Peer review is an essential component in maintaining the quality standards of scholarly publishing. This process helps authors and researchers from various institutions contribute their best research to ASKARA journal, while also serving as a quality-control mechanism prior to publication.

Initial Screening Stage (Desk Review)
Every incoming manuscript is first evaluated by the Editorial Board to ensure conformity with the journal’s focus and scope, completeness of formatting, and compliance with the general and technical requirements set out in the Author Guidelines. At this stage, the manuscript is also checked for similarity using plagiarism-checking tools in accordance with the Plagiarism Policy. Manuscripts that do not meet these basic criteria are returned to the author without proceeding to substantive review.

Double-Blind Peer Review Stage
Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are forwarded to two peer reviewers with a reputation and expertise appropriate to the subject matter of the manuscript. The review process is conducted on a double-blind basis, in which the author’s identity is concealed from the reviewers and the reviewers’ identities are concealed from the author, in order to preserve the objectivity of the assessment.
Reviewers evaluate the manuscript on two main aspects. The substantive aspect covers the originality of the ideas, the strength of the methodology, the validity of the data and analysis, and the manuscript’s contribution to the development of knowledge in the relevant field. The technical aspect covers conformity with the required writing format, consistency of citation, and the clarity of presentation of data, figures, and tables.

Review Outcome Decisions
Based on the reviewers’ assessment, the editor makes one of four decisions: the manuscript is accepted without revision, accepted with minor revision, accepted with major revision, or rejected. If two reviewers provide significantly conflicting recommendations, the editor may appoint a third reviewer to provide an additional assessment for consideration.

Revision Process
Manuscripts requiring revision are returned to the author together with the reviewers’ comments and recommendations. Authors are given a specified period of time to complete revisions according to the schedule set by the editorial team. The revised manuscript may be re-reviewed by the same reviewers to ensure that all feedback has been adequately addressed.
The entire peer-review process, from the manuscript being forwarded to reviewers to the final decision being reached, generally takes one to two months, depending on the complexity of the manuscript and the author's response time for revisions.

Final Decision
The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript rests with the editor, taking into account the reviewers’ recommendations, the manuscript’s conformity with the journal’s focus and scope, and compliance with the publication ethics policy of ASKARA journal. Manuscripts declared accepted will follow the publication schedule as set out on the Publication Frequency page.