Write and submit your review

A practical guide for reviewers serving Nigerian Library Association Journals.

Score criteria, structure the four-part report, and recommend a decision.

Write and submit your review (step by step)

Step 1 — Read strategically
  1. First pass: read for the big picture — question, approach, findings, claim. Note your overall impression.
  2. Second pass: scrutinize methods, analysis, tables, figures and references with a pen in hand.
  3. Check the essentials: originality, methodological soundness, ethical conduct, clarity, and whether conclusions follow from evidence.
Step 2 — Score the criteria

The review form lists scored criteria (originality, methodology, clarity, and so on). Score each honestly — inflated scores with critical comments (or vice versa) confuse editors. Use the full scale; a middling score on everything helps no one.

Step 3 — Write the report in four parts
  1. Summary (2–4 sentences): the work as you understood it, in your own words.
  2. Major points: numbered issues significant enough to affect the decision — methodological flaws, unsupported claims, missing literature, ethical flags.
  3. Minor points: language, formatting, small errors, each with a location (page/line, table/figure number).
  4. Confidential comments to the editor: your recommendation, integrity concerns, and anything unsuitable for authors.
Step 4 — Choose a recommendation
  • Accept — publishable as is (rare; be sure).
  • Minor revision — small, well-defined fixes.
  • Major revision — substantial reworking needed; state what would change your mind.
  • Reject — fundamentally flawed or out of scope; explain why plainly and kindly.
Step 5 — Submit before the deadline
  1. Paste or type each section into the review form on the assignment page.
  2. Optionally attach an annotated file if the journal permits.
  3. Click Submit review. Submitted reviews lock — contact the office if you must amend one.
Conduct reminders
  • Criticise the work, never the author. Be specific: quote the passage, name the problem, suggest the fix.
  • Never use review to demand citations of your own work.
  • Report suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication or data fabrication privately to the editor, with evidence.

Last updated: 24 Sep 2026 (from application documentation)

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