Peer Review Policy

Shareholding follows a structured peer-review process designed to ensure the quality, originality, academic relevance, and integrity of manuscripts submitted for publication. All manuscripts are initially examined by the editorial team to determine whether they fall within the journal's scope, meet basic submission requirements, demonstrate sufficient scholarly quality, and comply with the journal's ethical and academic standards. Manuscripts that do not meet these preliminary requirements may be returned to the authors or declined without external review.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial editorial assessment are normally sent for independent evaluation by qualified reviewers with appropriate expertise in the subject area of the submission. The journal generally follows a double-anonymized peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another to the extent practicable. Authors should therefore ensure that the submitted manuscript does not unnecessarily disclose their identity within the main text or supplementary files prepared for anonymous review.

Reviewers are expected to assess manuscripts objectively, independently, and constructively. Their evaluation may consider the originality and significance of the research, clarity of the research objectives, adequacy of the literature review, appropriateness of the theoretical or conceptual framework, methodological rigor, quality of analysis, presentation of results, validity of conclusions, quality of references, clarity of writing, and overall contribution to the relevant field. Reviewers may recommend acceptance, acceptance subject to minor revisions, major revisions followed by further evaluation, or rejection.

Reviewers should provide clear and academically constructive comments that can assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Personal criticism, discriminatory remarks, unsupported allegations, or comments unrelated to the scholarly quality of the manuscript are not appropriate. Reviewers should maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and should not use unpublished information obtained through the review process for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewers are expected to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment. A reviewer should decline the assignment if they have a personal, professional, financial, collaborative, or other relationship with the authors or research that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality. Reviewers should also inform the editorial team if they identify serious ethical concerns, suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, or other forms of research misconduct.

Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and the recommendations received from reviewers. Reviewer recommendations are advisory, and the final publication decision rests with the editorial team. Where reviewer opinions differ substantially, the editor may request an additional review or undertake further editorial assessment before reaching a decision.

Authors may be requested to revise their manuscripts in response to reviewer comments. Revised manuscripts should address the comments carefully and provide appropriate explanations where particular suggestions have not been followed. Depending on the extent of revision, a revised manuscript may be returned to the original reviewers or evaluated by the editorial team. More than one round of revision may be requested when necessary to ensure that the manuscript meets the journal's academic standards.

The journal seeks to complete the peer-review process as efficiently as possible while maintaining appropriate standards of academic evaluation. Review timelines may vary depending on the availability of suitable reviewers, the complexity of the manuscript, and the number of submissions being processed.

The confidentiality of the peer-review process is respected. Unpublished manuscripts and reviewer reports are treated as confidential editorial materials and are not disclosed to unauthorized individuals. The journal also reserves the right to take appropriate action if evidence of unethical behavior or manipulation of the peer-review process is identified.

By submitting a manuscript to Shareholding, authors acknowledge that their work may be subject to external peer review and agree to participate responsibly in the revision process. The journal's peer-review policy is intended to promote fairness, transparency, scholarly integrity, and the continuous improvement of published research.