Editorial team

Reviewer guidelines

What Journal of Law and Human Society asks of its reviewers: how to answer an invitation, assess a manuscript and write a useful review on time.

  • Follows the journal's current settings
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On this page

At a glance

  • Reviews are double-blind and confidential.
  • Declare any conflict of interest before you accept.

Reviewers are the heart of the journal's quality. These guidelines describe the practical side of reviewing for Journal of Law and Human Society; the principles are in the journal's reviewer guidelines policy and peer review process.

The invitation

  • Read the title and abstract and accept only if the manuscript is within your expertise and you can finish on time.
  • Decline if you have a conflict of interest, for example a recent collaboration with the authors, a competing project or a personal relationship.

Time limits

Time for a revision
14 days
Review rounds at most
3
Reminder
3 days before the deadline

Assessing the manuscript

Consider in particular:

  1. Originality and relevance: does it add something new to the field and fit the journal?
  2. Methods: are the design, data and analysis appropriate and described well enough to repeat?
  3. Results and conclusions: do the conclusions follow from the results?
  4. Literature: is the relevant and recent work cited, and is anything cited without need?
  5. Presentation: are the structure, language, figures and tables clear?
  6. Ethics: approvals, consent, data availability and signs of plagiarism or manipulation.

Writing the review

  • Fill in every item of the review form, write comments for the author and, if needed, confidential comments for the editor.
  • Be specific and constructive: say what should change and why.
  • Separate essential changes from suggestions.
  • Upload your review file when the form asks for it.
  • Choose a recommendation (accept, minor revision, major revision or decline) that matches your comments.
  • Write respectfully. Personal remarks have no place in a review.

Confidentiality and integrity

  • Do not share the manuscript or use its content before publication.
  • Do not contact the authors; ask the editor through the chat on your review task.
  • Do not upload the manuscript to external services or tools, including AI tools, as described in the AI use policy.
  • Report suspected misconduct to the editor confidentially.

Recognition

  • The editor may rate the quality of your review. Ratings are private and help the journal choose reviewers.
  • You receive a certificate for your contribution when the article is published.

Your invitations, reviews and certificates are on the reviewer desk.

Related policies