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Japanese Society and Culture

Review Process

This journal follows a double anonymized review process. The Editor will do the initial screening, including checking manuscripts for compatibility with the journal's scope, topical coverage, and plagiarism. If the manuscript is deemed unsuitable for peer review, it will be returned to the author with a justification for the decline. Once accepted for peer review, the article will be double-blind peer-reviewed by at least two independent reviewers selected from members of the JSC editorial board and/or researchers of Institute of Social Science, Toyo University and/or external experts chosen on an ad-hoc basis. The Editor will also add their comments to reviewer feedback as appropriate. The Editor retains the right not to forward reviews to authors “as is”; to filter out portions of reviews that sound offensive, unscrupulous, unsubstantiated, or unhelpful; and to return reviews to reviewers (if feasible) for editing and further substantiation. The double-blind peer review process can take up to about 4 weeks, depending on the promptness of reviewer responses and the need for any additional rounds of review. Authors will be given a deadline by which to implement revisions. If the revised manuscript is not returned by the indicated deadline, it will be declined and will have to be submitted as a new submission and put through a new round of peer-review. After the second round of peer-review, the Editor retains the right to send manuscripts back to authors for further revision or to reject manuscripts at this stage. Once the revision is deemed satisfactory, the manuscript will be accepted for publication. No further content-related changes will be allowed after this stage. Authors, however, will be able to make minor grammar-, punctuation-, references-, layout- and formatting-related corrections and updates at the stage of proofing galleys. After acceptance, the manuscript is sent to the printer, and the first draft is produced. The author can check the first draft and the second proof. After final proofreading, the process moves to binding. The final PDF file is uploaded to the JSC website.

Timeline

Editor desk preview		5-7 days from the date of submission acknowledgement
Manuscript sent out for peer review		2-5 days from Editor preview acceptance
First round of review		2-3 weeks
Time given to authors for revisions		2-3 weeks
Second round of review		1-2 weeks
Copyediting		2-3 weeks, depending on the length and complexity of the manuscript
Production		3-4 weeks, depending on the editorial team's workload and the printing company
Final processing for publication		2-5 business days