From submission to the published version of record. The timeframes below are typical, not guaranteed; a manuscript takes as long as competent review requires.
A typical manuscript reaches a first decision in 6 to 10 weeks and publication in 4 to 6 months from submission. IJKR does not offer expedited or paid fast-track review, and no stage of this process carries a fee.
Start a submissionThe corresponding author submits an anonymised manuscript, an optional cover letter, author details with an ORCID iD for every author, and the declaration confirmations. An acknowledgement with a manuscript reference number is issued automatically.
Authors may withdraw at any point before acceptance without cost or penalty.
Same day
The editorial office verifies scope, structure, language, declarations, ORCID validity, anonymisation, and similarity screening. The handling editor then judges whether the work merits external review.
Common desk-reject reasons: out of scope, no described method, similarity above threshold, missing declarations.
5–10 working days
At least two independent reviewers with subject expertise assess the manuscript without knowledge of author identity. Where reviewer recommendations conflict, a third reviewer is invited.
See the Peer Review Process for criteria and reviewer duties.
Typically 4–8 weeks
Authors receive the full anonymised reviewer reports and the editor's instructions. A revised manuscript must be accompanied by a point-by-point response addressing every comment, with changes marked.
Minor revision: 3 weeks. Major revision: 6 weeks. Extensions granted on request.
3–6 weeks (author-held)
Major revisions are normally returned to the original reviewers. The handling editor recommends a decision and the Editor-in-Chief confirms acceptance. Decisions are made on scholarly merit alone.
Authors may appeal a rejection under the appeals procedure.
1–3 weeks after revision
Accepted manuscripts are copyedited for language and reference consistency, typeset in the journal format, and returned to the corresponding author as page proofs. Only factual and typographic corrections are permitted at this stage.
The signed copyright and CC BY licence form is collected here.
2–4 weeks
The version of record is published open access under CC BY 4.0, assigned a registered DOI, allocated to the current issue with final pagination, deposited for long-term preservation, and released with complete metadata including all author ORCID iDs.
Articles are published on issue close; accepted articles appear in the current issue listing.
On issue publication
Manuscripts are accepted through the online submission form only; files sent by email are not logged. The corresponding author receives an email at each stage change, and status queries quoting the manuscript reference number are answered within three working days.
Contact the editorial office →