U7Y

Peer Review Policy

All submissions to the Unveiling Seven Continents Yearbook Journal (U7Y Journal) undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure academic quality, impartiality, and integrity. Neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other’s identities throughout the process.

Review Steps

Initial Screening (1–2 weeks): The Editorial Office checks the manuscript for scope alignment, formatting compliance, plagiarism, and ethical standards. Submissions not meeting minimum requirements may be returned before peer review.

External Peer Review (4–6 weeks): Each manuscript is evaluated by two or more independent reviewers with subject expertise. Reviewers assess originality, methodological rigor, clarity, contribution to knowledge, and ethical compliance.

Decision Outcomes:

Accept: The manuscript meets all requirements with no further changes.
Minor Revision: Small improvements required before acceptance.
Major Revision: Significant changes needed before re-review.
Reject: The manuscript does not meet publication standards.

Appeals: Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a detailed justification and supporting evidence. Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and/or an independent reviewer, read more

Reviewer Assignment and Responsibilities

Reviewers are selected and invited by the handling editor under the oversight of the Editor-in-Chief, based on subject expertise and the absence of conflicts of interest. Authors may suggest reviewers or request that specific individuals be excluded; such requests are considered but are not binding, and the final decision rests with the editors.

Reviewer Responsibilities:

Maintain strict confidentiality of all manuscript content.
Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based feedback.
Disclose any conflicts of interest before accepting the review assignment.

Confidentiality of review materials:

All manuscripts and review correspondence are confidential and must not be shared, cited, or used by reviewers or editors for any purpose other than the review itself.

Submissions by Editorial Board Members

To ensure the highest standards of transparency and fairness, any manuscript submitted by a member of the journal’s Editorial Board, including the Editors-in-Chief, will be handled by an alternative, independent editor. The submitting board member is completely excluded from the reviewer selection, evaluation, and final decision-making process for their own manuscript.

Submissions from Associated Conferences

The journal occasionally publishes research initially presented at associated academic conferences. To maintain academic integrity, conference-linked submissions are treated with the exact same rigor as unsolicited manuscripts.

Independence: Acceptance to, or presentation at, an associated conference does not guarantee publication in the journal.
Originality: Papers presented at conferences must be significantly expanded. Submissions must contain a minimum of 30% new, original content compared to the conference presentation or proceedings.
Editorial Independence: Any conference organizer, sponsor, or guest editor listed as an author on a submission is completely excluded from the peer review and editorial decision-making process for that manuscript.

Review Timelines

Initial Screening: 1–2 weeks
Peer Review: 4–6 weeks
Final Decision: 1–2 weeks after review completion
Average Turnaround: The average time from article submission to final publication is 68 days.