The peer review process is an independent quality control procedure for articles submitted to journals because it is so difficult for authors to be objective about their own writing, they benefit greatly from having someone else read and comment upon their work. Peer review is vital for enhancing the quality, credibility and acceptability of published research and practice papers.

• The review

If the editor decides that an article is suitable then it will enter the peer review process. For IJRISS is double-blind peer review. The editor selects usually two independent reviewers who research or practice in the same area as the author and are subject specialists. Sometimes the reviewers are members of the editorial advisory board or the editorial review board and other times the editor will use ad hoc reviewers from his or her personal network. This is occasionally necessary for a very specialized subject area or because the regular reviewers are too busy.

In the double-blind process all information on the paper which identifies the author is removed and the paper is coded and sent to the reviewers. The reviewers then judge the paper and return it to the Editor. The Editor then passes comments from the reviewers back to the author, particularly when rejection or revision is advised. In theory, neither the author nor the reviewers know each other’s identity, thus ensuring impartiality. This is not always possible, especially if the subject area does not support a large community. It is quite possible that the reviewer will be able to guess the origin of a paper by its content.

• The outcomes

After an article has been reviewed, it is then in one of three states; rejected, accepted, or returned for revision with the suggestion that the author makes amendments to the article which might meet the reviewers’ satisfaction. If the reviewers ask for an article to be revised, the author has the opportunity to amend the article and resubmit it for review. At this second review stage, the reviewers decide if the alterations the author has made have taken into account all the points raised in the first review. Accordingly, the paper will be finally accepted or rejected.