Peer Review Process

Southeast Asian Development Studies has always been committed to providing high-quality, influential academic publications and recognizes the importance of peer review in ensuring the quality and reliability of publications. Therefore, we have established a strict peer review policy. All submitted manuscripts will follow a rigorous double-blind peer review process. Reviewers and authors will remain anonymous throughout the process and peer review opinions will not be made public. Southeast Asian Development Studies does not accept reviewers recommended by authors for peer review.
Peer reviewers should not work at the same institution as any author, nor should they have been a mentor, close collaborator, or co-funder in the recent past (within the past 3 years).

Our peer review process includes the following steps:
*Initial review: After a manuscript is submitted to the journal, managing editors will conduct an initial review to check whether it fits within the scope of the journal, has a proper structure, and is free from plagiarism (use the iThenticate), etc. Manuscripts that do not meet our standards and ethics policy will be directly rejected. Manuscripts that pass the initial review will enter the next stage.

*Reviewers assignment: If the manuscript passes the initial review, managing editors will assign it to multiple independent expert reviewers in the field for peer review. Managing editors will evaluate the expertise, research background, and experience of the potential experts and ensure that the selection of peer reviewers is fair, transparent, and impartial.

*Reviewers submit reports: Reviewers will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and review of the manuscript, providing detailed opinions and suggestions.If supplementary materials are included in the submission, the reviewers will also evaluate them in the same way as the main manuscript.

*Final decision: The Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision based on at least two review comments and inform the author. The final decision is Accept, Revisions Required (Minor revision), Resubmit for Review (Major revision), or Reject.
- If the decision is to Accept the submission, the managing editor will directly send an acceptance letter, arrange for further processing, and eventually publish the article.
- If the decision is to Revisions Required, the author should make revisions and resubmit the manuscript within 7-14 days, the editor will review the revised manuscript and make a decision.
- If the decision is to Resubmit for Review, the author will have 14-30 days to make revisions and resubmit for a second round of review, until the manuscript is accepted.
- If the decision is to Reject the submission, the managing editor will directly notify the author and archive the submission.

All articles that have been accepted for publication will be deemed to have completed the peer review process. Before publication online, manuscripts will undergo text editing, layout editing, and proofreading. Authors will receive proofs for review and verification before publication to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the article.

Southeast Asia Development Research peer review policy aims to ensure that every article published by Southeast Asia Development Research has undergone a professional, fair and transparent review process. We appreciate the support and cooperation of our reviewers and authors, whose efforts have helped us maintain high-quality and reliable publications.

Authors can appeal against the rejection of their manuscript. Appeals must be made by writing to contact@bilpubgroup.com, with detailed reasons for the appeal and a point-by-point response to the reviewer's opinions. The decision to appeal will be made by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal based on the relevant information of the article. The decision on the appeal is final, with no exceptions.