Peer Review Process
Journal of Public Transportation Community (JPTC) applies a double-blind peer review process, in which the identities of both reviewers and authors are concealed from each other throughout the review. All submitted manuscripts are handled through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) according to the following stages:
- The author submits the manuscript through the OJS system of the journal.
- The Editor conducts an initial screening of the manuscript, covering its suitability with the focus and scope, compliance with the journal template, and completeness of the submitted files.
- Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements are rejected or returned to the author for correction before further processing.
- The manuscript is checked for similarity using Turnitin. Manuscripts with a similarity index above 20% are returned to the author for revision or rejected, depending on the severity of the overlap.
- The Editor assigns the manuscript to at least two reviewers with relevant expertise under a double-blind review process, accompanied by the journal's review form.
- Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and return the completed review form, together with an annotated manuscript where necessary, within 2–4 weeks.
- The Editor-in-Chief makes the editorial decision based on the reviewers' recommendations: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject. The decision is communicated to the author through the OJS system.
- If revisions are required, the author revises the manuscript according to the reviewers' comments and resubmits it, together with a response letter, within a maximum of 30 days. Revisions submitted after this period will be treated as a new submission. Manuscripts requiring major revisions may be sent back to the reviewers for a further round of review.
- Accepted manuscripts proceed to copyediting, layout, and proofreading before being published online with open access.
Figure 1. Peer Review and Publication Workflow of JPTC
| 1. Submission Author submits the manuscript via OJS |
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| 2. Initial Screening Editor checks focus & scope, template, and completeness |
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| 3. Similarity Check Turnitin check; similarity index must not exceed 20% |
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| 4. Double-Blind Peer Review At least two reviewers; review period 2–4 weeks |
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| 5. Editorial Decision Editor-in-Chief: Accept / Minor Revision / Major Revision / Reject |
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| 6. Revision by Author Revised manuscript returned within 30 days |
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| 7. Copyediting, Layout & Proofreading Preparation of the final galley (PDF) |
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| 8. Publication Published online with open access |