Peer Review Policy
The Revista Especializada en Investigación Jurídica (REIJ) employs a double-blind peer-review system, through which the identities of both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the evaluation process.
Editorial Screening
Upon receipt of a manuscript, the editorial team conducts a preliminary review to verify:
a) Compliance with the journal’s Editorial Guidelines.
b) Relevance of the manuscript to the thematic scope of the journal and the field of Legal Sciences.
c) Compliance with the Journal’s Code of Ethics and editorial policies.
d) Originality of the manuscript through similarity-detection tools (Turnitin).
e) Compliance with the REIJ Artificial Intelligence Use Policy, when applicable.
Manuscripts that do not satisfy these requirements may be rejected without entering the peer-review stage.
Once the preliminary review has been completed, the corresponding author will be formally notified of the manuscript’s receipt and the initiation of the editorial process.
Double-Blind Peer Review
Manuscripts that successfully pass the editorial screening stage will be submitted to two external specialists selected from the journal’s pool of reviewers, composed of distinguished scholars from national and international academic institutions.
To ensure the integrity of the double-blind review process, authors must refrain from including any information within the manuscript that could reveal their identity.
Evaluation Criteria
Reviewers assess manuscripts based on the following criteria, among others:
a) Originality and relevance of the topic.
b) Contribution to legal knowledge.
c) Clarity and coherence of the objectives.
d) Methodological rigor.
e) Quality of legal reasoning and argumentation.
f) Relevance and currency of the sources consulted.
g) Structure and organization of the manuscript.
h) Quality of academic writing.
i) Compliance with ethical principles and good research practices.
Peer review form.
Possible Review Outcomes
The review process may result in one of the following recommendations:
a) Accept without revisions.
b) Accept subject to minor revisions, which do not require a second round of review.
c) Accept subject to major revisions and a subsequent round of peer review.
d) Reject.
In the event of a substantial disagreement between the two reviewers, the manuscript will be submitted to a third reviewer. The third evaluation will serve as an additional basis for the final editorial decision.
Author Revisions
When revisions are required, authors must submit a revised version of the manuscript together with a response letter explaining how each reviewer comment has been addressed.
Authors will ordinarily be granted between two and four weeks to submit revisions, depending on the extent of the requested modifications.
Where major revisions are required, the revised manuscript may be returned to the reviewers for further evaluation.
Final Editorial Decision
The final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief, with the support of the Editorial Board and taking into consideration the reviewers’ recommendations.
A manuscript must receive favorable recommendations from at least two reviewers in order to be considered for publication.
The editorial decision shall be communicated formally to the corresponding author through the journal’s editorial platform or by email.
Estimated Processing Times
REIJ seeks to comply with the following editorial timelines:
- Editorial screening: up to two weeks.
- Peer review: four weeks.
- Author revisions: two to four weeks.
- Final editorial decision: up to two weeks following receipt of the revised manuscript.
Under normal circumstances, the estimated period between manuscript submission and the final editorial decision is between eight and twelve weeks. However, these timeframes may vary depending on reviewer availability, the complexity of the topic, or the volume of submissions received.
Publication
Once accepted, manuscripts proceed to copyediting, proofreading, layout preparation, and final author review.
REIJ operates under a continuous publication model. Accepted articles are published individually as soon as all editorial stages have been successfully completed within the corresponding semiannual issue.
Editorial decisions are final and are made in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies, ethical standards, and peer-review procedures.
