Peer review declaration

All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science has been peer reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing. • Type of peer review: Double-blind review 1. As a first step, SESBT 2021 flyer was prepared along with the design of a dedicated website www.vitsesbt.com was launched. All necessary information related to SESBT 2021 namely About the Conference, Call for Papers, Keynote Speakers, Committee, Registration, Key Dates and Contact Information was made available in the website together with the option of sharing latest updates. Information related to call for papers were then shared with the research, academic and industrial communities through email and social media. 2. A team comprising of the guest editors and members of the organizing and technical committees screened all the received abstracts (prepared following the conference template) and shortlisted those related to the conference theme and its novelty. The team decided on the acceptance or rejection of the abstracts and the decision was communicated to the authors through our conference email [email protected] 3. Along with the acceptance email, the authors were requested to prepare their full length paper (following the conference template) and submit the same to [email protected] on or before July 6, 2021. 4. Based on the first come first serve basis, plagiarism check was carried out on the received manuscripts by the guest editors using TURNITIN software. Those manuscripts with less than 15% plagiarism alone were accepted for the initial screening process that was carried out by the same team which screened the abstracts. 5. As part of the initial screening process, every manuscript underwent a rigorous review (Review 1) to ensure novelty, good technical content, methodology, clear experimental / computational procedures and significant results. 6. The guest editors then forwarded the comments received after Review 1 to all authors with regard to either restructuring their paper or towards including more results in their work, before their first revised submission. 7. All authors were then invited to present their research work in the conference. A total of 20 parallel paper presentation sessions were scheduled and each session was chaired by 2 experts. The session chairs were provided with the RUBRICS for their evaluation. 8. Revised manuscripts after incorporating the suggestions by session chairs were sent for an elaborate review (Review 2). In order to make the review process more stringent, a separate reviewer form was designed and provided to the reviewers along with the manuscript to be reviewed. 9. The decision by the reviewers was strictly adhered and those manuscripts recommended by them alone were sent to authors requesting them to submit the final revised manuscript prepared using the IOP EES template provided to them. 10. The authors were requested to incorporate the suggestions provided by both reviewers and session chairs and then submit their final revised manuscript in 2 different files (one with the corrections highlighted and the other without highlighted). 11. The received final revised manuscripts were cross verified for incorporation of reviewer’s comments and then checked for plagiarism (less than 15%) once again. Upon successful verification, the manuscripts were finally transferred to the publisher through their FTP server on 31st August 2021. • Conference submission management system: [email protected] • Number of submissions received: 124 full length papers • Number of submissions sent for review: 90 papers • Number of submissions accepted: 41 papers • Acceptance Rate (Number of Submissions Accepted / Number of Submissions Received X 100): 33.06 % • Average number of reviews per paper: 2 Reviewers • Total number of reviewers involved: 85 Reviewers • Any additional info on review process: All manuscripts after undergoing plagiarism check had been double-blind peer reviewed by two reviewers and based on their comments; the revised manuscripts were submitted by authors for final publication. • Contact persons for queries: Dr. M.B. SHYAM KUMAR & Dr. R. HARISH (CONVENERS – SESBT 2021) Dr. K. KARUNAMURTHY, Dr. M. FEROSKHAN, & Dr. N. GOBINATH (CO-CONVENERS – SESBT 2021) SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (SMEC), VELLORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (VIT) CHENNAI, VANDALUR – KELAMBAKKAM ROAD, MELAKOTTAIYUR, CHENNAI, INDIA - 600 127. Mobile : 9444465447, 9494823730, 9884032820, 9994664044, 7200339972 Email : [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]