Journal Selection | Impact Factor | Peer Review | Paper Rejections | Rebuttal
You’ve spent months—maybe years—working on your research paper. You’ve polished it, formatted it according to the journal’s guidelines, and finally hit “Submit.” Now what? The peer review process feels like a mysterious black box for many researchers. But understanding what happens behind the scenes can help you confidently navigate it. The process can be slow, stressful, and sometimes frustrating—but it’s also a critical step in ensuring research integrity. While waiting for the feedback can be nerve-wracking, knowing what to expect at each stage can make the experience less daunting. In this guide, we’ll break down the peer review process step by step, covering different review types, how long it takes, common concerns, and what to expect from start to finish.
1. What is Peer Review?
Peer review is an academic publication’s quality control system. When you submit a research paper to a journal, it doesn’t get published immediately. Instead, it goes through a rigorous evaluation by experts in your field. These experts are your “peers.” Peer reviews are meant to improve the article, keep the decision objective by getting different perspectives, and help the editor’s decision by including subject matter expert’s opinions.
What gets evaluated?
Think of peer review as a checkpoint to prevent flawed, misleading, or poorly researched papers from being published. Without peer review, academic publishing would be chaotic and lack quality assurance. While the process isn’t perfect, it’s the best system available to ensure credibility in research.
2. What are the Different Types of Peer Review?
There are several types of peer review, with the most often used by peer-reviewed academic journals being the double-blind review.
|
peer review type |
description |
|---|---|
|
👁️🗨️Single-blind review |
Reviewers know who the authors are, but authors don’t know who the reviewers are. This protects reviewers but can introduce bias, as an author’s reputation may influence reviewers. |
|
🎭Double-blind review |
Neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other’s identities, which reduces bias but adds anonymity-related complexities and possible harsh or unprofessional comments. |
|
🗣️Open review |
Both authors and reviewers are identified. This promotes transparency but can make reviewers hesitant to give critical feedback, especially if they fear retaliation or professional conflict. |
|
🌐Post-publication review |
It focuses on a particular niche area within a field, often contributing detailed advancements in a narrow topic. This allows for continuous feedback but can be unpredictable, as comments may come from both experts and non-experts. |
Some journals even let authors suggest preferred reviewers (or request the exclusion of certain reviewers due to conflicts of interest). This can be helpful if you’re concerned about bias, but ultimately, the editor makes the final call on reviewer selection.
Tip: The type of peer review depends on the journal’s policies. It is always a good idea to check before submitting.
3. Peer Review Process
So, what happens once your paper is submitted? The peer review process typically occurs in the following five steps:
Peer review steps
3.1 Editor Screening/Sending to Reviewers
The first step in the peer review process is initial editor screening.
What Happens?
✔ Your paper first lands on the editor’s desk. They do a quick evaluation to check if it fits the journal’s scope well, meets formatting requirements, and isn’t obviously flawed. If it passes, your paper is sent to external reviewers!
(OR)
✖ If it doesn’t pass this initial check, it might be desk-rejected, meaning it never reaches peer reviewers. Desk rejections are frustrating, but they often happen due to issues like poor alignment with the journal’s focus, lack of novelty, or fundamental methodological flaws. To avoid this, always read the journal’s scope carefully before submitting.
How Long Does it Take?
Finding the right reviewers can take time, especially if your topic is highly specialized. Most journals aim for at least two to three reviewers to provide feedback.
3.2 Reviewer Evaluation and Feedback
Step two is for the reviewers to receive your paper and begin their review.
What Happens?
✔ Reviewers carefully read your paper, assessing its significance, methodology, data, analysis, results presentation, conclusions, and writing quality. They then write a report with their feedback and will recommend to the editor minor revisions or major revisions.
(OR)
✖ Outright rejection. Even if they recommend rejecting your manuscript, there should be some constructive points you can use in future writing.
How Long Does it Take?
Several weeks to months.
Tip: The feedback process isn’t just about finding errors; it’s also about helping authors improve their work. Reviewers may point out unclear explanations and gaps in evidence or suggest additional experiments or references. Some reviews are constructive and detailed, while others can be harsh or vague. Learning to interpret and respond professionally to feedback is a key research skill.
3.3. The Editor Makes the Final Decision
In step three, the reviewers returned their feedback to the editor and its decision time!
What Happens?
After receiving reviewer comments, the editor decides:
✔ Accept (rare on the first submission)
✔ Minor revisions (small fixes needed)
✔ Major revisions (significant improvements required)
✖ Reject (either due to major flaws or lack of fit for the journal)How Long Does it Take?
Several weeks to months.
3.4 Revising and Submitting
After the decision by the editor, step four is for you to revise and resubmit.
What Happens?
✔ If you’re asked to revise, congratulations—you’re still in the game! Address the reviewers’ comments carefully, make necessary changes, and write a detailed response explaining how you addressed their concerns. This response should be in the form of a change matrix.
Editor’s Comment
How Comment was AddresseD?
Add a more recent (2023-2024) source to support this statement.
On page 3, Hoffler & Wild, 2024 was added to support the statement.
Provide more detail about the sampling method.
On page 6, I provided an expanded explanation of purposeful sampling.
(OR)
✖ If your paper is rejected, don’t be discouraged – address the reviewers’ concerns and look for another journal to submit to!
How Long Does it Take?
Several weeks to months.
Tip: Be polite and professional in your response letter. If you disagree with a reviewer, explain why with supporting evidence rather than dismissing their critique outright. Focus your revision on the reviewer’s comments
After you have made all suggested changes and completed the change matrix, submit your paper for further evaluation.
3.5 Final Acceptance and Publication
Step five, and the final step, is receiving the final acceptance and getting to publication.
What Happens?
✔ If your revisions satisfy the reviewers and editor, your paper gets accepted! Next comes copyediting, typesetting, and final proofs before publication. Your paper might appear online immediately or wait for an issue slot depending on the journal.
How Long Does it Take?
Varies with the journal.
Tip: Most papers undergo at least one round of revisions before acceptance. If the changes required are too substantial, authors may need to resubmit as a new submission.
Normally, if the editor and reviewers believe the revision adequately addresses their previous concerns and the paper has improved after the revision, the paper will proceed to the last step. Unless the editor tells you that your paper won’t be published in their journal without a specific change, you can respectfully disagree with a reviewer’s comment and simply explain why you haven’t made the change.
4. How Long Does Peer Review Take?
You saw that the times for each step of the peer review process can vary across journals, disciplines, and reviewer availability. Sometimes, an article might be sent to a reviewer who never returns their review. This delays the process significantly. As a hopeful published author, you will need patience.
4.1 Usual Timeframes
If the journal you’re submitting to provides estimated or average review timeframes, it’s best to rely on those rather than the general ranges listed below. However, remember that journals may not always meet their projected timelines, and many submitted papers may take longer than the average to receive a final decision.
The review process may take longer during certain times of the year. For instance, during exam grading periods, reviewers often have limited availability. Similarly, during holidays, they may check their work emails less frequently, leading to missed review invitations and potential delays.
Timeframes
✔ Editor Screening: A few days to a few weeks
✔ Reviewer Assignment: 1-4 weeks
✔ Review Process: 4-12 weeks – sometimes more
✔ Revisions: 2-8 weeks per round
✔ Final decision and publication: weeks to months
The entire process can take 3-12 months or more from submission to publication.
4.2 Most Common Delays
Several bottlenecks can delay the peer review and publication. Here are the most common.
Common Delays
✖ Submission mistakes (e.g. submitting over the word count)
✖ Editor workload
✖ Difficulty finding willing reviewers
✖ Reviewers missing deadlines
✖ Multiple rounds of revisions are needed
✖ Backlog in the journal’s publication queue
Some journals prioritize papers on urgent topics like a public health crisis.
5. Can I Submit to More than One Journal at a Time?
No—simultaneous submissions are not allowed in academic publishing. If multiple journals accept your paper, it creates conflicts of interest and wastes reviewer time. If you get rejected, you can submit elsewhere but never submit to various journals simultaneously.
6. Can Peer Reviewers Steal Ideas?
This is a common concern, but ethical reviewers are bound by confidentiality. That said, there have been rare cases where reviewers delayed publication to scoop an idea.
Protect Yourself
✔ Submit to reputable journals with strong ethical guidelines.
✔ Consider preprints to establish priority authorship.
✔ If you suspect misconduct, report it to the journal.
7. Summary
The peer review process can be long and sometimes frustrating, but it’s designed to ensure research quality and credibility. Here’s a quick recap:
- Your paper goes through editor screening before being sent to peer reviewers.
- Reviewers provide feedback, which may require revisions.
- The editor makes a final decision, leading to acceptance or rejection.
- The process can take months, with common delays in finding reviewers and completing revisions.
- Submitting to multiple journals at once isn’t allowed, and while idea theft is rare, ethical concerns exist.
Understanding the process can help you navigate it with less stress. So, the next time you hit “Submit,” you’ll know exactly what’s happening behind the scenes!
