Peer Review Process

Political Sciences Journal (PSJ) uses a double-blind peer reviewing system (the names of the authors are hidden from the reviewers and the names of the reviewers are hidden from the authors) to assure the quality of the publication; the article is referred to a confidential review carried out by reviewers specialized in the field of specialization. Political Sciences Journal (PSJ) relies mostly on external reviewers in addition to the assistance provided by internal reviewers. The review process is carried out according to the following steps:

  1. Invitation to Reviewers: The Editor-in-Chief sends invitations to individuals he or she believes would be appropriate reviewers. As responses are received, further invitations are issued, if necessary, until the required number of acceptances is obtained (two accepted reviewer decisions).
  2. Response to Invitations: Potential reviewers consider the invitation based on their own expertise, conflicts of interest, and availability. They then accept or decline. Please see the Reviewer Guidelines section of this website.
  3. Review is Conducted: The reviewer sets time aside to read the article several times. The first read is used to form an initial impression of the work. If significant problems are found at this stage, the reviewer may feel comfortable rejecting the article without further work. Otherwise, they will read the article several more times, taking notes to build a detailed point-by-point review. The review is then submitted to the journal, with a recommendation to accept or reject it, or with a revision request (usually flagged as either major or minor) before reconsidering.
  4. Journal Evaluates the Reviews: The Editor-in-Chief considers all the submitted reviews before making an overall decision. If the reviews differ widely, the editor may invite an additional reviewer to provide an additional opinion before making the decision.
  5. Primarily Decision: The Editor-in-Chief sends a decision email to the author, including any relevant reviewer comments. The reviewer's name is anonymous to the author (s).
  6. Author Send Revised Manuscript: The author should address all the reviewers’ comments and highlight any changes in red or yellow.