Peer Review Process
The Revista Digital da Faculdade São Vicente bases its editorial process on a double-blind peer review system, adopted as a central strategy to ensure academic excellence, intellectual originality, and the scientific relevance of submitted manuscripts. In this model, widely established in the international scientific community, the identities of authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the entire process, contributing to editorial decisions grounded exclusively in content quality and free from personal, institutional, or ideological influences.
After submission, manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening conducted by the Editor-in-Chief or Area Editors. At this preliminary stage, the manuscript’s alignment with the journal’s focus and scope is assessed, along with compliance with formal submission guidelines, the presence of mandatory elements required by editorial policy, and overall adherence to ethical and scientific standards. Manuscripts that do not meet these basic criteria may be rejected at this stage without being forwarded for external review, in order to preserve the efficiency and quality of the editorial workflow.
Manuscripts approved during the screening phase are subsequently submitted for evaluation by at least two external reviewers, selected from researchers with proven expertise and relevant scientific output in the article’s subject area. Reviewer selection considers criteria such as academic qualifications, institutional affiliation, and thematic expertise, aiming to ensure a qualified and technically consistent assessment. The Revista Digital da Faculdade São Vicente also follows principles of institutional and geographic diversity in the composition of its reviewer pool, thereby strengthening plurality of perspectives and impartiality in the evaluation process.
Reviewers receive fully anonymized versions of the manuscripts, accompanied by structured evaluation instruments that address aspects such as the relevance and originality of the topic, clarity and organization of the text, methodological rigor, consistency of analysis and discussion of results, adequacy and currency of bibliographic references, and the study’s effective contribution to the advancement of the scientific field. Based on these criteria, reviewers issue recommendations that may range from acceptance, acceptance with minor revisions, request for major revisions, or rejection, always accompanied by analytical comments and detailed guidance for improving the manuscript.
In cases of significant divergence between reviewers’ reports, the responsible editor may request the opinion of a third reviewer to support a more balanced and well-founded editorial decision. The evaluation process may involve more than one round of revisions, depending on the complexity of the requested changes. At all stages, the editorial team acts as a mediator, ensuring confidentiality, clarifying any questions, and guaranteeing that the process is conducted in a transparent, ethical, and rigorous manner.
The final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief, who bases it on the reviewers’ reports and the journal’s institutional guidelines. Authors are formally notified of the outcome of the evaluation process and are granted full access to the reviewers’ comments, with reviewer anonymity preserved.
The Revista Digital da Faculdade São Vicente recognizes the essential role played by reviewers in consolidating the journal’s scientific quality and values their voluntary collaboration. As a form of acknowledgment, the journal periodically issues reviewer certificates, maintains an updated database of active reviewers, and extends invitations based on technical, academic, and ethical criteria, thereby reinforcing its commitment to editorial excellence.
