Review Process

Initial evaluation of manuscripts

A manuscript submitted is evaluated through Initial Review by the Editorial Board at a maximum of a week. Although rare, yet it is entirely feasible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Those rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, or are outside the aims and journal scope. Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to experts reviewers for review. It usually took up to 2-4 weeks.

Type of peer review

Submitted manuscripts will generally be reviewed by two to three experts who will be asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates the already published works, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently clear for publication. The research article submitted to this online journal will be double-blind peer-reviewed at least by 2 (two) reviewers. Other rounds of review processes would be done should the first round is inadequate.

Review reports

Reviewers are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:

  • Is original by stating the objectives and gap clearly
  • Is methodologically sound
  • Follows appropriate ethical guidelines
  • Has results/findings which are clearly presented and support the conclusions
  • Correctly references previous relevant work
  • Reviewers are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer-review process.

Decision

Reviewers advise the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article. The Editors will reach a decision based on these reports and, where necessary, they will consult with members of the Editorial Board. The editor’s decision is final.

Taking into account the results of the peer-reviewing process, the decision as to the acceptability of each manuscript for publication will be notified to the author(s) through the website system in the following alternative conclusions:

  1. Accepted without revision, or
  2. Accepted with minor revision, or
  3. Accepted with major revision, or
  4. Rejected.

Publication

Articles that have been reviewed through editorial review and peer review and are declared ACCEPTABLE FOR PUBLICATION, the Editor Team issues a Decision Letter containing the publication decision, publication fee bill (APCs) within a maximum period of 4 weeks from the time the article is submitted.