Peer Review Process


All manuscripts submitted to KARMA (Karya Ilmiah Mahasiswa) Journal undergo a rigorous eight-step evaluation process to ensure academic integrity, originality, and alignment with the journal’s focus and scope. The process is as follows:

1. Initial Screening

The Editor-in-Chief, in collaboration with the editorial board, evaluates whether the submitted manuscript meets the basic publication criteria before proceeding to peer review.

  • Manuscripts with a plagiarism similarity index exceeding 25% or containing more than 30% AI-generated text will be returned to the authors for revision.
  • Manuscripts that do not align with the journal’s focus and scope will automatically Rejected.

2. Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening undergo a double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers from institutions different from the author’s.

  • The Editor-in-Chief, with input from the editorial board, selects reviewers based on expertise in the relevant field.

3. Peer-Review Decision Notification

After the peer review process, authors receive notification along with reviewer and editor feedback. The possible outcomes are:

  • Accepted – The manuscript is accepted without revisions and proceeds to the formatting and proofreading stage.
  • Accepted with Minor Revisions – The manuscript requires minor modifications before final acceptance.
  • Accepted with Major Revisions – The manuscript requires substantial revisions and must be resubmitted for further evaluation.
  • Returned for Improvement – The manuscript requires significant refinement to meet the journal’s quality standards and is returned to the author with recommendations for further development.

4. Revision Stage

  • Authors who receive a revision request must modify their manuscript based on the reviewers' feedback and submit a revision summary explaining the changes made.
  • If major revisions are required, the revised manuscript may undergo a second round of peer review before final acceptance.

5. Language and Citation Refinement

  • Authors of accepted manuscripts must ensure that their work has been proofread by a native English speaker or professional language editing service before final submission.
  • All in-text citations and reference lists must conform to APA (7th edition) referencing style.

6. Final Acceptance Decision

  • The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the revised manuscript and makes the final acceptance decision.

7. Copy Editing and Proofreading

  • Formatting and Layout: The officially accepted manuscript is formatted and undergoes final proofreading by the editorial team.
  • Final Proof Approval: Authors receive the formatted version for a last review.
    • At this stage, only minor typographical or layout corrections are permitted—no content revisions are allowed.

8. Online Publication

  • The final version of the manuscript is published on the KARMA Journal website under an open-access license.
  • The Editorial Team determines the issue in which a manuscript will be published based on topic distribution, author affiliation, and international representation.
    • The Letter of Acceptance (LoA) does not specify the exact publication date or issue.

The entire submission-to-publication process is completed within approximately eight (8) weeks.