journal you are sending your manuscript to the most appropriate one for your particular study?
• Is the manuscript written in the style of the journal?
• Is the science suited to the journal audience?
• Have such factors as the scope of the journal, the type of study and the category of manuscript, and the impact your findings will have on the field been properly considered?

Language

• Is the manuscript clearly written so as to be understandable by researchers not in the immediate field?
• Is the manuscript written in correct English and free of grammatical errors that may distract readers?

Edanz's service is the only Asia-based language editing service Elsevier recommends to their authors. The American Chemical Society Publications also recommend the Edanz service to their authors, with Edanz Editing and Liwen Bianji the only recommended services localized for Japanese and Chinese authors, respectively.