All research articles published in ICTer Journal are peer-reviewed. ICTer Journal operates with “double-blind” peer review policy in which neither reviewer nor the author will not get to know the identity of themselves.

Following is the peer review process applied in ICTer Journal.

Peer Review Process – Regular Papers

1. Upon receiving a new submission, each paper is subjected to a preliminary review by a member of the steering committee to assess the suitability of the paper and relevance to the ICTer journal.
2. The paper is checked for plagiarism through plagiarism detection tools.
3. If the preliminary review is successful, the paper is assigned to an associate editor.
4. The Associate Editor sends the paper for blind review to 3 reviewers picked from the reviewer database. There is a template for obtaining the feedback/comments of the reviewers.
5. Upon receiving the blind reviews, the Associate Editor decides whether the paper is suitable for publishing in the journal and authors are informed of the decision. (If there are concerns raised by the reviewers, the authors may be given an opportunity to submit a revised version and address the concerns, up to the satisfaction of the Associate Editor).
6. If suitable to be published, the paper is proof-read and subjected to copy-editing.
7. The copy-edited paper is again checked for plagiarism through the Turn-it-in software.
8. The paper is approved and assigned to an issue in an ICTer Journal Steering Committee meeting.
9. The WebMaster publishes the paper in the online issue of the journal.

Policy of ICTer Journal Desk Review

The ICTer journal does not recommend including generative AI content in a paper since it may affect the readability and credibility of a research article. Authors should accept full responsibility for the content of their submissions irrespective of the tools used to write it. Under the editorial policy, ICTer Journal will check all submissions for plagiarism and AI-generated content during the desk review. At the same time, all authors will be asked to make a 15-minute presentation followed by a discussion with editorial board members about the submission to identify the authors as well as the contribution of the paper. The similarity score must be less than 20% using Turnitin to review a submission of ICTer Journal. If a particular submission contains significant generative content, authors must acknowledge it in the paper as an ethical practice in academic writing. The editorial board will check the submission using Turnitin or any other tool to verify the generated content and plagiarism percentages in a paper.

ICTer journal didn’t charge any processing fee for a submission and it obtained sponsorship from external parties to cover the processing fee. However, the editorial board is completed to change this policy since it is very difficult to find external sponsors to cover the processing fee and authors will have to pay US$ 50 for each submission after 1st January 2024. However, if authors have financial difficulties making this payment before the desk review, they can submit an appeal with evidence to the editorial board (icer@ucsc.cmb.ac.lk).

Criteria for Publication

A journal paper to be published in ICTer journal should meet the following general criteria:

• Relevance to ICTer Scope
• Adequate scientific merit
• Followed author guidelines
• Substantial literature review
• Substantial research contribution
• Critical Evaluation
• Original work which has not been formally published or under review in any other journal/book/ conference/etc.

Review Decisions

The Associate Editor will provide a recommendation regarding a particular manuscript based on reviewers’ comments as following:

• Accept without further modifications
• Accept subject to minor revisions
• Major revision, providing resubmission with substantial modifications
• Reject, no resubmission allowed