Your role

Peer review supports the editors in deciding on a manuscript and helps authors to improve it. The journal follows the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewing is double-blind: you do not know who the authors are, and they do not know who you are. See the Peer Review Process.

Before you accept

• Accept only if the manuscript is in your area of expertise and you can review it in the time you are given.
• Declare any competing interest, and decline if it would affect your judgement. See Reviewer Competing Interests.
• If you think you know who the authors are, tell the editor.

What to evaluate

• Originality and a clear contribution to non-formal and informal education.
• Soundness of the theory, method, data, and analysis, and whether the conclusions follow from the findings.
• The ethical basis of the research, including research with learners, communities, and families. See the Ethical Clearance Statement.
• Use of literature, clarity of writing, and the quality of figures and tables.
• Compliance with the Author Guidelines.

Writing the report

• Give comments that are specific, constructive, and polite. Criticise the work, not the authors.
• Support each point with reasons and evidence.
• Give confidential comments for the editor in the separate field, and comments for the authors in the main field.
• Recommend one of the outcomes: accept without revision, minor revision, major revision, or reject. The editors make the decision. See Editorial Decisions and Revision.

Your duties

• Keep the manuscript and the review confidential. See Peer Review Confidentiality.
• Do not use the content for your own research before publication.
• Do not upload the manuscript to AI tools. See AI in Peer Review.
• Report any concern about plagiarism, duplicate publication, or misconduct to the editor. See Publication Ethics.

Questions

Write to the editorial office through the Contact page.