Romaya Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication quality through a rigorous, transparent, and fair editorial and peer-review process. All our procedures strictly adhere to international publication ethics standards, particularly the core principles set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The Editorial Process & Editors' Responsibilities
Every manuscript submitted to our journal undergoes a multi-stage editorial evaluation process:
1. Editor-in-Chief Evaluation (Initial Screening): Submissions are first reviewed by the Editors-in-Chief for suitability with the journal's aim and scope, compliance with formatting guidelines, and originality. All manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using Turnitine software. Manuscripts that do not pass this initial screening are returned to the author without external review.
2. Section Editor Assignment: Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to a Section Editor whose expertise aligns with the manuscript's subject matter.
3. Section Editor Pre-Evaluation: The Section Editor conducts a detailed preliminary review using a 200-point evaluation form, assessing the manuscript based on criteria such as academic merit, methodological soundness, contribution to the field, and originality.
4. Progression to Peer Review: Manuscripts that score 150 points or higher in this evaluation are sent for double-blind peer review to at least two independent experts. Manuscripts scoring below this threshold are returned to the author with a detailed report.
Ethics and Transparency Policy for Editors
Conflict of Interest: Editors are recused from handling manuscripts in which they have a potential conflict of interest (financial, personal, or academic). The manuscript is then reassigned to another editor.
Manuscript Submissions by Editors: In line with our transparency principles, a special procedure is applied when an editor submits their own manuscript to the journal:
All editorial privileges and system access of the submitting editor are temporarily suspended until the evaluation process for their manuscript is complete.
The manuscript is subjected to the standard double-blind peer-review process, ensuring the author's identity remains concealed from other editors and reviewers.
A maximum of 3% of the total number of articles published annually in our journal may be authored by editors.
An editor whose work is published in the journal is prohibited from submitting another manuscript for the subsequent two (2) years, even if they have completely resigned from their editorial position during this period.
The Peer-Review Process & Reviewers' Responsibilities
Double-blind peer review is the cornerstone of our publication quality. We expect our reviewers to provide constructive, impartial, and timely feedback.
Reviewer Selection and Impartiality
Reviewers are selected based on their expertise in the manuscript's field.
Utmost care is taken to avoid any potential conflict of interest between the author(s) and reviewers (e.g., working at the same institution, recent co-authorship).
Guidelines and Ethical Responsibilities for Reviewers
Dear Reviewer, we kindly request that you adhere to the following ethical principles when evaluating manuscripts for our journal:
Confidentiality: All manuscripts sent for review are confidential documents. To protect authors' rights and the integrity of the double-blind peer-review process, manuscripts must not be uploaded to or processed by any artificial intelligence tools, online platforms, or third-party software, nor shared in any form through such means.
Constructive Evaluation: A careful and thorough examination of the manuscript enhances the quality of the review and enables the provision of constructive feedback to the author(s). You may provide feedback by directly annotating the manuscript or by preparing a separate review report.
Anonymity: When making comments on the document, please ensure that no information that could reveal your identity (such as usernames or comment author names) is left on the file. This is essential for maintaining the integrity of the double-blind process.
Incentive Policy: In recognition of their invaluable contributions to our journal's academic quality, reviewers who complete 10 or more reviews within a calendar year are granted the right to publish one article free of charge in the following year.