Peer-Review Policy
The International Journal for Refugee, Minority, and Gender Studies (IJRMGS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of peer review. Our double-anonymous peer review process is designed to ensure the integrity, quality, and originality of the research we publish. This policy outlines the principles and procedures of our peer review process.
Principles of Peer Review
- Confidentiality: The review process is strictly confidential. Manuscripts are treated as privileged information, and reviewers are required to treat submissions with a high level of confidentiality.
- Objectivity and Fairness: The review process is objective and fair. Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on their scholarly merit, originality, and relevance to the journal's scope without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
- Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the editors and recuse themselves where appropriate.
- Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may also assist the author in improving the paper.
Peer Review Process
- Submission Screening: All submissions are initially screened by the editorial team for completeness, adherence to the journal's guidelines, and fit within the journal’s scope.
- Reviewer Selection: Manuscripts passing the initial screening are assigned to at least two independent experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise, reputation, and previous experience in providing constructive reviews.
- Double-anonymous Review: The identity of both the reviewer and the author are concealed from each other to maintain the integrity of the review process.
- Review and Recommendation: Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript based on originality, significance, methodology, clarity, and relevance to the field. They provide a recommendation to accept, revise, or reject the manuscript based on their evaluation.
- Editorial Decision: The editorial team considers the reviewers’ recommendations when making a final decision on the manuscript. Decisions to accept, reject, or request revisions are based on the reviews received.
- Revision and Resubmission: If revisions are requested, authors are given detailed feedback on how to improve their manuscript. Revised manuscripts are typically returned to the original reviewers for further evaluation.
Expectations from Reviewers
- Provide thorough, fair, and constructive feedback within the agreed timeframe.
- Maintain the confidentiality of the review process.
- Alert the journal to any potential personal or financial conflict of interest.
- Avoid any actions that might be perceived as prejudicial.
Commitment to Ethical Standards
IJRMGS is committed to the highest ethical standards of academic publishing. Allegations of misconduct, whether pre or post-publication, are taken very seriously and are dealt with in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.
This peer-review policy is a cornerstone of the scholarly publishing process and reflects the quality and integrity of the research published by the International Journal for Refugee, Minority, and Gender Studies.