Theory and Practice in Curriculum is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scholarly publishing through a rigorous double-blind peer review process. Under this system, the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the review process to ensure fairness, impartiality, and academic integrity.
The journal adheres to the ethical principles and best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and the regulations governing scholarly journals issued by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff are expected to comply with internationally accepted standards of publication ethics, confidentiality, and conflict of interest.
Upon submission through the journal's online system, each manuscript undergoes an initial technical evaluation by the Editorial Office. This screening includes verification of submission requirements, compliance with the Author Guidelines, manuscript structure, formatting, and plagiarism detection.
Manuscripts that fail to meet the journal's basic submission requirements may be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision or declined before entering the peer review process.
Following the technical screening, the Editor-in-Chief and, where appropriate, members of the Editorial Board assess the manuscript with respect to:
Relevance to the journal's aims and scope;
Originality and scholarly contribution;
Scientific merit and methodological rigor;
Research quality and significance;
Compliance with research and publication ethics.
At this stage, manuscripts may be rejected without external review if they are deemed unsuitable for publication. Alternatively, authors may be invited to make preliminary revisions before the manuscript proceeds to peer review.
Manuscripts that successfully pass the preliminary editorial evaluation are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers with recognized expertise in the relevant field.
The journal follows a double-blind peer review policy in which:
Reviewers are not informed of the authors' identities.
Authors are not informed of the reviewers' identities.
Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts solely on their scholarly quality, originality, methodological soundness, and contribution to curriculum studies, free from personal bias or conflicts of interest.
Based on the reviewers' reports and the editorial assessment, the Editor-in-Chief makes one of the following decisions:
Accept without revision;
Accept subject to minor revisions;
Reconsider after major revisions;
Reject.
Where reviewers provide substantially divergent recommendations, the manuscript may be referred to an additional reviewer before a final editorial decision is reached.
When revisions are requested, authors are required to submit:
A revised version of the manuscript; and
A detailed response letter explaining how each reviewer comment has been addressed.
Failure to submit the revised manuscript within the specified deadline may be regarded as withdrawal of the manuscript from the review process.
Following satisfactory revision and final editorial approval, the manuscript is accepted for publication.
The Editor-in-Chief retains full responsibility and authority for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of all submitted manuscripts.
Reviewers play a fundamental role in maintaining the scientific quality of the journal. They are expected to:
Provide objective, fair, and constructive evaluations;
Maintain strict confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts;
Refrain from using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage;
Declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest and decline the review when appropriate;
Submit clear, evidence-based, and respectful review reports;
Evaluate the originality, methodology, theoretical framework, data analysis, discussion, references, and overall scholarly contribution of the manuscript;
Report any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical misconduct, or research malpractice to the Editor-in-Chief.
Reviewers are requested to assess manuscripts according to the following criteria:
Relevance to curriculum studies and related disciplines;
Originality and scholarly significance;
Clarity of research objectives and research questions;
Soundness of the theoretical framework;
Appropriateness of the research methodology;
Quality of data analysis and interpretation;
Organization, coherence, and logical presentation;
Academic writing quality and language;
Adequacy, relevance, and currency of references;
Compliance with research and publication ethics;
Originality and similarity index.
All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents.
Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose any information concerning submitted manuscripts, including their content, review status, reviewer reports, or editorial decisions, to anyone other than those directly involved in the editorial process.
Reviewers are required to destroy or permanently delete manuscript files after completing the review process and must not use or disseminate any unpublished material without prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief.
Authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the Editorial Board are required to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the editorial or review process.
Whenever a conflict of interest is identified, appropriate measures—including reassignment of reviewers or editorial responsibilities—will be taken to ensure the integrity, impartiality, and transparency of the review process.
The journal makes every effort to complete the editorial assessment and peer review process as efficiently as possible. However, the review period may vary depending on the availability of reviewers, the complexity of the manuscript, and the time required for revisions.
Authors may track the status of their manuscripts through the journal's online submission system, and all editorial decisions will be communicated to the corresponding author in a timely manner.
