Introduction
Articles submitted to the African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences go through peer review process. The goal of peer review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication consideration. Before an article is deemed appropriate to be published in the journal, it must undergo the following process as illustrated:
- The author must submit the article to the journal editor who forwards the article to experts (reviewers) in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (thus”peer review”);
- These impartial reviewers are charged with carefully evaluating the quality of the manuscript;
- The peer reviewers check the manuscript for accuracy and assess the validity of the research methodology and procedures;
- If appropriate, the reviewers suggest revisions. If they find the article lacking in scholarly validity and rigor, they reject it;
- Journal editor communicates the review comments/ suggestions to the author(s).
Review Considerations
The African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences uses a review comments form to summarize the key reviewers’ comments/ suggestions. The comments are based on IMRaD as a norm for the structure of a scientific journal article of an empirical nature. The structure includes Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion/conclusion:
Introduction: Whether the introduction includes a rich background to the study and a thesis statement.
Methodology: Whether design, sampling techniques, data collection instruments and analysis procedure are sound.
Results: Whether the paper vividly presents the key findings of the study based on the major study objectives / hypotheses.
Discussion: Whether the paper discusses the findings in light of the previous body of knowledge and whether it presents additional knowledge.
Conclusion: Whether the paper draws conclusions based on the findings on each study objective/ hypothesis
Other aspects considered in the review include the following:
Organization: Whether the paper is organized logically and coherently, with flow of ideas and connectedness.
Style /Presentation: Whether there are grammatical, typographical and orthographic errors; whether the article uses relevant scholarly terms.
Format: Whether the paper cites the sources correctly, uses recommended style of citation and referencing.