Blind review is a method employed to make sure that manuscripts are published with the highest quality. This method is fundamental to the objective review of research studies and is preferred by many scientific journals. Reviewer views are determinant in the publication quality of EPASR. All manuscripts submitted to EPASR are blind reviewed according to the following steps :

Blind Review Method

EPASR employs the double blind review method in the review process of all submitted manuscripts. In this method the identities of the authors and reviewers are confidential.

Initial Review Process

The studies submitted to EPASR are reviewed by the editors first. At this stage, the studies which are not related with the journal's aim and scope, weak in terms of language and wording, lack originality, contain critical scientific mistakes and do not meet the publishing criteria are rejected. The authors of such studies are informed about the decision within two months after the submission date. The studies deemed acceptable, on the other hand, are assigned to two reviewers related with the subject of the manuscript.

Assigning Reviewers

Reviewers are assigned according to the content of the studies and their field of expertise.  They are asked to be impartial in their opinion. If they cannot separate the evaluation process from their personal views or if they have a conflict of interest, they should excuse themselves from the reviewing process. Reviewers are also expected to protect the confidentiality of the manuscript and ensure that it is not disseminated or exploited in any form before the publication. 

Reviewer Reports

In general, the reviewers' reports are based on the originality of the studies, methods, ethical considerations, consistent presentation of the findings and results and analysis of the studies with respect to literature. This evaluation is done according to the following:

1. Introduction and literature: the reviewer report includes views about the presentation and aims of the problem addressed in the study, the importance of the topic, the scope of the related literature, the originality and topicality of the study.
2. Method: the reviewer report includes views about the appropriateness of the research method, sample choice and properties, validity and reliability issues, as well as data collection and data analysis.
3. Findings: the reviewer report includes views about the presentation of the findings obtained through the method, the accuracy of the analysis methods, the consistency of the aims and findings of the study, the presentation of tables, diagrams and visuals that are needed, and the conceptual evaluation of the scales.
4. Evaluation and Discussion: the reviewer report includes views about discussions based on findings, suitability with the research question(s) and hypothesis(ses), generalizability and applicability.
5. Results and Suggestions: the reviewer report includes views about contribution to literature, recommendations for future studies and suggestions about applications in the field.
6. Style and Wording: the reviewer report includes views about whether the title comprises the content of the study, whether the Turkish language is used accurately and whether APA rules are observed in giving references and in-text references in parallel with the language of the full text.
7. Overall Evaluation: the reviewer report includes views about the originality of the study as a whole and the contribution it makes to the education literature and applications.

Reviewing Process

Reviewers are given 6 weeks for review.  Reviewers may ask multiple editing of a study if they deem necessary.

Review Result

The editor evaluates the reviewers' comments within 2 weeks at the latest and as a result of this evaluation the editor makes his/her final decision regarding the study.

Editorial Board Decision

The editor reports the decision to the author(s) in a week at the latest along with the suggestions made by the reviewers. In this process the studies that are not accepted for publication are returned without request for plagiarism detection. The final decision about the accepted studies is made based on the results of the plagiarism detection report.

How long does the Publication Review Process last?

It is anticipated that the publication review process of the studies submitted to EPASR be completed in 3-5 months. However, the period during which editors or reviewers ask the author(s) to do editing and the author(s) complete the editing is not included in this time frame.