Referee Strategy (jacs-referee-strategy)

When to trigger

• You are choosing suggested and excluded reviewers for Paragon Plus
• You want to anticipate and disarm objections before submission
• You are stress-testing the manuscript as a skeptical referee would
• A revision is coming and you want to predict reviewer concerns

Choosing reviewers

• Suggested: independent experts who can judge the chemistry — across the relevant subfields (e.g., a synthesis expert and a mechanism/spectroscopy expert for a catalysis paper). No collaborators, advisors, or same-institution.
• Breadth coverage: because JACS is broad-scope, include at least one reviewer who can speak to the general-interest claim, not only the niche.
• Excluded: only with a brief, professional reason (direct competitor with a conflict, prior dispute). Keep the list short and credible.