Peer Review and Acceptance Process in the Journal of Social Problems of Iran
1. Registration in the Journal System
To submit a manuscript, all authors must first visit the journal’s official website (https://jspi.khu.ac.ir) and create a dedicated user account. Please note that all stages of manuscript submission, peer review, and tracking are conducted exclusively through this system and the author’s personalized dashboard.
2. Manuscript Submission
Manuscripts will only be accepted via the journal’s electronic submission system. Submissions sent via email will not be processed or considered. All correspondence and notifications to authors throughout the review process are generated automatically by the system or managed directly by the journal’s editorial office.
3. Initial Assessment and Peer Review
- Initial Assessment: Upon receipt, the manuscript is first checked by the Managing Editor and then forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief for an initial evaluation (assessing its alignment with the journal’s aims and scope, significance of the subject, and scientific quality). If the manuscript contains structural or formatting issues, it will be returned to the author for correction prior to the formal peer review.
- Reviewer Assignment: Manuscripts approved by the Editor-in-Chief during the initial assessment are assigned to at least two expert reviewers specializing in the manuscript’s subject area for rigorous evaluation. No manuscript will be assigned to a reviewer outside their domain of expertise.
- Review Method: The journal strictly adheres to a “Double-blind Peer Review” policy. This ensures that the identities of both the authors and the reviewers remain completely confidential throughout all stages of the review process.
4. Review Results and Decision Making
Upon completion of the peer review process, manuscripts are categorized into one of the following three outcomes based on the reviewers’ evaluations:
- Category I - Accept without Revision: Manuscripts that require no scientific corrections and are immediately scheduled for publication upon payment of the approved processing and publication fees.
- Category II - Revisions Required (Minor or Major): Manuscripts contingent upon addressing the reviewers’ comments. These are returned to the author for revision. (Note: Entering the revision stage does not guarantee final acceptance; the revised manuscript will be re-evaluated by the reviewer(s), and it may still be rejected at this stage).
- Category III - Unpublishable (Rejected): Manuscripts that fail to meet the minimum scientific standards. The author is notified, and the manuscript is removed from the review cycle. Authors may utilize the reviewers’ detailed feedback to improve their work for submission to other journals.
5. Revision Deadline
If the review decision requires revisions (either minor or major), the author must revise the manuscript and upload the corrected file via the system within a maximum of two weeks to proceed to the re-evaluation phase.
6. Final Acceptance
Following final approval (either via positive initial evaluations by reviewers or verification of the applied corrections in the revised version) and the payment of the acceptance and publication fees, the manuscript is definitively queued for publication. At this stage, an official letter confirming final acceptance and forthcoming publication is issued and provided to the author.
7. Manuscript Tracking
Authors can check the progress and current status of their manuscript at any time by logging into their personalized dashboard on the journal’s website.
