Peer Review Policy

The practice of peer review is to ensure that good research is published. It is at the heart of good scholarly publishing. Our referees therefore play a vital role in maintaining the high standards of the Journal of Second Language Writing, and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.

Special issues and/or conference proceedings may have different peer review procedures involving, for example, Guest Editors or conference organizers. Authors contributing to these projects may receive details of the peer review process on request from the editorial office.

Initial manuscript evaluation

The Editors first evaluate all manuscripts. Those rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious flaws, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to at least two experts for review. Authors of manuscripts rejected at this stage will be informed as soon as possible.

Type of peer review

This journal employs double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process.

How the referee is selected

Referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise. Our database is constantly being updated. We welcome suggestions for referees from the authors though these recommendations may or may not be used.

Referee reports

Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:

• Is original.
• Is methodologically sound.
• Follows appropriate ethical guidelines.
• Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions.
• Correctly references previous relevant work.

Referees are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part
of the peer review process.

How long does the review process take?

Typically, the manuscript will be reviewed within 3–4 months. Should the referees’ reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion may be sought. Revised manuscripts are usually sent to one original referee and one new one; the rereview process usually takes about the same amount of time as a new submission. Referees may request more than one revision of a manuscript.

Final report

A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees and will include their verbatim comments.

Editors’ decision is final

Referees advise the editors, who are responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.