Time to Online Publication

The journal adheres to international publishing standards (COPE guidelines) and maintains strict timeframes to ensure a transparent, efficient peer review process, allowing authors to track manuscript status via our online submission system.

The overall duration is divided as follows:

  • Initial Screening & Plagiarism Check (3-7 working days)
    • Technical compliance verification: Formatting, structured abstract (Purpose, Methods, Findings, Originality), keywords (5-7 terms), and reference style (APA) 7th edition referencing.
    • Similarity screening: Using Turnitin/iThenticate (≤20% similarity, <5% from a single source). Manuscripts exceeding thresholds are desk-rejected.
  • Peer Review (7-14 working days)
    • Double-blind review by a minimum of two independent experts.
    • Additional review (7-14 days) if:
      • Conflicting reviewer reports.
      • Ethical concerns (e.g., authorship disputes, data fabrication).
    • Ethical compliance:
      • Authorship confirmation (ICMJE criteria).
      • Data availability statement (FAIR principles).
  • Revision Period (2-4 weeks)
    • Decision types:
      • Accept (Minor/Major revisions).
      • Reject (with reviewer comments).
    • Author obligations:
      • Submit revised manuscript with highlighted changes and a point-by-point response letter.
      • 30-day maximum for resubmission (extensions require editorial approval).
  • Final Editorial Review (1-2 weeks)
    • Validation of revisions by:
      • Associate Editor (content).
      • Copy Editor (language).
      • CrossCheck of revised sections for text recycling.
  • Publication (7-14 days post-acceptance)
    • Pre-production:
      • DOI assignment (Crossref-registered).
      • ORCID integration for all authors (if available).
      • Proofreading (author receives galley proof for final approval).
    • Post-production:
      • Early Online First publication within 48 hours of approval.
      • Indexing: Submission to Portico.
  • Author services:
    • Notification email with citation details (DOI, issue).
    • PDF reprint and shareable link.

Publication Ethics
This document is based on the COPE Code of Conduct, the Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, and the Publishers' Code of Conduct.