Review Process

For regular submissions, the peer review process is as follows

Step 1: Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system.

Step 2: Initial Screening

Each submission undergoes a preliminary review conducted by the Editorial Team to assess compliance with the journal’s formatting and content guidelines. At this stage, a manuscript may be desk-rejected without peer review if it lies outside the journal’s scope, fails to meet minimum quality standards, or contains instances of plagiarism. The initial screening typically takes 1 - 2 weeks.

Step 3: Peer Review Assignment

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are forwarded for peer review. Typically, two independent experts are assigned to evaluate the submission under a double-blind review process, ensuring that neither the reviewers nor the author are aware of each other's identities. The Editor-in-chief selects reviewers based on their subject expertise. For highly specialized topics, the editor-in-chief may request that the author suggest potential reviewers; however, the final decision on reviewer selection remains with the Editor-in-chief and the Editorial Team.

Step 4: Review Process

Reviewers are provided with a structured evaluation form to ensure a consistent and comprehensive assessment. They are asked to evaluate the manuscript on several criteria, including: the significance of its contribution to the field, clarity and organization, methodological rigor, quality of evidence supporting the conclusions, and the completeness of the literature review. Based on their assessment, reviewers submit one of four recommendations: (1) accept without revisions; (2) accept with minor revisions; (3) accept with major revisions; or (4) reject. Reviewers are normally allotted 30 days to complete their evaluations.

Step 5: Editorial Decision

The Editor-in-chief considers the feedback and recommendations of the reviewers. If there is a significant divergence between reviewer evaluations, the Editor-in-chief may either make an independent decision or solicit a third review.

Step 6: Author Revision

If revisions are required, the author is invited to revise the manuscript in accordance with the reviewers’ comments. The revised version must be submitted within 30 days of receiving the review results.

Step 7: Final Evaluation

Upon receiving the revised manuscript, the Editor-in-chief evaluates the changes made. Based on this assessment, the Editor-in-chief determines whether the manuscript meets the journal’s standards for publication.

For articles addressing a specific theme, the peer review procedure is conducted as follows:

All preliminary enquiries and submissions for peer review must be made via the journal's Internet portal.

Step 1: Submitted abstracts should not exceed one A4 page. The abstract must include: a title for the proposed publication, the names and titles of the authors, their full addresses with academic affiliation (if applicable), a maximum of five keywords, and a short text summarizing the main content and objectives of the proposed publication. Please do not include external reviews or letters of recommendation. After reviewing the initial abstract submissions, the guest editors or the permanent editorial board may ask authors to specify the basic ideas of their proposed publication in more detail in a second submission.

Step 2: Once an abstract has been successfully submitted, the guest editors or the permanent editorial board will request a full manuscript for peer review. It must meet the following criteria:

  1. If the manuscript has been submitted to another journal at the same time or has already been published, even in part, the editors must be informed. They will decide on a case-by-case basis in such instances.
  2. Two documents must be submitted: the manuscript and the title page. The title page should include all authors’ names, affiliations, contact details and any necessary acknowledgements. The instructions in ensuring a blinded manuscript must be followed.
  3. The submission file is in Microsoft Word document format and should be submitted via the following link: https://jossh.ussh.edu.vn/index.php/JOSSH/about/submissions . The manuscript has been meticulously proofread and edited to meet the standards of academic English.
  4. Where available, URLs or DOIs for references need to be provided.
  5. The text, between 8-15,000 words is single-spaced and uses Times New Roman 13-point font. All illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate locations. The abstract is no more than 250 words.
  6. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic standards of scientific publications.

Step 3: Following a positive evaluation, the respective editorial boards may ask authors to make changes to the content, style and language of their texts. Successful contributors will be asked to adapt their articles as strictly as possible to the style guidelines of VNU-JOSSH.

Step 4: Contributions to the journal that have been corrected in accordance with the peer review and stylistic review will then only be checked editorially before publication.