Editorial Process

At URSDJ, we are committed to a transparent, ethical, and academically rigorous editorial process. Every manuscript submitted to the journal undergoes a structured evaluation to ensure scholarly excellence across the urban and rural development sectors.

1. Manuscript Submission All manuscripts must be submitted through the official URSDJ submission portal. Submissions must strictly adhere to the journal’s guidelines regarding spatial data, formatting, and ethical requirements.

2. Initial Screening and Plagiarism Check The editorial office conducts a preliminary screening to ensure that the manuscript:

  • Falls within the journal's thematic scope of urban and rural dynamics.

  • Meets ethical standards, including institutional approvals for field studies.

  • Passes plagiarism detection (Similarity index <15%).

3. Assignment to Section Editor Eligible manuscripts are assigned to a Section Editor based on the specific context (Urban Planning, Agrarian Studies, etc.). The editor evaluates the manuscript for methodological soundness and policy relevance.

4. Double-Blind Peer Review At least two independent reviewers evaluate each submission anonymously based on research design, argument coherence, and data integrity.

5. Reviewer Recommendations Reviewers submit feedback with recommendations: Accept as is, Minor revisions, Major revisions, or Reject.

6. Editorial Decision The Section Editor makes a final decision based on reviewer reports. Authors receive an official letter with anonymized comments and clear revision guidelines.

7. Author Revisions Authors are required to revise their manuscripts and provide a detailed point-by-point response to reviewer comments within the stipulated timeframe.

8. Final Acceptance Once the revised manuscript satisfies all expectations, a final acceptance letter is issued, and the article proceeds to production.

9. Copyediting and Proofreading Accepted manuscripts undergo editing for clarity, consistency, and grammar. Authors approve final proofs before publication.

10. Online Publication The finalized article is published in the upcoming monthly issue of URSDJ and made available online with open access.

11. Post-Publication Dissemination URSDJ promotes published work through academic indexing, urban-rural development networks, and social media to maximize citation impact.