Peer Review Process
The Journal of Teaching and Education for Scholars (JOTES) is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. Every paper submitted to JOTES for publication is subject to a rigorous peer review process. This process involves an evaluation of the submitted manuscript by independent experts in the field of teaching and education to determine its academic suitability, validity, and contribution to the scope of the journal. The peer review method is strictly employed to maintain high-quality standards and provide credibility for the published papers.
The peer review process at JOTES proceeds in the following steps:
1. Submission of Paper: The corresponding author submits the manuscript exclusively through the Open Journal System (OJS) of JOTES. To maintain administrative order and quality control, submissions via email or WhatsApp will not be processed for review or publication.
2. Editorial Office Assessment: The submitted paper is first assessed by the Editorial Team. The editor checks whether the manuscript aligns with the journal’s focus and scope (e.g., teaching models, learning strategies, and education). The paper's composition is evaluated against the JOTES Author Guidelines to ensure it meets the formatting requirements (e.g., length of 4000-8000 words, APA 7th Edition referencing, and adherence to the JOTES template). Every submitted paper that passes this step will undergo a similarity check (using tools like Turnitin) to prevent plagiarism before being sent to reviewers.
3. Appraisal by the Editor-in-Chief: The Editor-in-Chief evaluates whether the paper is sufficiently original, academically rigorous, and significant for publication. If the manuscript lacks fundamental scientific merit or falls entirely outside the journal's scope, it may be rejected directly at this desk-review stage without further review.
4. Invitation to Reviewers: The handling editor sends invitations to independent reviewers based on their expertise and lack of competing interests. JOTES employs a strict double-blind peer review system; the reviewers do not know the authors' identities, and the authors do not know the reviewers' identities.
5. Response to Invitations: Potential reviewers consider the invitation against their current workload and expertise. They may accept or decline the assignment. If declining, they are encouraged to suggest alternative reviewers.
6. Review is Conducted: The reviewers evaluate the manuscript focusing on its core scientific substance. For Research Articles, the assessment specifically covers the Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. For Non-Research Articles, the evaluation focuses on the Abstract, Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. Reviewers provide detailed, point-by-point constructive feedback and submit their evaluation to the journal with a recommendation to: Accept Submission, Require Minor Revisions, Require Major Revisions, or Decline Submission.
7. Journal Evaluates the Reviews: The Editor-in-Chief and handling editor consider all returned reviews before making an overall decision. If the reviews differ widely between reviewers, the editor may invite an additional reviewer to obtain an extra opinion.
8. The Decision is Communicated: The editor sends a decision email to the corresponding author, including the anonymous reviewer comments and feedback. At this point, reviewers are also notified of the outcome of their review.
9. Revision and Final Steps: If the article is sent back for revisions, the authors must make the necessary corrections using the "Track Changes" feature and respond to the reviewers' comments systematically. The revised manuscript must be resubmitted via OJS. Depending on the nature of the revisions, the revised paper may undergo a second round of review or be evaluated directly by the handling editor.
10. Continuous Publication: JOTES follows a continuous publication model. Once a manuscript is finally accepted and copy-edited, it will be formatted and published continuously in the upcoming issue (May or November) and made freely available online as a downloadable PDF file.
