Desk Reject Policy

 

jpe@unipma.ac.id | doi.org/10.25273/pe | Universitas PGRI Madiun | ISSN 2088-5350 (Print) & 2528-5173 (Online)
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Desk Reject Policy
Five sections · what happens before a manuscript reaches peer review
 
01
Purpose & rationale

Before entering formal peer review, every submission is screened by the editorial team ("desk review"). This filter ensures that manuscripts misaligned with the journal's aims, or missing essential information, do not proceed to reviewers. A desk reject decision is made directly by the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned Handling Editor, without sending the manuscript out for external review.

Why this policy exists
  • Protects reviewers' time from manuscripts that would likely be rejected regardless of review outcome.
  • Spares authors the typical review turnaround for an outcome that could have been made clear at the outset.
02
Scope & content criteria

A manuscript is typically desk rejected if it falls into one or more of the following categories:

Out of scope The topic falls outside the journal's Aims and Scope (e.g., pure instrument-validation studies, or topics unrelated to learning and instruction).
Insufficient novelty The manuscript investigates a narrow, local, or practical issue without embedding it in a broader theoretical or global perspective, or largely replicates prior published work without meaningful contribution.
Weak methodology The study relies overly on self-report measures or questionnaires without triangulation, or the design cannot in principle answer the stated research question.
Descriptive-only findings Purely descriptive qualitative or quantitative reporting with no analytical depth, interpretation, or connection to existing literature.
Poor presentation The manuscript is unreadable due to extensive language, grammar, or structural issues that obscure the scientific content.
03
Formal & integrity criteria

Independent of scientific merit, a manuscript is also desk rejected — often immediately, without full editorial reading — if it fails any of the following checks:

Formal / administrative
Reject Incomplete submission — missing title page, abstract, keywords, tables/figures, or required declarations.
Reject Manuscript does not follow the journal's required structure, reference style, or minimum reference count.
Reject Submission was not made through the required OJS portal or submission channel.
Research & publication integrity
  • Similarity/plagiarism check exceeds the journal's threshold (typically above 20–25% overall, or any single-source match indicating substantial unoriginal text).
  • Evidence of duplicate submission, prior publication elsewhere, or salami-slicing of a single dataset into multiple submissions.
  • Missing ethical approval or informed consent statement for studies involving human participants, where applicable.
  • Undisclosed or unresolved conflict of interest, or authorship disputes flagged at submission.
04
Process & timeline
1 Administrative check — editorial office confirms completeness of files and compliance with formatting requirements (typically within 2–3 working days of submission).
2 Similarity screening — plagiarism-detection software is run automatically on all complete submissions.
3 Editorial assessment — the Editor-in-Chief or Handling Editor reads the manuscript against the scope and content criteria in Sections 2–3.
4 Decision — manuscripts are either advanced to peer review or desk rejected. This step is typically completed within 1–2 weeks of submission.
5 Author notification — the corresponding author receives the decision by e-mail through the submission system.
05
Notification & appeal

A desk reject decision is communicated with a brief statement of the primary reason(s) for rejection. Because the manuscript was not sent for external review, no reviewer comments are provided.

Resubmission

Authors may substantially revise and resubmit a desk rejected manuscript as a new submission if the underlying concern (e.g., scope, methodology, or formal completeness) has been genuinely addressed. Resubmissions are subject to the same desk review process.

Appeal

Authors who believe a desk reject decision resulted from a misunderstanding or error may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief, stating the specific grounds for reconsideration. Appeals based solely on disagreement with editorial judgment of scope or significance are not typically granted.

Premiere Educandum — Desk Reject Policy Adopted August 2026