Marketing Science & Practice Journal operates a double anonymous peer review process. Reviewers are not told the identity of the authors, and authors are not told the identity of the reviewers.

Every research article that is sent out for review is assessed by at least two independent reviewers who are not members of the editorial team and who have no conflict of interest with the submission. A decision to accept is never taken on the basis of a single review.

Stages of review

1. Initial editorial screening. On receipt, the Editor checks that the manuscript falls within the aims and scope of the journal, meets the submission requirements, and reaches a minimum standard of clarity in its design and argument. Manuscripts that fail this check are rejected without external review, and the author is informed of the reason. Manuscripts that pass are assigned to reviewers.
2. Similarity screening. All manuscripts are screened for text similarity using Turnitin before they are sent for review. Results are reviewed by an editor, not applied automatically. Manuscripts showing substantial unattributed overlap with published work are rejected.
3. External review. Reviewers are selected for their subject expertise and methodological competence. They are asked to assess originality and contribution, adequacy of the theoretical framework, appropriateness of the research design and analysis, soundness of the interpretation, quality of the literature, and clarity of presentation. Reviewers submit a recommendation together with written comments to the author.
4. Editorial decision. The Editor takes the decision in light of the reviews. Possible decisions are accept, minor revisions, major revisions, resubmit for review, or reject. The reviewers' comments are sent to the author in full, with any identifying information removed.
5. Revision and re-review. Revised manuscripts are assessed by the Editor and, where the revisions are substantial, returned to the original reviewers for a further round.
6. Final decision and publication. The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for every decision and for all content published in the journal.

Indicative timelines

• Submission to first decision: 7 days
• Submission to acceptance: 100 days
• Acceptance to online publication: 15 days

These are indicative averages. Individual manuscripts may take longer where additional rounds of review are required. Each published article displays its submission, acceptance, and publication dates.

Reviewer responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to treat manuscripts as confidential documents, to decline any invitation where a conflict of interest exists, to provide constructive and evidence-based comments, and to alert the Editor to any suspected ethical breach, including plagiarism, redundant publication, or data fabrication.

Submissions from editorial team members

Manuscripts submitted by an Editor, an editorial board member, a reviewer, or anyone otherwise involved in running the journal are handled in full by an independent editor. The submitting individual is given no access to the review process, the identity of the reviewers, or the editorial decision on their own manuscript. The journal monitors the proportion of such articles and keeps it below 25% of the research papers in any issue.

Special issues

Where the journal publishes a special issue or other guest-edited content, the following apply. The Editor-in-Chief remains responsible for the content of the entire journal, including every special issue, and every special issue must fall within the journal's scope. Guest editors' credentials are checked and approved before appointment, and guest editors are overseen by the Editor-in-Chief or by designated board members. Articles in a special issue receive the same editorial oversight as regular papers, including external peer review by at least two independent reviewers, and are clearly labelled as special issue content. Any paper submitted by a guest editor is handled under an independent review process, and such papers make up no more than 25% of the issue.