Peer Review Policy

The Journal of Discourse, Culture & Society (JDCS) operates a rigorous double-anonymized peer review process, in which the identities of both authors and reviewers are concealed from one another throughout the review. 

Process

All submissions are first assessed by the editors to determine whether they fall within the journal's scope and meet basic standards of quality and presentation. Manuscripts that pass this initial assessment are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers. Submissions that do not meet these criteria may be desk-rejected without external review.

Reviewers are asked to evaluate the originality, rigour, clarity, and significance of the work, and to provide a recommendation together with constructive comments. On the basis of the reviews, the editors reach one of the following decisions: accept, minor revisions, major revisions, or reject. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers.

Anonymization

To preserve anonymity, authors must remove all identifying information from the manuscript and its file properties, and refer to their own prior work in the third person. Acknowledgements and funding information should be placed on a separate title page.

Timelines

The journal aims to reach an initial decision within a reasonable timeframe. Reviewers are normally asked to respond to an invitation within two weeks and to complete their review within four weeks. Final decisions rest with the editors.