Some journals want you to introduce some referees. How do the referees' comments affect the final decision? What happens If I can not find an expert?
Yes it is true that some journals want from you the list of expert reviewers. If author believes in publication ethics and honesty it will not affect the final decision. In case not finding an expert by the author or the journal editor then in my opinion withdraw the paper from that journal and submit to the other who can manage the review process.
Where this request occurs, it's more likely to be with a 'popular' and established international journal that have many manuscript submissions. It's more of a 'gesture' than anything - at least in terms of 'common' topic areas that are likely to already have many reviewers on file. In this case, they can 'rotate' the reviewers so that no one reviewer is over-burdened - so they are unlikely to call on the reviewers you suggest - unless they are, by chance, already on their data-base. However, for topic areas that are less common or more discipline-specific, with a smaller pool of reviewers, then the editor may select one or more of your suggestions. It's also a form of 'snowball sampling' to widen the pool.
Many journals will ask you for referee suggestions. In case they don't find a person specialized in the subject area of your paper, they will send it to your suggested referee, otherwise they will maintain a database of referees where they will send their other papers to your referees also. It is not an obligation for them to send your paper to your suggested person. It is just to strengthen their database, I think.
Some journals request you to introduce reviewers just to increase their (already huge) reviewer database. But, this request is also a test for authors. By providing referees related to your field of work, you demonstrate you know other (unrelated) people that may be interested in your work, so the paper will be relevant for a sector of the potential audience. If you don't provide such names, it is implicitly deduced that either you don't know other people in your field or there is few people that may interested in your work. In any of both cases, it is bad for your possible publication in that journal.
I would still repeat my earlier message that it's not that journals need to recruit new reviewers generally - but have a 'safety net' for when specific topics may have only a few expert reviewers:
Where this request occurs, it's more likely to be with a 'popular' and established international journal that have many manuscript submissions. It's more of a 'gesture' than anything - at least in terms of 'common' topic areas that are likely to already have many reviewers on file. In this case, they can 'rotate' the reviewers so that no one reviewer is over-burdened - so they are unlikely to call on the reviewers you suggest - unless they are, by chance, already on their data-base. However, for topic areas that are less common or more discipline-specific, with a smaller pool of reviewers, then the editor may select one or more of your suggestions. It's also a form of 'snowball sampling' to widen the pool.
what kind of wos ISI journals wants list of suggested reviewers for the manuscript ?
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