Peer Review Process

Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to the Theological Journal Kerugma undergo a strictly blinded peer review in which the authors’ names are removed from the manuscripts to prepare an anonymous version. The peer-review process mainly comprises two steps; editorial review and blinded peer review.

Editorial Review

The editorial office initially reviews the submitted manuscripts in terms of the use of the template, scope, instructions for authors and proficiency in English.

This review results in three possible decisions:

  • Editorial rejection;
  • Starting the peer review process
  • Requesting the authors to revise their manuscripts given the editorial suggestion(s) and resubmit the revised version.

The editorial review process generally takes about three weeks, but sometimes even for longer than the schedule due to backlogs.

Blinded Peer Review

Each manuscript is sent to at least two referees to make a scientific decision of its publication in the Theological Journal Kerugma.  The referees anonymously read, examine and analyze the manuscript by the following criteria:

  • The clarity of the purpose
  • Originality of problem
  • Literature review and theoretical framework
  • Research design/methodology
  • Presentation, fluency and consistency of the findings
  • Quality of discussion
  • Implications for education, learning, teaching and theology studies
  • Strength and weak points of the manuscript.

Given the referees’ decisions and comments, the assigned Editor/Editor in Chief decides the manuscript (Accept, Minor revisions, Major Revisions, Reject and Resubmit and Reject) and informs the corresponding author about the review results.

If the manuscript needs major revisions, the editor reviews the revisions and decides without another peer-review. For the other decisions, except for rejection, all revised and re-submitted manuscripts undergo another round for the blinded peer-review process. Hence, the editor makes a final decision after completing the second round of the peer-review process.

The accepted articles are sent to the author/s for their correction and publishing approval. In this process, the authors must have the papers proofread by professional editing. The review process takes about 4 weeks to 8 weeks.