The practice of peer review lies at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is essential to ensuring academic quality. Our referees play a vital role in maintaining the high standards of RELIGION. All manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below. Referees advise the editors, who alone are responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.
Note that special issues have different peer review procedures applied in consultation with the (guest) editor in charge.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The editors first evaluate all manuscripts. Some manuscripts are rejected at this stage ("desk reject"). These include submissions that fall outside the aims and scope of the journal or have serious scientific flaws. Authors of manuscripts rejected at this stage will be informed within 3 weeks of receipt.
Manuscripts that meet the minimum criteria are sent to at least two experts for review.
Type of Peer Review
RELIGION employs double-blind reviewing, where both referees and authors remain anonymous throughout the process.
How the referees are selected
Referees are matched to the paper by the editors according to the former's area(s) of expertise. The journal's editorial board and authors are an important resource in this process. Our database is constantly being updated. We welcome suggestions for referees from authors; these recommendations may or may not be used; at least one referee not suggested by the author will be invited to review the paper.
Referee reports
Referees are asked to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript and are requested to assess the originality, scope of interest, methodological and theoretical qualities, adherence to norms of expression, appropriate standards of research ethics, correct referencing of previous research, and overall quality of the manuscript.
Referees are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer review process.
How long does the review process take?
Typically the manuscript will be reviewed within three months. Should the referees' reports contradict one another or a report be unsatisfactory or delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought.
Final report
A final decision to accept, revise, resubmit, or reject the manuscript will be sent by the editor(s) to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees. Verbatim comments by the referees may also be sent to authors, except those submitted explicitly for the editors' consideration only. Articles are rarely accepted as is. The editors and referees may request more than one revision of a manuscript. Resubmissions and papers with substantial revisions will be reviewed by at least one new referee.
The Editors' decisions are final.
Acknowledgement of and benefits for reviewers
The benefits of refereeing for RELIGION include the opportunity to read, see and evaluate the latest work in religious studies at an early stage, and to contribute to the overall integrity of scientific research and its published documentation. Reviewers will also be acknowledged on the journal's homepage (with no reference to specific submissions). Reviewers who provide their reports using the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) also receive a month's free access to SCOPUS (www.scopus.com), the world's largest abstracting and indexing database as well as to ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), for every review provided. You may also be able to cite your work for RELIGION as part of your professional development requirements for various professional societies and organisations.
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