Peer Review Process
Peer Review Process – International Journal of Business and Applied Economics (IJBAE)
The International Journal of Business and Applied Economics (IJBAE) applies a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure the highest standards of academic quality, originality, and relevance. The process is designed to align with the ethical guidelines of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and the best practices followed by Scopus-indexed journals.
1. Initial Editorial Screening
Upon manuscript submission, the Editor-in-Chief or assigned Section Editor conducts a preliminary review to assess the following aspects:
• Scope alignment: Whether the manuscript fits within the aims and scope of IJBAE, particularly within the domains of business, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, and applied management sciences.
• Plagiarism screening: All manuscripts are scanned using Turnitin/iThenticate with a similarity tolerance level of ≤ 20%.
• Formatting and completeness: Adherence to author guidelines and template formatting.
• Ethical compliance: Inclusion of informed consent, ethical approval (if required), and proper citation practices.
Manuscripts failing to meet basic academic or ethical standards may be desk-rejected at this stage, with editorial feedback provided.
2. Assignment to Reviewers
Manuscripts passing the initial screening will be sent to at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the subject matter. The double-blind system ensures:
• Authors do not know the identity of the reviewers.
• Reviewers do not know the identity of the authors.
Reviewers are selected based on:
• Academic background (PhD or equivalent).
• Publication history in Scopus-indexed journals.
• Research experience relevant to the manuscript's topic.
3. Review Evaluation Criteria
Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts according to the following criteria:
• Originality and novelty of the research question.
• Theoretical and practical contribution to the discipline.
• Methodological soundness, including design, data analysis, and statistical integrity.
• Clarity and coherence of the arguments and conclusions.
• Quality of references, especially inclusion of recent literature (last 5–7 years).
• Writing quality, grammar, and organization.
Reviewers provide a detailed written report with a recommendation:
• Accept without revision.
• Accept with minor revisions.
• Revise and resubmit (major revision).
• Reject (with justification).
4. Author Revisions and Resubmission
If revisions are requested, authors will be given 2–4 weeks depending on the revision level. Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a Response to Reviewers document, detailing:
• Point-by-point responses.
• Clarifications or justifications for unchanged content.
For major revisions, the revised manuscript may undergo a second round of peer review by the original reviewers or additional reviewers if necessary.
5. Final Editorial Decision
The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief based on:
• Reviewers’ reports,
• Revisions submitted by the author,
• Overall contribution and academic merit.
The decision categories are:
• Accept for publication.
• Accept after further revision.
• Decline (reject).
Decisions are final and are communicated to the authors via the OJS submission system.
6. Copyediting and Proofreading
Accepted manuscripts are passed to the production team for:
• Language editing and formatting,
• Reference verification and consistency,
• Layout and typesetting for the journal’s final PDF format.
Authors are required to review the galley proofs within 3–5 business days to approve the final version before publication.
7. Publication
Once approved, the article is published online first and scheduled for inclusion in the next biannual issue (June and December). Articles are assigned DOI numbers and indexed in relevant academic databases.
8. Ethical Guidelines
IJBAE strictly adheres to the ethical standards set by COPE. Reviewers are expected to:
• Maintain confidentiality,
• Disclose any conflict of interest,
• Provide objective and constructive feedback,
• Avoid any personal criticism of the authors.
Authors are responsible for ensuring:
• The originality of their submission,
• No simultaneous submission to other journals,
• Accurate reporting of data and results.
The work is distributed under a 