Peer Review Policy

Culture, Education, and Future (CEF) is to be a double-blind peer-reviewed academic, scientific journal. All manuscripts submitted for publication should be original. Manuscripts published or under consideration for publication elsewhere should not be submitted and will not be considered. Submission of a manuscript implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal management system is reviewed by the editors within two weeks at least. The manuscripts are critically reviewed based on the journal’s submission criteria:

• Aims and scope of the journal
• Quality of manuscript
• Journal writing rules (APA 7 rules)
• Publication language
• Citing and references
• Checking similarity

Manuscripts are reviewed by editors and then forwarded to two reviewers who are specialized. If the manuscripts do not meet the above-mentioned criteria, it is rejected by the editors.

These reviewers state their decision on whether they take the submitted manuscript into the review or not to the editorial board within two weeks at least. If the reviewers don’t state an opinion to the editorial board, new reviewers are assigned the review the manuscript.

The manuscripts that pass the evaluation of the Editor(s) are sent to two experts in the field (double-blind reviewers). Persons who have or may have a direct or indirect relationship with the researcher(s) (for example, working in the same institution, etc.) are avoided to be determined as reviewers. If the reviewers have different views on the quality of the manuscript, the manuscript will be referred to a third or fourth reviewer. The manuscripts are assigned to be published if the reviewers' reports are positive. The review process may take up to 8-12 weeks for the first decision.

Reviewers' reports are kept confidential. Authors should pay attention to the criticism, suggestions, and corrections of the reviewers and the Editorial Board.

The manuscripts are sent to the reviewers with an online Reviewer Evaluation Form (download the form) in accordance with the research methodology. Moreover, the assigned reviewers may also present their views and thoughts in the full paper and send it to the editorial board. 

In general, peer reviews of the studies are based on originality, the method used, compliance with ethical rules, consistent presentation of findings, discussion, conclusion, and literature contribution.

This review is based on the following elements:

Presentation: The reviewer report in this section should include an opinion on the general readability, organization and efficiency, focus/clarity of written expression, creativity of expression, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, academic writing style-technique, and APA 7 format (citations in the text, references, tables…).

Introduction: The reviewer report in this section should include an opinion on the presentation and objectives of the problem addressed in the study, the importance of the subject, the scope and timeliness of the relevant literature, and the study's originality.

Method: The reviewer report in this section should include information about the suitability of the method used, the selection and characteristics of the research group, the validity and reliability of the measurement tools, and the data collection and analysis process. This section is not taken into consideration for review/literature/opinion studies.

Results/Findings: The reviewer report in this section should include the presentation of the findings/results obtained within the framework of the method, the accuracy of the analysis, the presentation of the tables, figures, and the required visuals.

Discussion, Conclusion, & Implications: The reviewer report in this section should include the relevance of the discussion with the research questions/hypothesis(s), views on the generalizability and applicability of the findings, an opinion on the study's originality, its contribution to the literature, and practices in the field.

Reviewers' decisions serve as a guide to editors to make the final decisions. The final decision always belongs to editors.

Reviewers can state the following four decisions for the submitted manuscript:

• Accept for Publication
• Revisions Required (Accept with minor revisions: Revisions are checked by the editors)
• Resubmit for Review (Major revisions: It will be reviewed for the second round) 
• Reject (It is not recommended for publishing)
• Submit Elsewhere (It is not the scope of the journal: Reject)

In the reviewer evaluation form, the reviewers are expected to explain their views on the criteria in the form and other relevant issues in a clear, detailed, and scientific manner. Reviewer evaluation that does not contain a detailed and scientific explanation is not considered. That is, an evaluation is not regarded as valid when it is based solely on marking criteria on the form.

After reviews are completed, reviewers' comments/views are examined for at least two weeks by editors. Editors make the final decision for the manuscript by taking into consideration reviewers' decisions and suggestions. The final decision is sent to the author.

_{*Prepared by the publisher, reviewed, and approved by CEF Editors and commissioned Editorial Board Members. Updated on 28 March 2024.}