Peer Review Policy

The Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to INTEGRATED (Journal of Information Technology and Vocational Education) undergo a rigorous and highly objective review process to maintain the academic integrity and quality of our publications.

1. Initial Screening
Upon submission, the manuscript is first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned Section Editor. This initial assessment checks for the manuscript's suitability regarding the journal's focus and scope, adherence to the author guidelines (including the strict English language requirement starting from Volume 8), and basic academic standards. Manuscripts that do not meet these fundamental criteria may be rejected at this stage without entering the formal review process.

2. Double-Blind Peer Review
If the manuscript passes the initial screening, it is subjected to a strict double-blind peer-review process. The manuscript is sent to at least two independent, anonymous expert reviewers. The identities of both the authors and the reviewers are kept strictly concealed from each other to ensure unbiased evaluation. Additional reviewers may be invited if specialized advice is needed (for instance, regarding complex statistical methods or specific technical frameworks).

3. Reviewer Recommendations
Based on their evaluation, reviewers will provide constructive feedback and choose one of the following recommendations within the OJS system:

Accept Submission: The manuscript is accepted for publication with or without minor editorial adjustments.
Revisions Required: The author must make minor or major revisions based on the reviewers' comments before a final decision is reached.
Resubmit for Review: The manuscript requires substantial restructuring or additional data and must go through another full round of peer review.
Decline Submission: The manuscript is rejected due to a lack of scientific merit, originality, or fatal methodological flaws, and authors are advised to submit elsewhere.

Conflict Resolution and Final Decision

In the event of conflicting recommendations from the initial reviewers (e.g., one suggests acceptance while the other suggests rejection), the Editorial Board will assign a third independent reviewer to provide further evaluation. The Editor-in-Chief will carefully weigh the strength of the arguments raised by each reviewer, consider any additional information, and make the final decision. The editors' foremost responsibility is to ensure the quality of the publication and to best serve the scientific community.

Timeline

INTEGRATED strives to provide timely and efficient editorial processing. Typically, the entire peer-review process—from initial submission to the final decision—takes approximately 4 to 6 months, depending on the availability of reviewers and the responsiveness of the authors during the revision stage.

Selection of Peer-Reviewers

Reviewers for INTEGRATED are meticulously selected based on their academic expertise, publication track record, and professional reputation in the fields of computing technology, vocational education, and related disciplines.