Triple Blind Peer Review

The review process is an important aspect of the publication process of an article. It enables authors to improve their manuscripts and aids editors in making decision on manuscripts. This Academic Journal employs a Triple-blind peer review system.

A triple-blind peer review system is an anonymous review system whereby the identity of the author(s) of a manuscript is concealed from the selected reviewers. All details that may enable a reviewer to identify the author(s) of a manuscript are removed from the manuscript before the manuscript is sent to the reviewer. Similarly, the reviewers’ identities are also concealed from the author(s) when sending the reviewers’ comments to the author(s).

Academic Journals considers the double-blind peer system as a more effective review system because it limits possible bias from either the selected reviewers or from authors.

The Peer Review Process

The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research employs a three-stage review process – editorial office, external review and editors’ decision.

The first stage of the review process takes place in the editorial office. On submission, a manuscript is reviewed to ensure that it meets the minimum requirements of the journal before it is sent to external reviewers. At this stage, the manuscript is reviewed for the following

1. Possible plagiarism: The manuscript is evaluated to compare the level of similarity with other published works. The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research uses iThenticate plagiarism detection system to achieve this goal. Manuscripts that have high level of similarity with other works (including the author(s) previous works) are rejected at this stage. Authors are provided with the similarity report together with the decision to reject the manuscript. The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research is a member of SimilarityCheck. Similarity Check powered by iThenticate is an initiative of CrossRef to help its members to prevent plagiarism.
2. Scope: After a manuscript has undergone similarity check and the level of similarity is judged to be appropriate, the content of the manuscript is checked to ensure that it fits within the scope of the journal selected by the author(s). In situations where the content of the manuscript does not fit the scope of the journal.
3. The manuscript still undergoes the usual peer review and may be accepted or reject if it is not suitable.
4. Recent references: The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research encourages authors to cite more recent articles. Preferably, considerable number of the cited articles should be works that were published within the last five years. This is especially important for articles submitted to JNASR.
5. English Language: The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research (JNASR) currently publishes full text of articles only in English language. Abstracts may be translated to other languages and published alongside the English language abstract.
6. Manuscripts are checked for the structure, organization, correctness and clarity of the language as it adheres to the journal’s Instructions for Authors. The editorial office usually makes correction to minor grammatical errors in such a manner that it does not alter the manuscript. However, in situations where language is substantially difficult to comprehend, the manuscript is returned to the author to improve clarity of the language.

Manuscript that fails in this first stage of the review process are returned to the author(s) for modification and resubmission. This first stage of the review is very important as it enables the author(s) improve the manuscript at an early stage. This first stage of the manuscript review is usually completed within a week.

Once a manuscript successfully completes the editorial office review process, it proceeds to the second stage. The second stage of the review process employs the triple-blind review system. A minimum of three external reviewers are selected from our database, editorial board of the journal or other sources. These reviewers have expert knowledge of the subject area of the manuscript. The reviewers are invited to review the manuscript by sending them the abstract of the manuscript. Upon acceptance to review the manuscript, the full text of the manuscript is sent to the reviewers after the author(s) have been concealed.

Reviewers are required to evaluate the manuscripts and provide useful comments to enable the author(s) improve the quality of the manuscript. Reviewers also score the manuscript in terms of originality, contribution to the field, technical quality, clarity of presentation and depth of research. Finally, reviewers make one of the following suggestion about the manuscript;

1. Requires minor corrections
2. Requires moderate revision
3. Requires major revision
4. Not suitable for further processing. In this case, the reviewer provides specific reason(s) why the manuscript will not be further processed.

It should be noted that though a reviewer may give a positive report on a particular manuscript, if another reviewer raises concerns that may fundamentally undermine the study and results the manuscript may be rejected.

Upon receipt of the reviewers’ comments, the editorial office reviews the comment. If the two of three reviewers comment positively to accept the paper, it proceeds to the next phase. The reviewers’ identities are concealed from the author(s). The total time taken to complete the second stage of the manuscript review is dependent on the availability of the reviewers. However, it is usually completed between one to four weeks.

Using the reviewers’ comments, author(s) make corrections to the manuscript and submits a revised manuscript. Upon receipt of the revised submission, the manuscript undergoes the third and final stage of the review process. The original manuscript, the revised manuscript and all the reviewers’ comments are sent to an editor of the journal. The editor reviews the manuscript and makes one the following decisions

1. Accept as it is
2. Accept with minor correction
3. Requires major corrections
4. Send revised manuscript for review again
5. Reject

Manuscripts that are accepted, as is, are scheduled for publication. Manuscripts that require corrections (either minor or major) are sent to the author(s) to affect the corrections suggested by the editor. After effecting the corrections, the editor reviews the manuscripts again before the manuscripts are accepted for publication. In some cases, the editor may require authors to make corrections a second time. In other cases, the editor may request for the revised manuscripts with (or without) the additional corrections to be sent to a specific reviewer who had earlier reviewed the manuscript before the manuscript can be accepted for publication.

PAPER SUBMISSONS 

The JNASR published by the College of Natural and Applied Sciences of Igbinedion University, Okada, welcomes the submission of solicited and/or unsolicited manuscripts. We welcome submissions that focus on any aspect of natural and/or applied sciences. We also welcome book reviews, case comments and public lectures.

Selected articles would be published in hard copy and also prominently displayed on the institutional website as a resource for scholars and practitioners worldwide. Papers must be based on original research, conformant to the usual standard of academic publishing, fully referenced and presented in the standard format employed by the JNASR. Papers will be evaluated based on their contemporary relevance, contribution to their selected fields of research, structure and analytical vigor. Please refer to the submission guide below.

PAPER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 Length and Footnotes

1)  Articles should be between 5000-8000 words and should advance scientific scholarship and knowledge in a specific area of natural and applied sciences.

2)  Articles should include an abstract of approximately 250 words that is not an extract from the article itself.

3)  Details of the author should be supplied as the first footnote, attached by an asterisk to the author’s name.

Accepted Language: English Only

Areas Covered: Multidisciplinary

Frequency: 2 Issues Per Year

Type of Articles: Research Paper, Survey Paper, Informative Article, Case Studies,

Review Papers, Comparative Studies, Dissertation Chapters, Research Proposals or

Synopsis, M.Sc./ Ph.D. Thesis.

All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript prior to submission. Once a manuscript is submitted, it is therefore assumed that all authors have read and given their approval for the submission of the manuscript.

Contact information of all authors should be stated on the manuscript. Surname/Other names, affiliation, emails, and phone/fax numbers.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest should be stated in the manuscript.

Submission should be made online https://jnasr.iuokada.edu.ng/

Conflict of interest

Reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest and if necessary, decline the review of any manuscript they perceive to have a conflict of interest. Editors should also decline from considering any manuscript that may have conflict of interest. Such manuscripts will be re-assigned to other editors.

Confidentiality

A submitted manuscript is a confidential material. Academic Journals will not disclose submitted manuscript to anyone except individuals who partake in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for publication (if accepted). These individuals include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors.  However, in suspected cases of misconduct, a manuscript may be revealed to members of the JNASR committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct. Academic Journals shall follow the appropriate COPE flowcharts wherever necessary.

Form of Submission

4)  Articles must be submitted in Word format and sent using the article submission portal

5) Contributions will only be considered for publication if they comply with the style guide. All citations should be as footnotes and accord with the APA format.

6) Authors should please make use of the following checklist prior to submission:

1. An abstract is included;
2. Headings are consecutively numbered without automatic numbering;
3. Headings are not underlined;
4. Paragraphs are not separated by a full blank line, but only by an indent at the Beginning of the new paragraph;
5. Footnotes are consecutively numbered by way of automatic numbering;
6. Footnotes are not separated by a full blank line;
7. Footnotes appear at the end of each page of the manuscript and not at the end of the manuscript;
8. Quotations have been checked for accuracy; and
9. References comply with the American Psychological Association (APA).

Deadlines

7)  We review articles on a rolling basis, for publication in any of our two editions published in a year. Authors should take note of the following deadlines:

1. Spring Edition: Only articles submitted on or before 12 noon on 31st April will be considered for publication in the spring edition.
2. Fall Edition: Only articles submitted on or before 12 noon on 31st September will be considered for publication in the Fall edition.
3. Deadlines are firm, articles submitted after the deadline may not be published. All papers should be submitted by email.

 Evaluation

8) Contributions are submitted to three blind referees and the identities of the contributors and referees are kept confidential. Two out of three “Accepts” are accepted.

9) Further details about the Journal can be found at: https://jnasr.iuokada.edu.ng/

Duplicate Submissions

Duplicate submission is a situation whereby an author submits the same or similar manuscripts to two different journals at the same time. This includes the submission of manuscripts derived from the same data in such a manner that there are no substantial differences in the manuscripts. Duplicate submission also includes the submission of the same/similar manuscript in different languages to different journals. The Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research does not encourage duplicate submissions.

Questions and Enquiries

All enquiries or questions should be directed to:

The Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Research

Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences

Igbinedion university, Okada, Edo State, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]