Peer Review Process

The Journal of Culture and Tourism (JCT) implements a double-blind peer review process to ensure the quality, originality, and academic integrity of all manuscripts submitted to the journal. In this process, both the authors and the reviewers remain anonymous to each other throughout the review procedure.

The review process consists of the following stages:

1. Initial Manuscript Screening

All submitted manuscripts are first evaluated by the editorial team to ensure that they fit the focus and scope of the journal and comply with the author guidelines. At this stage, the manuscript is also checked for basic academic quality, clarity of writing, and formatting requirements.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s standards may be rejected or returned to the authors for revision before entering the peer review process.

2. Plagiarism Screening

Each manuscript is screened using plagiarism detection software to ensure the originality of the work. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding the acceptable limit may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected.

3. Double-Blind Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to at least two independent reviewers who are experts in the relevant field of study.

During the review process:

The reviewers do not know the identity of the authors.
The authors do not know the identity of the reviewers.

Reviewers evaluate the manuscript based on several criteria, including:

Originality and contribution to knowledge
Relevance to the journal’s scope
Methodological rigor
Clarity of analysis and discussion
Quality of references and academic writing

4. Review Decision

Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the Editor-in-Chief or the assigned editor will make one of the following decisions:

Accept Submission
Minor Revision
Major Revision
Reject Submission

The decision will be communicated to the authors along with the reviewers’ comments and suggestions.

5. Revision Process

If revisions are required, authors must revise the manuscript according to the reviewers’ comments and resubmit the revised version within the specified timeframe.

The revised manuscript may be returned to the reviewers for further evaluation if necessary.

6. Final Decision

The final decision regarding manuscript acceptance is made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the reviewers’ evaluations and the quality of the revised manuscript.

7. Publication

Once the manuscript is accepted, it will proceed to the copyediting, layout editing, and proofreading stages before being published in the journal.

The entire peer review process typically takes 4–8 weeks, depending on the availability of reviewers and the responsiveness of the authors during the revision process.