Through over 50 years' storms, with strong support from generations of mechanical engineering experts and hard work of generations of Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering (CJME) staff, it has now grown into a towering tree that is deeply rooted in the fertile soil made by numerous mechanical engineering experts and scholars, and can showcase China's highest level of scholarship in the field of mechanical engineering. As Rome was not built in a day, the tree has not grown in a day. Buildup of a brand should rely on strict quality management system, while strict management should be accomplished through buildup of standard work management system.

1 CJME editing process

　　CJME Editorial Department has a precise and standard work process for handling contributions that can be generalized as “4-review-4-proofread” system, i.e. preliminary review by editor, review by expert, final review by editorial board and approval by chief editor, multiple editing & returning for revision by editor, plus one-time proofreading by author and three-time proofreading by editor, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1  CJME editing process

2 Key elements safeguarding CJME’s quality

(1) The Editorial Board and the team of review experts strongly guarantee CJME’s level of scholarship

(2) The scientific selecting and reviewing system is the prerequisite for CJME to ensure its academic level.

(3) Enhance contacts with important organizations, follow the tracks of key national projects, and collect high-level academic writings are the important approaches for CJME to maintain its high-level scholarship.

(4) Strict editing process guarantees CJME’s high-quality publication.

(5) Efficient networked system is the instrument for CJME to produce high-quality publication.

2.1 The Editorial Board and the team of review experts strongly guarantee CJME’s level of scholarship

　　The Editorial Board and the team of review experts strongly guarantee CJME’s level of scholarship, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2  Guarantee for CJME’s Level of Scholarship

(1) The Editorial Board is a strong backing for the Editorial Department, which is responsible for making publishing policy & selecting guideline, appraising articles’ academic level, supervising editing & publishing, and ensuring the journal’s level of scholarship & quality.

(2) The 8^th Editorial Board is formed by 96 well-known experts, scholars and academic leaders that include 17 academicians and 28 foreign experts whose participation has increased the journal’s global influence.

(3) The team of review experts is made up of nearly one thousand experts, scholars and academic leaders in the field of mechanical engineering.

2.2 The scientific selecting and reviewing system is the prerequisite for CJME to ensure its academic level

　　The scientific selecting and reviewing system means that editors select contributions through a “4-review” system, i.e. preliminary review by editor, review by expert, final review by editorial board and approval by chief editor (director), as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3  4-review system

2.3 Enhance contacts with important organizations, follow the tracks of key national projects, and collect high-level academic writings are the important approaches for CJME to maintain its high-level scholarship

　　CJME Editorial Department enhances contacts with important organizations, follows the track of key national projects, and collects high-level academic writings from scientific research organizations as domestic first-class universities, national key laboratories etc. in a planned and selective way. Most of the writings are from projects funded by National Natural Science Fund, National 863 Program etc., moreover, some of the high-level writings are collected from universities at abroad and Taiwan, which has greatly improved the rate of first report on breaking news in the field of mechanical engineering.

2.4 Strict editing process guarantees CJME’s high-quality publication.

　　CJME Editorial Department undertakes strict editing & processing of contributions that have passed academic censor, which effectively guarantees the quality of the publication. The editing and processing mainly include the several aspects mentioned below:

(1) Adhere to the working principle of “all work are centering on quality, and handle every contribution carefully” that should be followed through every step of the editing.

(2) Adopt the editing process of “two process, three proofread, one checkup”, i.e. every contribution is processed by two editors, proofread for 3 times by multiple editors, and checked up once by the author.

(3) Persist in the routine for each issue that chief editor (director) and executive editor go through all the contributions for once before they are printed and published.

(4) Strictly implement relevant national standards and publishing codes for editing and processing.

(5) Strictly implement relevant standards set by China Machine Press and publishing codes in editing and processing.

Relevant national standards and standards & codes set by China Machine Press to be implemented in editing and processing include:

(1) National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB 3100～3102－1993 Quantities and Units

(2) National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 7714-2005 Rules for content, form and structure of bibliographic references

(3) National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 15835-1995 General rules for writing numerals in publications 

(4) National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 15834-1995 Use of punctuations marks  

(5) China Machine Press Standard JCB5－2003 Commonly Used Sci-tech Terms

(6) China Machine Press Mechanical Engineering Manual (the 2nd Edition)

(7) China Machine Press Electrical Engineering Manual (the 2nd Edition)

(8) China Machine Press Cross References of Old and New Designations of Commonly Used Metals (the 4th Edition) 

(9) China Machine Press Manual for Contributors and Translators

2.5 Efficient networked system is the instrument for CJME to produce high-quality publication.

The Editorial Department has established various databases using Windows as the platform. Based on software engineering and object-oriented technology, it has designed function modules of the networked working system with many software and development tools, has integrated all the modules into a standard working platform for journal services at the Internet age, and has accomplished the design and development of the long-distance cooperation system for multiple users that simulates traditional working system with advanced modern computer technologies.

　  The system has integrated the following databases: database of articles published; members database; contributions database; database of review experts; database of review information; database of review results; database of sci-tech journals; database of literature resources etc. Management Information System (MIS) is intended to support varied users needs and services globally, i.e. in a place far from the editorial department, end-users can satisfy their own needs and goals; in a place far from the users, the editorial department can do its job and fulfill the goal. It realizes the two-way interactive working mode between users and the editorial department.