Peer Review Process

Manuscripts are reviewed with double blind review approach. The suitability of manuscripts to be published in JST is determined by a team that consists of Editorial Board and Reviewers. The review process is as follows:

All manuscripts submitted to JST undergo a rigorous screening and review process to ensure that they fit into the journal’s scope and are of sufficient academic quality and novelty to appeal to JST’s scholarly and readership.

Desk review. Desk review is done based on the minimum writing adequacy as refer to JST’s author guideline such as minimum word numbers, update and reliability references, plagiarism, and sufficient body of manuscript (e.g. title, abstract, introduction, etc.). Plagiarism screening will be done using turnitin. Manuscripts that fail to pass the desk review will be rejected without further review.

Initial manuscript evaluation. If the manuscript passes the desk review, it will be assigned to Section editor, who will then send it to the double-blind peer-review process. Manuscripts that fail to pass this process will also be rejected without further review.

Double-blind peer-review. If the manuscript passes the initial manuscript evaluation, it will be assigned to two experts in the relevant field to undergo a double-blind peer-review, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process. Manuscripts on this process will received the first decision.

First decision.   A decision on a peer-reviewed manuscript will only be made upon the receipt of double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process. At this stage, a manuscript can either be 1) accept without revision, (2) accept with minor revision, (4) accept with major revision and (4) rejected.  Manuscripts can be rejected if, for example (1) does not included in scope of JST, (2) inconsistent with JST standards or (3) incompatible with the JST writing format. The final decision to accept the manuscript will be made by the Editor-in-Chief and/or based on the recommendation by the board of editors.

Revision stage.  A manuscript that requires minor or major revisions will be returned to the submitting author, who will have up to three weeks to format and revise the manuscript, following which it will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and/or Section Editor. The Editor-in-Chief and/or Section Editor will determine whether the changes are adequate and appropriate, as well as whether the author(s) sufficiently responded to the reviewers’ comments and suggestions. If the revisions are deemed to be inadequate, this cycle will be repeated (the manuscript will be returned to the submitting author once more for further revision) or rejected.

Final decision. A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees, and may include verbatim comments by the referees. If the author(s) are unable to make the required changes or have done so to a degree below JST standards, the manuscript will be rejected. Editor’s decision is final. Referees and/or board of editor advise the Editor-in-Chief, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the manuscript.

Copyediting and typesetting. If the manuscript is accepted, it will go through a final round of editing and proofreading by an in-house language editor. The articles which have been declared accepted will be published before the regular issue is published on schedule, as Publication in Press.