Peer Review Process

Peer Review Process

Data Science: Journal of Computing and Applied Informatics (JoCAI) applies a rigorous double-blind peer review system to ensure the quality, originality, and academic integrity of all published articles. Both reviewers and authors remain anonymous during the entire process.

  1. Initial Screening

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial screening by the editorial board to ensure:

  • Relevance to the journal’s focus and scope;
  • Compliance with submission guidelines and formatting;
  • Plagiarism check using Turnitin (with similarity threshold of 20% maximum).

Manuscripts that fail to meet these initial requirements will be returned to the authors for revision or rejected without further review.

  1. Reviewer Assignment

Each manuscript that passes the initial screening is assigned to two or more independent reviewers with relevant academic expertise. Reviewers must come from institutions different from the authors, and their selection considers field of specialization and absence of conflicts of interest. Reviewers are expected to respond to the invitation within one week and complete the review within 2–3 weeks.

  1. Review Evaluation

Reviewers assess the manuscript based on the following criteria:

  • Scientific merit and originality;
  • Clarity and organization;
  • Validity of methodology and data;
  • Relevance to the field of data science and applied informatics;
  • Ethical standards and proper citation.

Reviewers provide constructive feedback and make one of the following recommendations:

  • Accept
  • Minor revision
  • Major revision
  • Reject
  1. Editorial Decision

The Editor-in-Chief or assigned academic editor makes the final decision based on the reviewers’ comments. In cases where reviewers provide conflicting feedback, a third reviewer may be invited. Authors are notified through the journal system with anonymized reviewer comments.

The decision can be:

  • Accepted
  • Minor/Major Revision Required
  • Rejected

The average time from submission to initial decision is 4–6 weeks.

  1. Revision and Re-Review

Authors are expected to respond to reviewer comments and submit a revised manuscript along with a point-by-point rebuttal letter. Revision time is typically:

  • 2 weeks for minor revision
  • 4 weeks for major revision

Major revisions will be sent back to the original reviewers for a second round of evaluation.

  1. Final Acceptance and Publication

Once accepted, the final manuscript is sent for copyediting and formatting. It is then published as an Article in Press and included in the upcoming scheduled issue.