It is at the core of proper scholarly publishing and takes place in all respected scientific journals; accordingly, our referees have an important role to play in keeping the Journal's high standards and every manuscript is subjected to peer review in accordance with the procedure set out below.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editor begins by looking at all the manuscripts; although this is rare, it is entirely possible for a really good manuscript to be accepted right then. Manuscripts that satisfy the basic requirements are sent on to at least two experts to review them, and the authors of those manuscripts which are rejected at this stage will be notified.
Type of Peer Review
Manuscripts proceeding to peer review are evaluated by members of an international panel of experts. Each paper is subject to double-blind peer review by two or more independent reviewers, under the supervision of the section editor and the Editor-in-Chief. While the journal makes every effort to ensure that authors’ identities remain anonymous during the review process, authors themselves bear responsibility for concealing identifying details (e.g., in references to prior publications). If a manuscript contains information that reveals author identity, the review will be conducted in a single-blind format, meaning that reviewers remain anonymous but authors do not.
The journal strives to complete the peer review process within four weeks of the decision to review, although occasional delays may occur. Authors are advised to allow up to 7 weeks from the date of submission before contacting the editorial office. The Editor-in-Chief retains full authority over the final decision on acceptance or rejection.
How the reviewer is selected
Reviewers are assigned to the papers on the basis of their expertise. Although the authors are welcome to suggest reviewers, the organisers may choose to accept or reject these suggestions.
Reviewer reports
Reviewers are asked to evaluate and select one option:
• Accept Submission.
• Revision Required.
• Resubmit for Review.
• Resubmit Elsewhere.
• Decline Submission.
• See Comments.
Reviewers are not required to carry out corrections or proofread the manuscripts. Editing the language is not included in the peer review process.
Final report
The author will receive from the editors a final decision regarding whether or not to accept the manuscript together with any suggestions made by the reviewers, and this may also include strict comments from the reviewers.
Editor’s Decision is final
The reviewers recommend that the editor, who is in charge of making the final decision on whether or not to accept the article, should take this advice.
Publication Process
The publication process involves the following steps, the aim of which is quality.
Upon receiving the manuscript we will send the author an email confirming the submission.
The manuscripts will be tested using plagiarism checker software.
The editor will check the primary quality.
The manuscript will be submitted for double-blind review.
The editor will make the decision following the double-blind review and will then communicate it to the author. The decision can be one of three types: accepted without revision, resubmitted with major/minor revisions, or rejected.
Catholic religious music plays an important role in Christian worship and spiritual formation in Rwanda, where biblical faith is expressed through local languages, cultural values, and musical traditions. This study, entitled From Biblical Psalms to Catholic Religious Songs: Exploring the Role of Catholic Religious Music in Christian Spiritual Growth in Rwanda, examines the relationship between the biblical Psalms and Catholic religious songs and their contribution to Christian spiritual growth. The study asks: How does Catholic religious music contribute to prayer, faith formation, personal conversion, Christian identity, and participation in communal worship? It hypothesizes that Catholic religious music enhances Christian spiritual growth when its biblical and theological content is faithfully expressed through culturally meaningful forms. The objective is to examine this relationship and assess the role of Catholic religious music in Christian formation and evangelization. A descriptive mixed-methods design was employed among 70 undergraduate students of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Rwanda (CUR). Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings indicate that 95.7% of respondents viewed religious music as an aid to prayer, 94.3% associated it with spiritual growth, 92.9% emphasized biblical foundations, 91.4% perceived it as effective for faith formation, and 90.0% reported increased participation in communal worship. The study concludes that Catholic religious music is a valuable instrument of Christian formation and evangelization.
This research shows practical classroom strategies offered by teachers for English teaching within secondary settings of education in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The research utilized a qualitative method. Exclude the implementation of different language laws; teachers frequently encounter instructional hurdles when assisting comprehensive language acquisition among multilingual students. To investigate these dynamics, the research involved 30 participants who answered semi-structured interview questions, which provided insights into these dynamics. The research involved 30 participants who answered semi-structured interview questions, providing insights into daily pedagogical sessions, interactive instructional skills, and curriculum delivery mechanisms. The taken data is made using NVivo software to systematically organize the transcripts of qualitative data, recognise recurring conceptual patterns, and manufacture robust thematic codes. The information shows the critical requirement for situation-responsive pedagogical frameworks, aimed literacy assist systems, and enhanced instructional engagement to optimize language results. This research leads to actionable insights for refining classroom methodologies and elevating overall educational levels in linguistically diverse places, offering a comprehensive start for the coming curriculum improvement and professional education practice across similar educational landscapes.
This study examines how Japanese literature was made readable and circulable in Maoist China through paratextual framing. Drawing on publication notes, prefaces, translators’ afterwords, editors’ notes, critical commentaries, circulation labels, and materials from the translated literature journal Zhaiyi, it argues that paratexts were not peripheral additions to translated works, but a central mechanism through which foreign literature was interpreted and managed. The analysis shows that these paratexts worked through repeatable routines of classification, warning, circulation control, and attribution. They classified authors and works before reading, warned against politically inappropriate interpretations, limited readership through internal circulation, and weakened individual translator identity through collective, pen-name, or absent attribution. In the case of Japanese literature, paratexts also produced a manageable image of Japan by narrating Japanese society as a site of capitalist crisis, framing literary value through a worker-peasant-soldier subject position, and arranging cultural knowledge through lists and columns. The article shows that translation during the Cultural Revolution was a language-ideological and cultural-political practice, through which foreign texts were turned into controlled objects of knowledge within a supervised system of publication and reading.
Breastfeeding is critical for maternal and child health, yet rates in Bulawayo remain suboptimal due to psychosocial barriers including stress, low maternal confidence, and weak social support. Current healthcare systems often neglect integrated psychological and community-based interventions. This study examined psychosocial challenges hindering breastfeeding practices and determined how integrated counselling and community psychology interventions can strengthen social support systems in Bulawayo clinics. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory and Cohen and Wills' Social Support Theory, this qualitative study adopted an interpretivist philosophy and multiple case study design. Purposive sampling selected 20 breastfeeding mothers, 10 healthcare providers, and 5 counselling psychologists from Bulawayo clinics. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, and analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis framework. Two themes emerged: psychosocial challenges hindering breastfeeding, with subthemes of psychological distress and low self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and misconceptions (particularly intergenerational transmission of colostrum avoidance), and weak social support networks creating a "support vacuum". The second theme identified integrated interventions strengthening social support, including counselling psychology interventions addressing individual psychological needs, community psychology interventions reducing social isolation, and integrated collaborative approaches combining both strategies. Novel findings include the intergenerational transmission of harmful cultural beliefs and recognition that neither counselling nor community interventions alone are sufficient. Breastfeeding mothers in Bulawayo face significant psychosocial challenges requiring comprehensive support. Integrated counselling and community psychology interventions addressing both individual and systemic factors are essential but currently unavailable. Integrate counselling psychology services into routine maternal healthcare, establish community-based peer support networks, implement culturally sensitive education engaging elders and develop integrated intervention frameworks with adequate funding and training.
Background: Spatial navigation is integral to independence and quality of life; its impairment is a recognized but frequently underassessed sequela of stroke. The Way Finding Questionnaire (WFQ) is a validated 22-item self-report instrument that evaluates navigational ability across three domains Navigation and Orientation, Spatial Anxiety, and Distance Estimation and has demonstrated strong psychometric properties in Western populations. No Urdu-language version existed prior to this study, limiting its applicability within Pakistan's predominantly Urdu-speaking population.
Objective: To translate the original English WFQ into Urdu and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the resulting Urdu version (WFQ-U) in patients with stroke.
Methods: A cross-cultural validation study was conducted at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, enrolling 70 stroke patients aged 18–65 years via convenience sampling. The translation followed the six-stage Beaton et al. framework, encompassing forward translation, synthesis, backward translation, expert committee review, pilot testing, and documentation submission. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency) and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC; test-retest reliability, one-week interval). Content validity was determined using the Content Validity Index (CVI). Concurrent validity was examined through Pearson correlation with the Floor Maze Test (FMT).
Results: The sample comprised 33 males (47.1%) and 37 females (52.9%), with a mean age of 46.91 ± 9.90 years. The mean total WFQ-U score was 75.29 ± 11.67. Cronbach's alpha was 0.987 (Day 1) and 0.977 (Day 3), indicating excellent internal consistency. The ICC for test-retest reliability was 0.825 (95% CI: 0.780–0.865). The overall CVI was 0.825. Pearson correlation between the WFQ-U and the FMT was r = 0.929 (p < 0.05), demonstrating strong concurrent validity.
Conclusion: The WFQ-U is a valid and reliable patient-reported outcome measure for assessing navigational ability in Urdu-speaking stroke patients. Its adoption in Pakistani clinical and research settings is recommended.