Legon Journal of the Humanities
Journal / Legon Journal of the Humanities / About the Journal

Peer Review

All manuscripts must be submitted via the LJH submission portal on the UG Journal Management System (https://journals.ug.edu.gh/index.php/ljh/about/submissions). LJH has a process where any submitted manuscript is first screened internally by the editorial team. If the submission is not a good fit for the journal, it can be rejected at this point and will not proceed to the peer review stage. The author may be given some feedback about which outlets might be a better fit and some initial comments for improving the quality of the manuscript. Other details taken into consideration during the initial screening include correct language usage, avoidance of plagiarism and compliance with the LJH Author Guidelines (available on the journal’s website). It is important to note that papers which do not adhere to the LJH instructions for authors will not be taken into consideration for publication. Manuscripts that successfully go through the internal review process are then anonymized and assigned to two peer reviewers with relevant expertise for a double-blind peer review. The duration from the time of submission to acceptance/rejection and publication of a manuscript depends on how quickly the editors obtain quality reviews from reviewers. Difficulties in finding peer reviewers in the research area(s) of the study may also lead to a rejection of a manuscript by the editors. The final decision on publishing an article is taken by the editorial board.

PEER REVIEW POLICY
Initial manuscript evaluation LJH has a process where any submitted manuscript is first screened internally by the editorial team. If the submission is not a good fit for the journal, it can be rejected at this point and will not proceed to the peer review stage. The author may be given some feedback about which outlets might be a better fit and some initial comments for improving the quality of the manuscript. Other details taken into consideration during the initial screening include correct language usage, avoidance of plagiarism and compliance with the LJH Author Guidelines (available on the journal’s website). It is important to note that papers which do not adhere to the LJH instructions for authors will not be taken into consideration for publication.

Manuscripts that successfully go through the internal review process are then anonymized and assigned to two peer reviewers with relevant expertise for a double-blind peer review. Authors of manuscripts rejected at the Initial manuscript evaluation stage will usually be informed within two weeks of receipt of the submission.

Type of peer review

The Legon Journal of the Humanities employs ‘double blind’ reviewing. The reviewers are anonymous to the author(s) during and after the refereeing process. Likewise, the identity of the author(s) is unknown to the reviewers.

How reviewers are selected
The Legon Journal of the Humanities  strives to match reviewers to the submissions according to their expertise. The reviewer database of LJH is frequently updated. Persons who are interested in serving as reviewers for the journal should send an email to the Editor, together with their updated CVs.

Review reports
Reviewers are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:
 Is original with reference to contents and method
 Is methodologically sound
 Clearly presents results which support the conclusions
 Appropriately and exhaustively references previous relevant work
 Adheres to appropriate ethical guidelines, especially as concerns plagiarism
 Noticeably adds to the knowledge and development of the research area

Specifically, papers submitted are assessed in these areas:
1. Overall general academic merit
2. Theoretical grounding in the relevant and current literature
3. Critical engagement with existing literature has clearly brought out the gap to be filled by the paper, thereby ensuring its extension of the frontiers of knowledge in the paper’s field
4. Currency of pertinent cited works
5. Quality of argumentation and reasoning
6. Sophistication in language usage and expression
7. Technical aspects (i.e., crafting of abstract and key words, respect of journal’s house style, and APA documentation model, etc.)

Although the peer review process does not include language correction, reviewers are encouraged to suggest corrections of language and style to the paper. In the final round, the handling Editor will check issues of linguistic and stylistic correctness, and may return the manuscript to the author(s) for a full linguistic and stylistic revision.

How long does the review process take?
The duration from the time of submission to acceptance/rejection and publication of a manuscript depends on how quickly the editors obtain quality reviews from reviewers. However, the typical time for the first round of the refereeing process for the Legon Journal of the Humanities is approximately 6 weeks, with a maximum of three months.

In situations where the reviewers’ reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion may be sought. Once both review reports are received by the handling Editor, a decision will be sent to the author together with the reviewers’ recommendations. Revised manuscripts are usually sent to the (initial) reviewers for checking. There may be the need for a second round of revision by the author. There are sometimes rare situations when the Editorial Team encounters extreme difficulties in finding a second reviewer to review the manuscript.

In such cases, the report from the available reviewer may guide the Editor to reach a decision on the manuscript if the extant report has thoroughly convinced the handling Editor. This may be done at the discretion of the Editor of LJH, on the basis of only one reviewer report. Difficulties in finding peer reviewers in the research area(s) of the study may also lead to a rejection of a manuscript by the editors.

Final report
A final decision to accept, reject or ask the author for a revision will be sent to the author together with the reviewers’ recommendations and any relevant attachments.

Final decision
Reviewers advise the Editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.

Becoming a reviewer for the Legon Journal of the Humanities
If you would like to be a reviewer for the Legon Journal of the Humanities please contact the editorial office at editorljh@ug.edu.gh.

Why should you be a peer reviewer?
The benefits of being a peer reviewer include the opportunity for you to:
• Participate in the development of your field
• Remain conversant with new trends in your field
• Improve your research and writing abilities
• Collaborate with journal editors which may then provide the opening for you to receive an invitation to join an editorial board
• Gain knowledge of the publication process
• Earn recognition for your contribution as a peer reviewer
• Contribute to the upholding of quality control measures of the research in your field

Reviewer guidelines
The LJH follows the COPE Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers

Retractions
Authors who wish to withdraw their submissions should contact the Editor at editorljh@ug.edu.gh. Papers which are close to the end of the peer review process cannot be retracted.

Note on reviewing of Special issues and Conference Proceedings.
Different peer review procedures may apply to Special Issues and Conference Proceedings. These cases may involve guest editors, conference organizers, or scientific committees, who all report to the handling Editor and ultimately, the Chief Editor.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

1. CREATIVE COMMON LICENSE Attribution-Noncommercial- Noderivates 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

2. ACCESS AND ATTRIBUTION Published papers (new and archived) of the Legon Journal of the Humanities (LJH) can be freely downloaded from its website in compliance with its gratis open access policy. Citation of a paper from LJH should include name of quoted author, journal title, volume, number, title of paper, page, year of publication, and Digital Object Identifier (DOI)/Uniform Resource Locator(URL).

3. COPYRIGHT The copyright of all papers published in Legon Journal of the Humanities is vested in the College of Humanities, University of Ghana. By agreeing to publish the accepted version of the paper in LJH, potential authors automatically cede copyright of the manuscript to the College of Humanities, University of Ghana. This notwithstanding, authors may use parts of their published articles for non-commercial purposes, e.g., course material, conferences, and online academic profile.

Publication Scheduling

Two issues per year.