Review Policy

General Provisions

All manuscripts submitted to the journal «Economic Strategy and Prospects of Trade and Services Sector Development» undergo mandatory peer review to ensure the high quality of scholarly publications, compliance with the principles of academic integrity, and alignment with the thematic scope of the journal.

The journal operates a double-blind peer review model, under which authors are unaware of the identity of reviewers, and reviewers are unaware of the identity of authors.

Manuscripts are submitted in anonymised form to ensure impartiality in the review process.

 

Review Process

1. Initial Editorial Assessment

Upon receipt of a manuscript, the editorial board conducts a preliminary evaluation covering:

•        compliance with the thematic and scholarly profile of the journal;

•        adherence to formatting requirements;

•        conformity with structural requirements for a scientific article;

•        absence of indicators of academic misconduct;

•        scholarly relevance and methodological soundness.

The editorial board reserves the right to reject a manuscript without sending it for peer review (desk rejection) if it does not meet the stated requirements or is of insufficient scholarly quality.

Manuscripts may also be returned to authors for revision prior to being sent for peer review.

 

2. Peer Review

A manuscript that has passed the initial assessment is sent to at least two independent reviewers who are specialists in the relevant field and have no conflict of interest with the authors.

Reviewers are selected by the editorial board taking into account:

•        scholarly specialisation and publication profile;

•        research experience in the subject area of the article;

•        absence of a conflict of interest;

•        adherence to the principles of independence and impartiality.

The review is conducted on the basis of confidentiality, academic ethics, and objectivity.

Reviewers evaluate:

•        the relevance and novelty of the research;

•        the correctness of the methodology applied;

•        the soundness of the results obtained;

•        the clarity of presentation and the substantiation of conclusions;

•        conformity of the formatting with scholarly standards.

The average review period is generally between 2 and 4 weeks.

In the event of conflicting reviews, the editorial board may appoint an additional (third) reviewer.

Authors are required to submit the revised manuscript within the deadline set by the editorial board.

 

3. Editorial Decision

Based on the results of peer review, the editorial board makes one of the following decisions:

•        accept the article for publication;

•        accept after revision;

•        send for re-review;

•        reject the article.

The final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief or the designated handling editor.

 

Conflict of Interest

The editorial board ensures that reviewers are selected in a manner that avoids any conflict of interest between authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial board.

In the event that a potential conflict of interest is identified, the reviewer is required to notify the editorial board and recuse themselves from the review.

 

Confidentiality

Materials submitted for peer review are treated as confidential documents. They may not be disclosed to third parties or used by reviewers in their own research without the written consent of the editorial board.

 

Documentation of the Review Process

The editorial board ensures the documentation of the peer review process by retaining reviews, editorial decisions, and the correspondence history with authors in accordance with internal editorial procedures.

 

Appeal

Authors have the right to submit a substantiated appeal regarding an editorial decision.

The appeal is considered by the editorial board with the involvement of independent experts (where necessary), after which a final decision is made.

 

Compliance with Publication Ethics Standards

The peer review procedure is carried out in accordance with the principles of academic integrity and the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The editorial board also takes into account the AI Policy when reviewing manuscripts.

The review procedure is further aligned with the editorial policy and the publication ethics policy of the journal.