Peer Review Policy

Peer Review Policy – KB Scholars Journal of Law

KB Scholars Journal of Law (KBSJL) operates a double-blind peer review process. The identity of authors and reviewers is concealed from each other throughout the review. All submissions are evaluated on academic merit, originality, and relevance to law.

1. Editorial Screening

  1. Initial check by Editor-in-Chief within 7 days of submission for: scope, plagiarism via Turnitin/iThenticate, basic formatting, and completeness.
  2. Desk reject if: outside scope, >20% similarity index, prior publication, or failure to follow author guidelines. Authors receive reasons for desk rejection.
  3. No guarantee of publication is made at any stage.

2. Peer Review Process

  1. Assignment: Passing manuscripts are anonymized and sent to at least two independent external reviewers with expertise in the subject matter.
  2. Reviewer selection: Reviewers must hold a postgraduate law degree and have published in the field. Editors do not review manuscripts from their own institution.
  3. Review criteria: Reviewers assess: originality and contribution to legal scholarship; clarity of argument and use of authorities; accuracy of Nigerian/African/international law cited; quality of writing and OSCOLA/NALT referencing; ethical concerns or conflicts of interest.
  4. Timeline: Reviewers are asked to return reports within 21 days. Authors receive a decision within 6–8 weeks of submission.
  5. Decisions: Based on reviews, the EIC issues one of four decisions: Accept as is; Minor revisions required; Major revisions and re-review required; Reject.

3. Revision & Final Decision

  1. Authors receiving minor or major revisions must submit a revised manuscript and response-to-reviewers letter within 30 days.
  2. Revised papers may be sent back to original reviewers for confirmation.
  3. Final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief. Editorial Board members who submit papers are excluded from all editorial handling of their own work; a Guest Editor is appointed.

4. Confidentiality & Integrity

  1. All manuscripts are confidential. Reviewers may not share, cite, or use the work prior to publication.
  2. Reviewers must declare conflicts: co-authorship, supervision, or institutional ties with authors in the past 3 years.
  3. Misconduct: Suspected plagiarism, data fabrication, or duplicate submission is investigated per COPE guidelines. The journal reserves the right to retract published work.
  4. AI use: Authors must disclose if generative AI was used in drafting. AI cannot be listed as author. Reviewers may not use AI to write reports.

5. Reviewer Recognition

  1. Reviewers may be listed in an annual "Thank You to Reviewers" page, with consent.
  2. The journal provides reviewer certificates upon request.
  3. Reviewers are expected to be constructive and collegial. Personal criticism is prohibited.

6. Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by emailing the EIC with detailed grounds within 14 days. Appeals are reviewed by a member of the Editorial Board not involved in the original decision. The appeal decision is final.

7. Records

KBSJL retains anonymized review reports and editorial correspondence for 3 years to ensure transparency for indexing audits.