Prospective Author(s), Reader & Reviewer
For Prospective Authors
Is your research reaching the audience it deserves?
Are you looking for a platform where your voice will be heard? Have you conducted valuable educational research but struggle to get it noticed? How many people have actually read your last published article?
At PAJE, we believe that great research deserves more than publication—it deserves visibility, readership, citations, and impact. Our platform is designed to connect your work with educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who can learn from, apply, and build upon your findings.
Don't let your research remain hidden. Let it inform practice, influence policy, and contribute to the advancement of education.
Submit your manuscript to PAJE today and give your research the visibility and impact it deserves.
We publish open access with no fees of any kind, conduct double-blind peer review, and aim to reach a first decision within ten weeks of submission. Authors retain full copyright under a Creative Commons licence.
→ Register as an author → Read the submission guidelines
For Prospective Readers
Stay close to the pulse of Nigerian education research
The Pancen Journal of Education (PAJE) publishes empirical studies, deep-dive situational analyses, and policy work that document what is actually happening in Nigerian classrooms, schools, and education systems.
Every article is freely available — no paywalls, no subscriptions, no fees. Register to receive an email when each new issue is published, save articles to your personal library, and join a growing community of educators and researchers committed to evidence-based reform.
→ Register as a reader → Browse the current issue
Becoming a PAJE Reviewer
Join the scholarly community advancing Nigerian educational research
Why PAJE needs reviewers like you
Peer review is the backbone of every credible journal. The strength of the Pancen Journal of Education — its rigour, its reputation, and its value to Nigerian educational scholarship — rests on the expertise of the reviewers who give their time to read, assess, and improve the manuscripts we receive.
We are building a panel of reviewers who reflect the full breadth of education research in Nigeria and beyond: across disciplines, methodologies, institutions, career stages, and regions. We are particularly committed to including early-career scholars, researchers from under-represented institutions, and women in the academy.
If you have something to contribute, we want to hear from you.
Who we are looking for
You are a good fit for the PAJE reviewer panel if you:
- Hold a Master's degree or higher in education or a closely related field, or have equivalent professional standing in education research, policy, or practice
- Have published at least one peer-reviewed article, book chapter, or substantial policy report in your area of expertise (this requirement is relaxed for early-career scholars enrolled in a doctoral programme — see below)
- Can articulate a specific area of expertise — a topic, methodology, level of education, or regional context where you can offer substantive judgement
- Are willing to commit to PAJE's standards of timeliness, confidentiality, and constructive engagement (typically four weeks per review, two to four reviews per year)
- Are comfortable reading and writing in academic English
Early-career scholars are welcome
If you are a PhD candidate in your final year, a postdoctoral researcher, or a lecturer in your first five years of academic work, we particularly encourage you to apply. Your fresh engagement with the literature and methodology training is genuinely valuable to us.
For your first one or two reviews, you will be paired with a Section Editor who will guide your work and provide written feedback on the review itself. This is one of the most effective forms of academic mentorship available, and we are committed to making it real rather than nominal.
What reviewing for PAJE looks like
Time commitment
A typical PAJE review involves:
- Reading the manuscript carefully — usually 4,000 to 8,000 words
- Reading or refreshing your knowledge of two or three key references
- Writing your review — typically 600 to 1,200 words for an empirical article
- Total time per review: approximately 6 to 10 hours, spread over four weeks
We aim not to overburden any individual reviewer. Most active reviewers receive two to four invitations per year — totalling perhaps 15 to 30 hours of scholarly service annually.
The review process
When a manuscript matching your expertise is submitted, you will receive an email invitation containing the title, abstract, and a brief description of the topic. You decide whether to accept or decline within five working days.
If you accept, you have four weeks to complete the review using a structured form covering originality, theoretical framing, methodology, findings, writing, and overall recommendation. PAJE operates a double-blind peer review system: your identity is concealed from the author, and the author's identity is concealed from you.
After you submit, you will receive a copy of the editorial decision letter and the other reviewers' anonymised reports, so you can see how your assessment compared.
What you will not be asked to do
You will not be asked to:
- Copyedit grammar or punctuation
- Re-run the author's analyses
- Verify primary data
- Make the final acceptance decision — that is the Editor-in-Chief's role; your task is to inform that decision
What you will gain
We recognise that peer review is uncompensated academic labour. We work to make it worth your time in other ways.
Formal academic credit. PAJE registers all completed reviews with ORCID and Web of Science Researcher Profiles (formerly Publons), creating a verifiable, citable record of your peer review activity that strengthens your CV, promotion file, and grant applications.
Reviewer recognition. An annual list of PAJE reviewers is published in the journal. Reviewer certificates are available on request, suitable for institutional records and promotion submissions.
Pathway to the editorial board. Active, high-quality reviewers are first in line for invitations to join the editorial board as Section Editors and Associate Editors when openings arise.
Early access to current scholarship. Reviewing keeps you connected to the leading edge of research in your area — often months or years before it is published. This is a genuine intellectual benefit, particularly valuable for scholars building expertise in a specific field.
Professional development. PAJE offers periodic webinars and written guides on the craft of reviewing, with content tailored to early-career scholars learning the trade.
Mentored reviewing. First-time reviewers can request a mentored review, with written feedback from a Section Editor on the review itself — a rare and valuable form of academic apprenticeship.
What we expect from our reviewers
In return, we ask that you:
Respond promptly. Reply to review invitations within five working days, even if your answer is "no." A timely decline is more valuable than a delayed acceptance.
Honour the deadline. If you accept a review, deliver it within four weeks — or, if circumstances change, contact the Section Editor in advance to negotiate an extension.
Maintain confidentiality. Treat the manuscript as unpublished, confidential scholarly work. Do not share it, discuss it outside the editorial team, or use its content in your own work or teaching before publication.
Declare conflicts of interest. If you have any relationship with the author, the work, or the topic that could compromise your impartiality, decline the review or disclose the conflict to the Section Editor.
Critique work, not authors. Frame every comment constructively, specifically, and respectfully. We periodically return reviews to their authors for revision when the tone falls short of this standard.
Respect the AI policy. Do not upload PAJE manuscripts to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other AI tool. The intellectual judgement in your review must be yours, and manuscript confidentiality cannot be guaranteed once text enters an AI provider's systems.
A full guide to PAJE review standards — covering everything from conflicts of interest to the structure of a good review report — is provided to every new reviewer upon registration.
How to apply
Becoming a PAJE reviewer takes about ten minutes.
Step 1: Create or update your OJS account
If you do not yet have an account on fuepjournals.com:
Tick the "Reviewer" role during registration and complete all profile fields, especially:
- Your full name and current affiliation
- Your ORCID iD (free at orcid.org if you don't have one)
- Your highest qualification and academic position
- Three to six reviewing interests in plain keywords (e.g., "early childhood literacy," "teacher motivation," "education policy in Northern Nigeria")
- Your methodological strengths (e.g., "mixed methods," "policy analysis," "quantitative survey research")
If you already have an account, log in and update your profile to include reviewer expertise:
Step 2: Send us a short introduction
After registering, please send a brief email (250 words or fewer) to journals@fuep.edu.ng with the subject line "Reviewer application — [Your Name]". Include:
- A one-paragraph description of your areas of expertise and the kinds of manuscripts you are best placed to review
- A link to your Google Scholar profile, ORCID record, or institutional page
- One or two representative publications you have authored
- Any specific topics or sub-fields you are particularly interested in reviewing
You do not need a formal cover letter. We are not looking for credentials performance — we are looking to understand what you know well so we can match you with the right manuscripts.
Step 3: We review your application
The Managing Editor and at least one Section Editor will assess your application within ten working days. We consider:
- Alignment between your expertise and PAJE's scope
- Evidence of scholarly engagement in your area
- Completeness of your reviewer profile
Most applications from qualified scholars are accepted. Where we decline, we will tell you why and, where possible, suggest how to strengthen a future application.
Step 4: Welcome and onboarding
If your application is accepted, you will receive:
- A welcome email confirming your place on the panel
- The PAJE Reviewer Onboarding Guide — a comprehensive document covering review standards, ethics, timelines, and the review form
- An invitation to opt in to ORCID and Web of Science reporting of your reviews
- Your first review invitation when a suitable manuscript arrives
For early-career scholars, your first review will be flagged for mentored support — a Section Editor will read your review and provide written feedback before it reaches the author.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be Nigerian, or live in Nigeria, to review for PAJE? No. PAJE welcomes reviewers from anywhere in the world. Our scope is anchored in Nigerian education, but our reviewer panel is deliberately international. Scholars who study education in other African contexts, or in comparative international perspective, are particularly welcome.
Do I need to have published in PAJE to review for it? No. Most of our reviewers have not published with us. What matters is your expertise in the manuscript's subject, not your publication history with us specifically.
Can graduate students review? Yes, in their final year of doctoral study and with the support of their supervisor. We ask that doctoral students mention their year and programme in their application, and we may invite them initially as co-reviewers with a more senior scholar before assigning them independent reviews.
How will I know I have been accepted? You will receive an email from the Managing Editor within ten working days of submitting your application. If you don't hear back within that time, please write to us at journals@fuep.edu.ng — applications occasionally get caught in spam filters.
What if I haven't received any review invitations? We invite reviewers based on the manuscripts we receive. If your area of expertise is highly specialised, it may take some months before a matching manuscript arrives. You are also welcome to contact a Section Editor whose area aligns with yours to introduce yourself.
Can I withdraw from the panel? At any time, for any reason. Email journals@fuep.edu.ng and we will remove you from active rotation. You may also temporarily pause your availability for sabbaticals, fieldwork, or other commitments by updating your profile.
Is there any payment? No. Like virtually all academic journals worldwide, PAJE does not pay reviewers. We try to make reviewing worth your time through recognition, ORCID/Publons credit, and the editorial development pathways described above.
Is there a cost to register? No. PAJE is fully open access with no fees of any kind — for authors, readers, or reviewers.
