Peer Review Policy

Forefront in Sociology & Political Sciences uses a double-blind peer-review process for research articles and other scholarly manuscripts that require peer review.

Initial Editorial Screening

All submitted manuscripts are first examined by the editorial team to determine whether they:

  • fall within the journal's aims and scope;

  • meet the basic submission requirements;

  • contain original scholarly work;

  • follow the journal's ethical and formatting requirements; and

  • are suitable for peer review.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic requirements may be returned to the authors or rejected before external peer review.

Double-Blind Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise.

Under the double-blind process:

  • reviewers do not receive the identity of the authors;

  • authors do not receive the identity of the reviewers; and

  • reviewers are expected to declare any relevant conflict of interest.

Editorial Decision

The final editorial decision is made by the responsible editor based on the reviewers' evaluations, the quality and originality of the manuscript, the relevance to the journal's scope, and the journal's editorial and ethical standards.

Possible decisions include:

  • Accept

  • Minor Revision

  • Major Revision

  • Reject

A manuscript may require more than one round of review where substantial revisions are requested.

Independence of Peer Review

Payment of an Article Processing Charge, where applicable, does not influence peer-review or editorial decisions.

Special Issues

Any special issue or guest-edited collection is subject to the journal's standard editorial oversight and peer-review requirements. The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the scholarly content and editorial integrity of the journal.

Publication Dates

Published articles should display the date of publication. Where applicable, submission and acceptance dates are also displayed on the article page.