Fast-Track Review Policy

1. General Policy

Jurnal Desain provides an optional Fast-Track Review service for authors who require an expedited editorial and peer-review process.

Fast-Track Review is an accelerated processing pathway and not an alternative peer-review standard. Manuscripts submitted through this service are subject to the same academic, ethical, editorial, and peer-review requirements as manuscripts processed through the regular review pathway.

Fast-Track Review does not guarantee:

  • progression to external peer review;
  • a favorable reviewer recommendation;
  • acceptance for publication;
  • publication in a particular issue;
  • issuance of a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) within a predetermined period; or
  • exemption from revision or additional review where academically necessary.

All decisions are based exclusively on the scholarly merit, integrity, quality, and publication readiness of the manuscript.

Payment of a Fast-Track Review fee does not influence reviewers, Section Editors, the Editor-in-Chief, or any editorial decision.

2. Academic and Peer-Review Standards

Manuscripts processed through Fast-Track Review undergo the same editorial and scholarly procedures applicable to regular submissions, including:

  • Preliminary Administrative Completeness Check;
  • Initial Editorial Assessment;
  • similarity screening;
  • evaluation of conformity with the journal's Focus and Scope;
  • assessment of scholarly quality, originality, research gap, methodology, analytical depth, and contribution;
  • double-blind peer review;
  • evaluation by two independent qualified peer reviewers;
  • the same reviewer selection and qualification criteria;
  • the same substantive peer-review criteria;
  • the same publication ethics and research-integrity requirements;
  • author revision where required; and
  • final editorial decision by the responsible Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

No scholarly assessment requirement is waived, reduced, or modified because a manuscript is processed through Fast-Track Review.

Where further revision, clarification, ethical investigation, or an additional round of peer review is academically necessary, the editorial team may require such action irrespective of the Fast-Track status of the submission.

3. Fast-Track Review Timeline

Fast-Track Review provides priority handling and an expedited peer-review timeline.

For manuscripts that have passed the Initial Editorial Assessment and have been approved to enter Fast-Track external review:

Fast-Track peer-review period: normally 7 days per review round.

For comparison, the standard peer-review period under the regular review pathway is normally 28 days per review round.

The seven-day period refers to the target period provided to an assigned reviewer to complete the peer-review evaluation after accepting the review assignment. It does not represent a guarantee that the manuscript will receive an acceptance decision within seven days.

The overall processing time may be affected by:

  • availability and response of qualified reviewers;
  • reviewer replacement where an invitation is declined;
  • the extent and complexity of revisions required;
  • the author's response time;
  • additional rounds of peer review;
  • unresolved scholarly or ethical issues;
  • requests for additional documentation; or
  • circumstances outside the reasonable control of the editorial team.

Jurnal Desain will make reasonable efforts to prioritize Fast-Track manuscripts without compromising the quality, independence, or integrity of the editorial and peer-review process.

4. Author Revision Timeline

Authors whose manuscripts are processed through Fast-Track Review are expected to respond promptly to editorial and reviewer recommendations.

Unless otherwise determined by the Editor according to the nature and extent of the revisions:

  • Revision Required: normally within 7 days; and
  • Resubmit for Review: normally within 14 days.

The Editor may grant a different revision period where substantial methodological, analytical, ethical, or technical revisions are required.

Failure to submit the requested revision within the specified period may result in the manuscript being removed from the Fast-Track pathway and returned to the regular editorial timeline or the submission being closed, depending on the circumstances.

Submission of a revised manuscript does not guarantee acceptance.

5. Eligibility and Quota

Fast-Track Review is subject to editorial capacity and reviewer availability.

Acceptance of a request for Fast-Track Review depends on:

  • administrative completeness of the submission;
  • successful completion of the Initial Editorial Assessment;
  • suitability of the manuscript for external peer review;
  • availability of appropriate qualified reviewers;
  • availability of the Fast-Track quota; and
  • the editorial team's capacity to provide expedited processing without compromising scholarly quality.

The journal reserves the right to decline a Fast-Track request where these requirements cannot reasonably be met.

Declining a Fast-Track request does not constitute rejection of the manuscript. Where appropriate, the manuscript may continue through the regular review pathway.

6. Application Procedure

Authors who wish to request Fast-Track Review should:

  1. submit the manuscript through the Jurnal Desain OJS system in accordance with the Author Guidelines;
  2. indicate the request for Fast-Track Review in the Comments for the Editor during submission; and
  3. wait for confirmation from the editorial team regarding manuscript eligibility and Fast-Track quota availability.

The previous requirement to complete a separate Google Form is discontinued. Authors should not submit a separate Fast-Track request through Google Forms unless the editorial office expressly instructs them to do so for a specific administrative purpose.

The Fast-Track request should be stated in the Comments for the Editor and may also be briefly mentioned in the covering letter. The covering letter is supplementary and does not replace the formal request made through the OJS submission system.

The request should include:

  • the manuscript title;
  • the corresponding author's name and email address;
  • a brief statement confirming that Fast-Track Review is being requested;
  • confirmation that all authors have read and understood this policy; and
  • any relevant deadline or scheduling information, if applicable.

Authors should not present a personal, institutional, funding, graduation, promotion, or other external deadline as a basis for requesting acceptance or a guaranteed LoA. Such information may be provided only to assist the editorial office in assessing the request and does not create an obligation for the journal to meet the requested deadline.

Submission of a Fast-Track request does not automatically mean that the manuscript has been accepted into the Fast-Track pathway.

The editorial team will first conduct the applicable administrative and Initial Editorial Assessment procedures.

7. Fast-Track Review Fee

The Fast-Track Review Fee is IDR 500,000 per manuscript.

The fee covers the additional editorial and administrative resources required for:

  • priority editorial handling;
  • accelerated reviewer identification and coordination;
  • expedited monitoring of the peer-review process; and
  • priority editorial processing associated with the Fast-Track pathway.

The Fast-Track Review Fee is separate from the Article Publication Charge (APC).

The Fast-Track Review Fee is not an acceptance fee, publication fee, or payment for a favorable editorial decision.

No Fast-Track Review Fee is charged merely for requesting the service.

8. Payment of the Fast-Track Review Fee

The Fast-Track Review Fee becomes payable only after:

  • the manuscript has fulfilled the applicable administrative requirements;
  • the manuscript has passed the Initial Editorial Assessment and has been approved to proceed to external peer review;
  • the editorial team has confirmed the availability of the Fast-Track quota; and
  • the author's request for Fast-Track Review has been formally approved.

Authors should not make a Fast-Track payment before receiving official payment instructions from the editorial office.

Payment instructions will be provided by the editorial office through an official journal communication channel. The journal will not require authors to make payment through an unofficial intermediary or through a payment link that has not been formally communicated by the editorial office.

Payment of the Fast-Track Review Fee does not constitute acceptance of the manuscript for publication.

9. Relationship with the Article Publication Charge

The Fast-Track Review Fee and the Article Publication Charge (APC) are separate charges with different purposes.

The Fast-Track Review Fee applies to the optional expedited review service.

The APC applies only to manuscripts that have formally received an Accepted editorial decision, in accordance with the journal's Publication Charges Policy.

Payment of the Fast-Track Review Fee does not replace, reduce, or automatically satisfy the applicable APC unless explicitly stated otherwise by the journal.

Authors from categories eligible for an APC waiver remain subject to the applicable Fast-Track Review Fee unless a separate Fast-Track waiver has been formally approved by the journal.

Further information regarding publication charges and waivers is provided on the Publication Charges Policy page.

10. Refund and Cancellation Policy

The Fast-Track Review Fee relates to the provision of an expedited editorial and peer-review service and is not dependent on the editorial outcome of the manuscript.

Once expedited reviewer coordination or Fast-Track peer review has commenced, the Fast-Track Review Fee is non-refundable, including where:

  • reviewers recommend revision;
  • the manuscript requires additional review;
  • the manuscript is subsequently declined;
  • the author decides not to continue with the required revisions; or
  • the author withdraws the manuscript after the Fast-Track process has commenced.

A refund may be considered where:

  • payment was made in duplicate;
  • the journal received payment but was unable to commence the approved Fast-Track service; or
  • another administrative error attributable to the journal resulted in payment for a service that was not provided.

Where the Fast-Track service cannot be provided before the accelerated process has commenced, the author may be offered the choice of continuing under the regular review pathway or receiving a refund of the Fast-Track Review Fee.

Refund decisions concern only the provision of the Fast-Track service and have no relationship to the scholarly evaluation or editorial decision concerning the manuscript.

11. Editorial Independence

Fast-Track Review is administratively and financially separated from scholarly decision-making.

Reviewers are not instructed or expected to provide a favorable recommendation because a manuscript is processed through Fast-Track Review.

The Editor-in-Chief, Section Editors, and peer reviewers must evaluate Fast-Track manuscripts according to the same scholarly criteria applied to all other submissions.

Editorial decisions must remain independent from:

  • payment of the Fast-Track Review Fee;
  • Article Publication Charges;
  • institutional affiliation;
  • sponsorship;
  • commercial interests;
  • publication schedules; or
  • requests for rapid issuance of an LoA.

Where scholarly requirements cannot be fulfilled within an accelerated timeline, academic quality and publication integrity take precedence over processing speed.

12. Letter of Acceptance

A Letter of Acceptance (LoA) is issued only after the manuscript has formally received an Accepted editorial decision.

Fast-Track Review does not entitle an author to receive an LoA within a predetermined period.

An LoA will not be issued:

  • before external peer review has been satisfactorily completed;
  • while substantive revisions remain unresolved;
  • while an additional review round is required;
  • while relevant ethical or research-integrity concerns remain unresolved; or
  • before the responsible Editor has formally recorded the manuscript as Accepted.

The Fast-Track Review Fee does not constitute payment for an LoA.

13. Publication Schedule

Acceptance into Fast-Track Review does not guarantee publication in a particular volume, issue, or publication date.

Once formally accepted, the manuscript proceeds through the journal's production process, including copyediting, layout editing, author proofreading, and final publication preparation.

Publication is determined according to:

  • completion of the editorial and production process;
  • the journal's publishing schedule;
  • availability within the relevant issue;
  • applicable Issue in Progress arrangements; and
  • fulfillment of the required publication documentation.

Where applicable, an accepted article may be processed under the journal's permitted Issue in Progress publication model.

14. Relationship with the Regular Peer-Review Process

Except for the expedited processing timeline, all Fast-Track manuscripts are governed by the journal's standard Peer Review Process, Publication Ethics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, Plagiarism Policy, Author Guidelines, and other applicable editorial policies.

In the event of any uncertainty concerning scholarly assessment, ethical requirements, reviewer independence, or editorial decision-making, the provisions protecting academic integrity and editorial independence take precedence over the accelerated timeline.