Peer Review Process

The International Journal of Community Service and Sustainability (IJoCSS) applies a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure the quality, originality, and academic integrity of all published articles. In this process, both the reviewers and authors remain anonymous.

Initial Screening

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial screening by the Editorial Board to evaluate:

  • Relevance to the journal’s focus and scope (community service, empowerment, and sustainability)

  • Compliance with submission guidelines, formatting requirements, and ethical standards

  • Plagiarism screening using Turnitin or similar tools, with a maximum similarity threshold of 20%

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

Reviewer Assignment

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to two or more independent reviewers with relevant academic expertise.

  • Reviewers are selected from different institutions than the authors

  • Selection is based on their expertise in community engagement, sustainability, or related disciplines

  • Reviewers must confirm their availability within 1 week and complete the review within 2–3 weeks

  • All efforts are made to avoid conflicts of interest

Review Evaluation

Reviewers assess manuscripts based on the following criteria:

  • Contribution to knowledge in community service and sustainability

  • Originality, novelty, and significance of the research

  • Clarity of presentation and organization

  • Validity of methodology, data, and analysis

  • Relevance and practical applicability to practice, policy, or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • Adherence to ethical standards and citation practices

Based on the evaluation, reviewers recommend one of the following decisions:

  • Accept

  • Minor Revision

  • Major Revision

  • Reject

Reviewers are also expected to provide constructive feedback to help authors improve their manuscripts.

Editorial Decision

The Editor-in-Chief, or a delegated academic editor, makes the final decision based on the reviewers’ reports.

  • In cases where reviewer recommendations conflict, a third reviewer may be assigned

  • Authors are notified through the OJS system and receive anonymized reviewer feedback

  • The possible editorial decisions are:

    • Accepted

    • Minor Revision Required

    • Major Revision Required

    • Rejected

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

Revision and Re-Review

Authors are required to respond point-by-point to reviewer comments and submit a revised manuscript.

  • For minor revisions, the revision deadline is 2 weeks

  • For major revisions, the deadline is 4 weeks

Manuscripts requiring major revisions are typically sent back to the original reviewers for a second round of evaluation.

Final Acceptance and Publication

Once a manuscript is accepted, it proceeds through the following steps:

  1. Copyediting for language, clarity, and consistency

  2. Typesetting and formatting according to the IJoCSS article template

  3. Online publication as Articles in Press, prior to inclusion in the upcoming issue