Review Procedure

All submitted manuscripts are reviewed through 'double-blind' peer review process that means the identities of the authors are kept confidential from the reviewers, and vice versa. To make this possible, anonymized version of the manuscript are sent to referees.

Desk Review

Submitted papers are first considered by the editor after submission. Papers that do not fall within the scope of the journal are 'desk-rejected'. In addition, papers that fail to meet a minimum threshold for quality and originality are also rejected without being sent out to the reviewers. The standard procedure of an initial editorial review by the internal editorial committee consists of the content, scope, formatting, citations according to recommended Style, i.e., Chicago Manual of Style, (Bibliographies and Notes format) and is usually completed in three to four weeks.

Further Process

Papers passing through this initial editorial scrutiny are then typically sent out to minimum two referees (one national and one international). ". If one or more of these turn down the invitation to provide a review, other referees will subsequently be appointed. The authors will be informed when Editors decide further review is required. All publication decisions are made by the journal’s Editor on the basis of the referees’ reports (reviewers report). The peer review process takes another two- three weeks. Therefore, the contributors are expected to bear with us as we complete the process to ensure, that the Nuqtahjts adheres to the highest quality standards.
In case if a manuscript is found to be plagiarized (see plagiarism policy) after publication, the Editor will conduct a preliminary investigation, maybe with the help of a suitable committee constituted for the purpose. If the manuscript is found to be plagiarized beyond the acceptable limits, the journal will contact the author’s Institute / College / University and Funding Agency, if any. We are advising all the author(s), do not submit the same paper to multiple journals. Author(s) should wait for the review status of the paper.

Steps in Peer Review Process

Peer review process can be broadly described as:

S.No	Steps of Review Process	Estimated Time
1	Submission of paper	-
2	First internal review *	3-4 weeks
3	External review	4-5 weeks
4	Communication of review reports to authors for minor/major revision **	1 week
5	Submission of the revised paper	4-8 weeks
6	Second internal review (to assess whether reviewers suggestions have been incorporated satisfactorily) ***	2-4 weeks
7	Acceptance of paper (on successful submission of revised paper)	1 week

* Paper is returned to authors if it does not meet the basic criteria.
** Paper is returned to authors if external reviewers find that the research paper has so serious faults that cannot be resolved through a major revision.
*** Authors are requested for further revision if editors find that reviewers’ suggestions have not been incorporated satisfactorily.

Note: Authors are requested to revise the paper carefully in accordance with the reviewers’ suggestions to avoid unnecessary delay in the review process.

Resubmission of paper (after peer review)

Nearly every published paper goes through at least one revision. Authors should take a revision request as good news and an opportunity to learn and improve the quality of their research paper. They are directed to revise the paper carefully in accordance with the reviewers’ suggestions to avoid needless interruption in the review process. Generally, when the review report is provided each review point is required to either be incorporated in the revised version of the paper or an appropriate response is expected from the Author. Author(s) should be very careful regarding accuracy and completeness in accordance with the reviewers’ suggested points, so as to avoid further review and delay (further revision can be recommended if editors find that reviewers’ suggestions have not been incorporated satisfactorily).

Keeping in view the other academic/professional commitments, authors may request extra time, if they feel that revision needs more effort and time to improve the quality of the paper.

Disclaimer

The Editor reserves the right to copy-edit and make necessary amendments to the submitted text. The editor also reserves the right to modify or omit material if deemed unsuitable for publication. However, all responsibility for opinions expressed in articles as well as the precision of stated facts rests with the author and not with the editors of the Journal.