Reviewer Guidelines

Reviewers of Research in Learning Technology (RLT) are asked to consider the following points during their evaluation:

  • Does the paper have clear aims and objectives / research questions that can be achieved within the scope of a Research in Learning Technology journal paper?
  • Does the paper make a contribution to knowledge?
  • Is the work suitably grounded in the literature to justify its contribution and frame the analysis/evaluation?
  • Is the research/evaluation methodology justified, clear and appropriate? (including ethical considerations / approval where appropriate)
  • Does the analysis/ evaluation have a clear flow and logical argument?
  • Does the analysis/evaluation link to an appropriate discussion and conclusions?
  • Is it presented in a way which is suitable for Research in Learning Technology’s international audience?

Peer reviewers will have five possible options, for any paper:

1. Accept manuscript (i.e. no need for any revision)
2. Accept after revision (i.e. accepted if the author makes the requested revisions)
3. Revise and resubmit (i.e. accepted or rejected after revisions have been made - paper will be sent out for another peer review round)
4. Reject manuscript (i.e. if the manuscript is not sufficiently developed for publication)
5. See comments (i.e. if the reviewer cannot choose from any of the above)

In addition, papers may be returned to authors by the Editors prior to review, if judged to be out of scope, out of the limits of the word length guidance or not sufficiently prepared for publication.

To facilitate rapid publication, authors are given a maximum of 6 weeks for revision. After 6 weeks, revised manuscripts will normally be considered new submissions.

Become a reviewer of RLT

If you would like to become a reviewer of Research in Learning Technology (RLT) you can indicate you would like to review submissions in our journal registration page  or if you already have an account you update your user profile to add 'Reviewer' under the Roles tab.

RLT is integrated with Publons allowing you to track, verify and showcase your peer reviews.