Awards Feature Members Only Publications NRA Publications. Order current and back issues of NRA publications. Guidelines for publication. Abstracts from the Journal of Rehabilitation Vol.
Professional journals are responsible for attracting and evaluating new contributions to knowledge.
Peer review is the system used to determine what will be published in professional journals and thus become part of the accepted body of scientific knowledge. This study offers practical information on the editorial peer review process. One hundred and sixteen manuscript reviewers from five prominent rehabilitation counseling related journals completed a 63 item questionnaire designed to obtain information on common reasons for manuscript acceptance or rejection. Thirteen manuscript characteristics were found to be important determinants of reviewer acceptance or rejection. Reviewers identified particular aspects of the editorial review process used in their personal evaluation style and provided valuable advice for enhancing the current peer review system.