All manuscripts submitted to JALT Journal as full-length articles (in English or Japanese), Research Forum articles, and Perspectives articles are subject to editorial and peer review. The peer review process for regular JALT Journal manuscripts is described below. For those who are interested in submitting a proposal for a Special Issue, please click here.
Within one month of receipt of a manuscript, the Editor and Associate Editor (for English-language manuscripts) or the Japanese-Language Editor and Associate Japanese-Language Editor (for Japanese-language manuscripts) will make an editorial decision about whether to send the manuscript out for blind review. Manuscripts which are not sent out for independent peer review will not be published in JALT Journal, however there may be cases in which the editors recommend that the manuscript be submitted to another JALT Publication for consideration. The corresponding author will be informed of any subsequent editorial decisions regarding the suitability of the manuscript for further review.
JALT Journal uses double-blind peer review. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that the manuscript does not contain self-identifying information. Before a manuscript is sent out for independent peer review, the Editor and/or Associate Editor will confirm that the manuscript has been appropriately anonymized. Manuscripts not conforming to this rule will be returned to the corresponding author for anonymization.
Manuscripts that are sent out for independent peer review will be sent to a minimum of two reviewers. Reviewers may be chosen from among the Editorial Board, from among the Consulting Editors, or from experts directly contacted by the Editor or Associate Editor. Reviewers are asked to complete their review within two months of receipt of the manuscript.
Reviewers are asked to choose one of four possible recommendations for the manuscript: Publish as is, Publish with suggested rewriting, Requires overall rewriting, and Reject for reasons given. Reviewers are also asked to provide critique and suggestions for improvement. Optionally, reviewers may include confidential comments to the Editor, which will not be sent to the author(s). Reviews for English-language manuscripts are written in English. Reviews for Japanese-language manuscripts are written in Japanese.
Upon receipt of both reviews, the Editor and Associate Editor will make a decision based on both the recommendations of both reviewers and their critique or suggestions. Possible decisions are the same as the listed reviewer recommendations above. In the case of major disagreement between reviewers, the manuscript may be sent to a third reviewer. Manuscripts which receive a decision of Publish as is will be accepted, with possible editing. Manuscripts which receive a decision of Publish with suggested rewriting will, following revisions, either be accepted by editorial decision, if the Editor or Associate Editor find that the revisions are sufficient, or be subject to a second round of review with one reviewer (one of the original reviewers, if possible). Manuscripts which receive a decision of Requires overall rewriting will be subject to a second round of review with two reviewers, both of whom may be one of the original reviewers. Manuscripts which receive a decision of Reject for reasons given will be rejected and no longer considered for publication in JALT Journal.
In order to prevent manuscripts becoming trapped in a perpetual cycle of review and revision, after the second round of review, manuscripts will be rejected if the second round of reviewers recommend Requires overall rewriting.
While a manuscript is under consideration for publication in JALT Journal, it must not be submitted for consideration, nor currently under review, for publication elsewhere. After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, it must not be submitted or published elsewhere. A manuscript which is rejected will no longer be considered for publication in JALT Journal and the author(s) is(are) free to submit it elsewhere.