Peer Review Process

Sedulang: Journal of Language, Literature, Culture, and Their Teaching implements a Double-Blind Peer Review process to ensure the scholarly quality, objectivity, fairness, and integrity of every article published. Under this system, the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the review process, ensuring that neither party is aware of the other's identity.
All submitted manuscripts undergo the following stages:
1. Manuscript Submission
Authors submit their manuscripts through the journal's Open Journal Systems (OJS) in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines. Submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

2. Initial Editorial Screening
The Editorial Team conducts an initial assessment to ensure that the manuscript:
Falls within the journal's focus and scope.
    Complies with the journal's formatting requirements and manuscript template.
    Meets the minimum standards of academic quality.
    Demonstrates originality and scholarly contribution.
    Complies with the journal's publication ethics.
    At this stage, the Editor may issue a desk rejection if the manuscript does not satisfy the journal's basic requirements.

3. Similarity Check
All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software.
Manuscripts with an unacceptable level of similarity or evidence of plagiarism may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected, depending on the severity of the issue.

4. Assignment to the Handling Editor
Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial screening are assigned to a Handling Editor with expertise relevant to the manuscript's subject area.
The Handling Editor is responsible for managing the peer-review process and making editorial recommendations.

5. Double-Blind Peer Review
Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers who possess expertise relevant to the manuscript's topic.
Reviewers assess manuscripts based on the following criteria:
    Originality and novelty
    Relevance to the journal's focus and scope
    Significance of the scholarly contribution
    Soundness of the research methodology
    Accuracy of data analysis
    Quality of discussion
    Clarity of presentation
    Appropriateness and adequacy of references
    Consistency between results and conclusions
    Compliance with publication ethics
Reviewers provide constructive comments, suggestions for improvement, and recommendations to the editor while remaining anonymous to the authors.

6. Editorial Decision
Based on the reviewers' recommendations, the Editor may make one of the following decisions:
    Accept Submission (Accepted without revision)
    Minor Revision (Accepted subject to minor revisions)
    Major Revision (Substantial revisions required; the revised manuscript may undergo an additional round of review)
    Reject (Declined for publication)
The final decision regarding acceptance or rejection rests with the Editor-in-Chief, taking into account the reviewers' recommendations and the editorial assessment.

7. Revision by Authors
If revisions are required, authors must:
    Revise the manuscript in accordance with the reviewers' comments.
    Submit a Response to Reviewers explaining how each comment has been addressed.
    Resubmit the revised manuscript within the specified deadline.

8. Second Review
For manuscripts requiring major revisions, the revised version may be returned to the original reviewers or assigned to additional reviewers to verify that all concerns have been adequately addressed.
Additional rounds of peer review may be conducted if necessary.

9. Final Decision
Upon completion of the review and revision process, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision.
Possible decisions include:
    Accepted for Publication
    Accepted with Editorial Revisions
    Rejected
    The decision of the Editor-in-Chief is final.

10. Copyediting and Production
Accepted manuscripts proceed to the production stage, which includes:
    Copyediting
    Layout editing
    Proofreading
    Final author approval of page proofs

11. Publication
After successfully completing the editorial and production processes, the article is published in the scheduled issue of the journal and made freely available through the journal's Open Access platform.