Peer Review Policy

The Journal for Social Action in Counseling Psychology follows a double-blind peer review model, which means reviewers and authors don’t know each other’s identities. Peer review is a vital part of the publishing process and helps ensure that articles are of high quality. 

Review Process 

• The submitting author submits the paper to the journal through the online submission process. 

• Submissions are first screened by one of the Co-Editors for completeness and appropriateness, as described in the Author Guidelines and Ethical Responsibilities. The Co-Editor may reject a submission at this stage. 

• If the Co-Editor determines the submission should progress to the review stage, the submission is accepted for review and assigned at least two peer reviewers. 

• Identities of the peer reviewers are not known to the author, and vice-versa. Peer reviewers are selected based on their areas of expertise. 

• Submissions authored by Co-Editors or any other journal editor are reviewed by other editors. 

• Reviewers should evaluate their availability, expertise, and disclose any potential conflicts of interest before accepting the invitation to review. 

• It is recommended that reviewers read and follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (available at https://publicationethics.org/files/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers-v2_0.pdf). 

• Each reviewer reads the submission several times. 

• If the reviewer finds major problems, they may recommend rejection at this stage 

• If the reviewer finds no major problems, they should submit a detailed review of the submission, recommending revisions or edits as needed 

• Reviewers are expected to treat all submissions as confidential, and asked to not use any generative AI tools as part of their review process. 

• The Co-Editor handling the submission considers all reviews before making a decision to accept the submission, accept with revisions, or reject. 

• The Co-Editor sends a decision email to the author. Any reviewer comments are shared with the author, always maintaining a double-blind model. 

• If reviewers request revisions, the author should submit a revised manuscript, which will again be reviewed in the process detailed above. 

• Once accepted, the submission is sent to production.