Peer Review Process

All manuscripts undergo a two-stage review process:

• an initial assessment by the Editorial Board;
• double-blind peer review by two experts in the field from the Republic of Moldova and/or abroad.

Stage 1 – Editorial Assessment

The editorial office first checks each manuscript for compliance with the Guidelines for Authors and the journal template. The Editorial Board then assesses the manuscript and completes the Editorial Assessment Form (Editorial Assessment Form | Fișa de evaluare editorială).

If the Editorial Board rejects a manuscript at this stage, it is referred for a second opinion to an independent expert in the field (a professor or associate professor) who was not involved in the initial assessment.

Only manuscripts that pass this first stage are sent for peer review.

Stage 2 – Peer Review

Each manuscript is reviewed by two experts in the relevant field (professors or associate professors) from the Republic of Moldova and/or abroad. The review is double-blind: reviewers do not know the authors' identities, and authors do not know the reviewers' identities.

The editorial office ensures that reviewers are independent of the authors: reviewers may not be affiliated with the same institution as any of the authors and must have no conflict of interest with them.

If the reviewers' recommendations differ significantly, the manuscript is sent to a third reviewer.

Reviewers assess each manuscript using the journal's Review Form, against the evaluation criteria set out in the Editorial Policy.

Download review forms: Review Form | Formular de recenzie

The editorial office aims to inform the authors of the outcome of the peer review within 6–8 weeks of receiving the manuscript.

Outcomes

Following peer review, a manuscript may be:

• accepted as is;
• accepted subject to minor revisions;
• accepted subject to major revisions;
• rejected.

Manuscripts accepted subject to major revisions may be re-evaluated by the same reviewer to confirm that the recommendations have been addressed and that the quality of the paper has improved.

A manuscript rejected at the peer review stage may be resubmitted only after substantial revision.

At both stages, the reviewers' comments and recommendations are shared with the authors to help them improve the scholarly quality of their work.

Final Decision

The final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief, after consulting the Editorial Board and taking into account the reviewers' reports.