Publication Process

Lexa: Journal of Legal Studies is committed to maintaining a transparent, efficient, and high-quality publication process. Every manuscript submitted to the journal follows a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure scientific rigor, ethical compliance, and timely publication. The publication process consists of the following stages:

1. Manuscript Submission

Authors submit their manuscripts electronically through the Open Journal Systems (OJS). Before submission, authors should ensure that the manuscript complies with the journal's Author Guidelines, formatting requirements, ethical standards, and submission checklist.

2. Initial Editorial Assessment

The Editorial Office conducts a preliminary evaluation to determine whether the manuscript:

  • Falls within the journal's aims and scope.

  • Complies with the journal's formatting and submission requirements.

  • Meets basic standards of academic quality and originality.

  • Adheres to publication ethics.

Manuscripts that do not satisfy these requirements may be rejected without external review (desk rejection).

3. Plagiarism Screening

All manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software, such as Turnitin, to verify their originality. Manuscripts containing unacceptable levels of similarity, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other forms of academic misconduct will be rejected or returned to the authors for correction.

4. Double-Blind Peer Review

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial screening are assigned to at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. The journal applies a Double-Blind Peer Review system in which neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other's identities during the review process.

5. Editorial Decision

After receiving the reviewers' reports, the Editor-in-Chief or Handling Editor will make one of the following decisions:

  • Accept

  • Minor Revision

  • Major Revision

  • Reject

When necessary, additional reviewers may be invited to provide further evaluation before a final decision is made.

6. Author Revision

Authors receiving revision requests are required to:

  • Revise the manuscript according to the reviewers' comments.

  • Submit a revised version along with a detailed Response to Reviewers.

  • Complete the revision within the deadline specified by the Editorial Office.

Revised manuscripts may undergo an additional round of peer review when necessary.

7. Final Acceptance

Once the manuscript has satisfactorily addressed all editorial and reviewer comments, the Editor-in-Chief issues the final acceptance decision. Accepted manuscripts proceed to the production stage.

8. Copyediting

Professional copyeditors review the accepted manuscript to improve clarity, consistency, grammar, formatting, citation style, and overall readability while preserving the author's original ideas and scientific content.

9. Layout Editing and Typesetting

The manuscript is formatted according to the journal's publication style. This stage includes page layout preparation, figure and table formatting, reference verification, and assignment of publication metadata.

10. Proofreading

The final proof is sent to the corresponding author for review.

Authors are expected to carefully examine the proof for typographical or formatting errors. Only minor corrections are permitted at this stage, as substantial revisions are not allowed after final acceptance.

11. DOI Registration

Each accepted article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through Crossref, ensuring permanent identification, reliable citation, and long-term accessibility.

12. Online Publication

After completing all production stages, the article is published as an Open Access publication in the scheduled issue of Lexa: Journal of Legal Studies.

Published articles become immediately available to readers worldwide without subscription or access restrictions.

Publication Timeline

Although the duration may vary depending on the complexity of the review process and the responsiveness of the authors, the journal strives to complete the publication process within the following estimated time frame:

Stage Estimated Duration
Initial Editorial Screening 3–7 days
Plagiarism Screening 1–3 days
Peer Review Process 3–6 weeks
Author Revision 1–2 weeks
Final Editorial Decision 3–7 days
Copyediting and Layout Editing 1–2 weeks
Proofreading and Author Approval 3–7 days
Online Publication According to the publication schedule

 

Editorial Commitment

The Editorial Board of Lexa: Journal of Legal Studies is committed to ensuring that every manuscript is processed through a fair, transparent, timely, and ethical publication workflow.

The journal upholds the principles of academic integrity, editorial independence, confidentiality, and professionalism while adhering to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and internationally recognized standards of scholarly publishing.