Introduction > Going Professional > The Refereeing Process

The Refereeing Process When the editor of the journal receives your submission, they will choose two or three referees (specialists in your subject area) who will review your paper. The referees must declare if there is a conflict of interest eg if they are working on a similar project or in the final stages of writing a paper on a similar research theme. The referees do not have contact with each other and although there used to be no way of knowing who reviewed your paper, some journals now give the referees the option of disclosing their identity or remaining anonymous. The review process basically means that the referees will go over your paper with a fine tooth comb! They will consider all aspects of your submission from grammatical errors to statistical analyses and data presentation. Once your paper has been reviewed, the referees usually have four options: accept unconditionally accept with minor corrections reject but with the option to alter it and re-submit reject. It is very rare for a paper to be accepted unconditionally so be prepared to make some alterations to your work! The referees' comments and decision will be passed from the editor to help you with your re-submission. Generally, you would be given a date by which the paper must be re-submitted. In many cases, you would make the corrections and re-submit by this date. However, if you disagree strongly with the referees' comments, you should contact the editor of the journal stating your argument.

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