diff --git a/dspace/config/spring/api/sherpa.xml b/dspace/config/spring/api/sherpa.xml
index a237bf1253..0414f3f8e4 100644
--- a/dspace/config/spring/api/sherpa.xml
+++ b/dspace/config/spring/api/sherpa.xml
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@
 
     <bean class="org.dspace.app.sherpa.SHERPAService" id="org.dspace.app.sherpa.SHERPAService">
         <property name="maxNumberOfTries" value="3"/>
+        <!-- the value of this property is in milliseconds -->
         <property name="sleepBetweenTimeouts" value="2000"/>
+        <!-- the value of this property is in milliseconds -->
         <property name="timeout" value="5000"/>
     </bean>