Utafiti is a blind peer-reviewed journal. Manuscripts submitted for publication are blind reviewed by at least two peer referees, meaning they are concentrated or experts in the respective subject, provided the manuscript upon consent. Reviewers’ appraisals are fundamental in determining acceptance or rejection of a manuscript by Utafiti.
The chief editor will send your abstract and title anonymously to competent academics to request their willingness to blind review your paper. Every effort is made to return blind reviewers’ comments through the chief editor, immediately upon determining the manuscript conforms to the eligibility requirements for the paper as detailed in these Notes.
The expectation is communicated that blind reviews will be returned within three to six weeks. Otherwise after prompting by the chief editor, the manuscript will be sent to an alternative reviewer in the same way. Once the Q&A Reviewer’s Assessment form is received, together sometimes with tracked comments on your manuscript optionally submitted by blind reviewers, a further means of review left to the discretion of the blind reviewers individually. Immediately you will be sent this feedback and you have the option to follow the advice to revise and resubmit.
You are expected to inform the Chief Editor whether you intend to continue the processing of your article for a second blind review of your revisions. The second version will be sent to the same reviewers if they consent, together with their comments. It is advantageous if you explain in a separate document how you have chosen to handle the concerns, or not, as your discretion is paramount in revising and resubmitting.
Once the paper is approved for publication, the house editing will commence in light of the next issue. You will have an opportunity to see the house editing corrections required to ensure the paper conforms to house style, and to check that essential technicalities specific to your discipline have been preserved in the house editing adjustments, executed only insofar as necessary to comply with the journal house style and format.
Complementary copies: Each published submission is entitled for two hard copies of the respective volume or pass-word for accessing the respective volume. That is, complementary copies are by article and not by authors.