Peer review is a fundamental element of the learned journal. The review process should be clear, objective, fair and courteous. No vested interests must be allowed to interfere. For further details see The ethics of scientific publication by Povl Riis, in Science Editor's Handbook , published by the European Association of Science Editors. Referees are under an obligation to keep information confidential until publication, and not to exploit their prior knowledge in any way.
Electronic communications can speed up the administrative part of the process.
Referees are normally anonymous, although it is courteous to give them credit in some way. The publisher should keep the author informed about the progress of his or her paper. Online systems, which authors can consult for themselves, are one way of achieving this. It is not always possible to publish accepted articles immediately, whether for editorial or budgetary reasons, but it is only fair that the author knows approximately how long he or she will have to wait. Date of Acceptance One of the main reasons why speed is so important to authors is the question of priority.