Peer Review Process

The Arghand Journal of Social Sciences (AJSS) employs a structured and rigorous peer review process to ensure the highest standards of academic quality, integrity, and relevance. Our review process is double-blind, meaning neither authors nor reviewers know each other’s identities.

This ensures impartiality, promotes fair evaluation, and upholds the academic reputation of AJSS as a credible platform for scholarly communication.

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Overview of the Peer Review Process

The process consists of four main phases with clearly defined steps:

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Phase 1: Initial Editorial Screening

This phase ensures that submitted manuscripts comply with AJSS’s basic requirements before being sent for external review.

Step 1: Submission Receipt and Acknowledgment

• Authors receive an acknowledgment email within 3 working days of submission.

Step 2: Preliminary Check

• The editorial team screens for:
  ✅ Scope relevance to AJSS
  ✅ Compliance with submission guidelines (formatting, length, referencing)
  ✅ Originality using plagiarism detection software (acceptable similarity index ≤15%)

Step 3: Editorial Decision

• Manuscripts failing the preliminary check are returned to authors for correction or are desk-rejected.

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Phase 2: Assignment of Reviewers

Manuscripts passing the initial screening are forwarded to expert reviewers.

Step 4: Reviewer Selection

• Two or more reviewers are assigned based on subject expertise.
• Reviewers are chosen from AJSS’s panel of national and international scholars.

Step 5: Conflict of Interest Check

• Reviewers declare any potential conflicts of interest.

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Phase 3: Double-Blind Peer Review

This is the core evaluation stage where academic rigor is applied.

Step 6: Review Process

• Each reviewer evaluates the manuscript on:
  ✅ Originality and contribution to knowledge
  ✅ Methodological soundness
  ✅ Clarity of writing and logical flow
  ✅ Ethical standards adherence
  ✅ Relevance to regional and global social science discourse

Step 7: Reviewer Recommendations
Each reviewer submits one of the following recommendations:

• Accept without revision
• Accept with minor revisions
• Revise and resubmit (major revisions)
• Reject

Step 8: Consolidation of Reviews
The editor synthesizes reviewers’ comments and provides a decision letter to the author within 3-5 weeks of submission.

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Phase 4: Decision and Post-Review Actions

Step 9: Author Revisions

• Authors are required to address reviewer comments point-by-point and resubmit within a specified timeline (usually 2–4 weeks).
• Revised manuscripts undergo secondary review if necessary.

Step 10: Final Editorial Decision

• Based on the revised submission and reviewer feedback, the editor makes a final decision:
  ✅ Accept for publication
  ✅ Reject after revisions if requirements are not satisfactorily met

Step 11: Copyediting and Proofreading

• Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copyediting for grammar, formatting, and consistency.
• Authors receive page proofs for final approval before publication.

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Confidentiality and Ethics

• All manuscripts and reviewer reports are treated with strict confidentiality.
• Reviewers must not use or share any manuscript content prior to publication.
• AJSS adheres to the ethical standards of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

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Timeline Summary

Stage	Updated Duration
Initial Editorial Screening	3–5 days
Reviewer Assignment	2–3 days
Peer Review	1–2 weeks
Author Revisions	1–2 weeks
Final Decision & Editing	5–8 days
Total Time to Decision	3–5 weeks (21–35 days)

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Key Roles in the Review Process

• Editor-in-Chief: Oversees the process, ensures fairness and quality
• Associate Editors: Assist in screening and reviewer selection
• Reviewers: Provide expert evaluations and constructive feedback
• Authors: Respond to reviewer comments and revise manuscripts accordingly

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Commitment to Quality

The AJSS peer review process is designed to:
✅ Uphold academic excellence and integrity
✅ Provide constructive feedback for author development
✅ Ensure published works contribute meaningfully to scholarship in social sciences