Peer Review Procedure

Double-blind peer review:

• Reviewers are not provided with the personal data of the author(s);
• Authors are not provided with the personal data of the reviewer(s).

 

Reviewer Selection Criteria

• A PhD or Doctor of Sciences degree
• Publications relevant to the subject of the reviewed manuscript
• Publications indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science
• No conflict of interest with the author(s)
• No more than one reviewer from the author’s institution
• Involvement of international reviewers (where possible)

 

Review Process

Stage 1. Initial Screening (up to 7 days)

• Verification of compliance with the journal’s scope
• Plagiarism check (using StrikePlagiarism, iThenticate, or Unicheck)
• Verification of formatting requirements
• Decision: send for peer review or reject

Stage 2. Reviewer Assignment (2–3 days)

• Selection of two independent reviewers
• Sending invitations to reviewers
• Providing reviewers with an anonymized version of the manuscript

Stage 3. Peer Review (2–4 weeks)

The reviewer evaluates:

• Relevance of the topic and scientific novelty
• Consistency between title and content
• Quality of the literature review
• Methodological rigor
• Reliability of results
• Validity of conclusions
• Quality of presentation and language

Stage 4. Editorial Board Decision

Possible reviewer recommendations:

• Accept
• Accept with minor revisions (without re-review)
• Accept with major revisions (with re-review)
• Reject and resubmit
• Reject

In case of conflicting reviewer opinions, a third reviewer may be appointed or the final decision is made by the Editorial Board.

Stage 5. Author Revision (up to 2 weeks)

• The author receives anonymized reviews
• Prepares a revised version
• Submits a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments

Stage 6. Final Decision

The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision based on the reviewers’ recommendations.

 

Documentation

• Reviews are completed using a standardized form
• All reviews are archived by the Editorial Office for 3 years
• Reviews may be provided upon request to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine or other authorized bodies

 

Timeframes

• Total time from submission to first final decision: 6–8 weeks
• Revision period: 14 days
• Re-review period: 10–14 days

 

Appeal

Authors have the right to appeal a rejection decision within 10 days. Appeals are reviewed by an independent member of the Editorial Board.