Guideline and Policies
Review and Publication Policy
Articles were sent for publication in the Journal of Law and Social Sciences University of Turbat go through an initial editorial screening followed by a double-blind peer review. The Editorial Board of the Journal is responsible for the selection of reviewers based on their expertise in the relevant field. All the papers will be reviewed by external reviewers (from outside the organization of the journal). The whole process from paper submission to publication will take a period of approximately 4 to 24 weeks.
Ethical Guidelines - Author(s)
The following ethical guidelines are obligatory for all author(s) violations that may result in the application of penalties by the editor, including but not limited to the suspension or revocation of publishing privileges.
Reporting Standards
- It is the author(s)' responsibility to ensure that the research report and data contain adequate detail and references to the sources of information to allow others to reproduce the results.
- Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism
- It is the author(s)' responsibility to ascertain that s/he has submitted an entirely original work, giving due credit, by proper citations, to the works and/or words of others where they have been used.
- Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is not acceptable.
- Material quoted verbatim from the author(s)' previously published work or other sources must be placed in quotation marks.
- As per HEC’s policy, in case the manuscript has a similarity index of more than 19%, it will either be rejected or left at the discretion of the Editorial Board for conditional acceptance.
Declaration
- Authors are required to provide an undertaking/declaration stating that the manuscript under consideration contains solely their original work that is not under consideration for publishing in any other journal in any form.
- Authors may submit a manuscript previously published in abstracted form, e.g. in the proceedings of an annual meeting, or a periodical with limited circulation and availability such as reports by Government agencies or a University.
- A manuscript that is co-authored must be accompanied by an undertaking explicitly stating that each author has contributed substantially towards the preparation of the manuscript to claim the right to authorship.
- It is the responsibility of the corresponding author that s/he has ensured that all those who have substantially contributed to the manuscripts have been included in the author list and have agreed to the order of authorship.
Multiple, Redundant, and Current Publication
- Authors should not submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal or publication except if is a re-submission of a rejected or withdrawn manuscript.
- Authors may re-publish previously conducted research that has been substantially altered or corrected using more meticulous analysis or by adding more data.
- The authors and editor must agree to the secondary publication, which must cite the primary references and reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document.
- Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgment of Sources
- A paper must always contain a proper acknowledgment of the work of others, including clear indications of the sources of all information quoted or offered, except what is common knowledge.
- The author(s) must also acknowledge the contributions of people, organizations, and institutes who assisted in the process of research, including those who provided technical help, writing assistance, or financial funding (in the acknowledgment).
- It is the duty of the author(s) to conduct a literature review and properly cite the original publications that describe closely related work.
Authorship Credit
- Authorship of the work may only be credited to those who have made a noteworthy contribution in conceptualization, design, conducting, data analysis, and writing up of the manuscript.
- It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to include the name(s) of only those co-authors who have made significant contributions to the work.
- The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. Others who have participated in a particular substantive aspect of the research should be acknowledged for their contribution in an "Acknowledgement" section.
Privacy of Participants
- Authors must respect the privacy of the participant of the research and must not use any information obtained from them without their informed consent.
- Authors should ensure that only information that improves understanding of the study is shared.
- Authors must ensure that in instances where the identity of the participant needs to be revealed in the study, explicit and informed consent of the concerned party is obtained.
- In the case of the demise of a participant, consent must be obtained from the deceased's family.
Images
- The author(s) should ensure that images included in an account of the research performed or in the data collection as part of the research are free from manipulation,
- The author(s) must provide an accurate description of how the images were generated and produced.
Copyright
Authors may have to sign an agreement allowing the journal to reserve the right to circulate the article and all other derivative works such as translations.
Manuscript Acceptance and Rejection
- The review period can last between 1-2 months or longer and during this period the author(s) reserve the right to contact the Editor to ask about the status of the review.
- Once the review process has been completed, the author will be informed about the status of the manuscript which could either be an acceptance, rejection, or revisions. In the case of rejection, the author(s) reserves the right to publish the article elsewhere.
- In case of revisions, the author(s) must provide an exposition of all corrections made in the manuscript, and the revised manuscript should, then, go through the process of affirmation of revisions and be accepted or rejected accordingly
In case of dissatisfaction over the decision of rejection, the author can appeal the decision by contacting the Editor.
Publication Ethics
These guidelines are fully consistent with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Principles of Transparency and Best Practice Guidelines and the COPE Code of Conduct. More details can be found here: https://publicationethics.org
Duties and responsibilities of editors
In addition to many general duties, such as constantly improving the quality and integrity of the journal, striving to needs of authors and readers, encouraging academic debate, and others, the editors accept an obligation to apply their best will and practice coping with the following responsibilities:
Editorial Board
The editorial board will be generated from recognized experts in the field. The editor will provide the full names and affiliations of the members as well as updated contact information for the editorial office on the journal webpage.
Peer review process
All of a journal’s content is subjected to peer review. Articles submitted for possible publication are subjected to a double-blind, peer review process. Articles are first reviewed by editors. The editor may reject it out of hand either because it is not dealing with the subject matter for that journal or because it is manifestly of a low quality so it cannot be considered at all. Articles that are found suitable for review are then sent to two experts in the field of the paper. Referees of a paper are unknown to each other. Referees are asked to classify the paper as publishable immediately, publishable with amendments and improvements, or not publishable. Referees’ evaluations usually include an explicit recommendation of what to do with the manuscript. Referees’ comments are then seen by the author.
- The contributors are requested to submit their manuscripts electronically through the OJS submission link:
- All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent/anonymous expert referees.
- The reviewing process takes approximately two to three months to complete
- The author/authors of selected papers is/are required to submit a Certificate of Proof Reading from an English Language Expert & Declaration Certificate.
Fair play
Editors should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. Editors´ decision to accept or reject a paper for publication should be based only on the paper´s importance, originality, and clarity, and the study´s relevance to the aim of the journal.
Digital Archiving
The editor will ensure digital preservation of access to the journal content by academic indexes.
Confidentiality
Editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher. Editors will ensure that the material submitted remains confidential while under review.
Procedures for dealing with unethical behavior
Unethical behavior may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone. Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way until a successful decision or conclusion is reached. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
The editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher. Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration to the respective complaint or claims made but may also include further communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies, depending on the misconduct seriousness.
Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author should be allowed to respond to any allegations.
Serious misconduct might require the application of one or more following measures:
- Informing or educating the author or reviewer where there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
- Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
- A formal letter to the head of the author's or reviewer's department or funding agency.
- Formal retraction or withdrawal of a publication from the journal, in conjunction with informing the head of the author or reviewer's department
- Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from an individual for a defined period.
Publication and Submission fee
Full information about fees is clearly stated on the journal´s website. If the authors require a waiver, a request should be submitted before submitting the manuscript.
Open Access Policy
Most of the Discover Publishing Group’s journals are freely available online. Authors are required to agree with this open-access policy which enables unrestricted access and reuse of all published articles. The articles are published under the Creative Commons copyright license policy CC-BY. Users are allowed to copy and redistribute the material in printed or electronic format and build upon the material, without further permission or fees being required, provided that appropriate credit is given.
Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should, in any event, be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications
An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper.
For Open Access publishing, the copyright remains with the authors (CC-BY), thus they can decide about the eventual republication of their text. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.
Acknowledgment of sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.
Authorship of the paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author´s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.
Duties and responsibilities of reviewers:
Contribution to editorial decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication. Authors who wish to contribute to publications must do a fair share of reviewing.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgment of sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
- The potential and relevant competing financial, personal, social, or other interests of all author(s) that might be affected by the publication of the results contained in the manuscript must be conveyed to the editor.
- The author(s) should disclose any potential conflict of interest at the earliest possible stage, including but not limited to employment, consultancies, honoraria, patent applications/registrations, grants, or other funding.
- All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed alongside a brief overview of the role played if any by the responses during various stages of the research.
- Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer´s research without the written consent of the author.
- Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
- Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Article Publication Charges (APC)
The Journal of Law and Social Sciences is an open-access research journal. This allows the research community and the general public to gain unlimited, free, and immediate access to scholarly articles, and to reuse the content freely provided that proper attribution is given to the original authors.
Article Publishing Rights Policy
For the Journal of Law and Social Sciences to publish research articles, we need publishing rights. This is controlled by an arrangement between the author and the Journal of Law and Social Sciences. This arrangement manages the exchange or permit of the copyright to BioSight and writers hold critical rights to utilize and share their own distributed articles. Journal of Law and Social Sciences underpins the requirement for authors to share the effect of their articles and these rights, in the Journal of Law and Social Sciences. The Journal of Law and Social Sciences holds all the privileges of articles distributed.
Upon acceptance of manuscripts after the peer review process, the corresponding author will be asked to pay the article processing charges (APC). The manuscript will be processed for publication after APC has been received. All manuscripts will be available online after the publishing process.
Publication Charges
No Publication charges for two years. The processing fee of Rs. 5000 and publishing fee of Rs. 35000 will be applicable from July 1st, 2025.
Manuscript Requirements
The authors are directed to follow these guidelines to submit their manuscripts:
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The files should be in Microsoft Word format (docx). The font style and size should be Times New Roman and 12 with Double Line spacing. |
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Manuscript Length |
Articles should be between 4000 to 8000 words including all text (references, appendices, etc.) |
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Article Title |
A tile of not more than 19 words should be provided. The title should represent the manuscript avoiding ambiguities |
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Author Details |
The author/authors' details should be provided in not more than 100 words. In the case of co-authorship, the authors should be mentioned in order of their authorship. The following information is required:
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Abstract |
Abstract should consist of 150 to 200 words explaining the paper's main intent, scope, and significance. It should clearly explain the employed methodological procedures, major findings, theoretical as well as practical implications of the study, conclusions, and relevant recommendations |
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Keywords |
Author should provide relevant and short keywords (minimum: 5, maximum: 10) that represent their work. |
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Headings |
The headings should be concise, clear, and followed by APA (7th Ed.) as:
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Notes, Endnotes |
Notes or Endnotes should be used only if necessary and must be identified in the text by consecutive numbers, enclosed in square brackets, and listed at the end of the article |
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References |
The author should cite publications in the text: (Adams, 2006) using the first named author's name or (Adams & Brown, 2006) citing both names of two authors or (Adams et al., 2006), when there are three or more authors. At the end of the paper, a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied: Book: Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The guide to everything and then some more stuff. New York, NY: Macmillan. Journal Article with DOI: Paivio, A. (1975). Perceptual comparisons through the mind's eye. Memory & Cognition, 3, 635-647. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225 Online Newspaper Articles: Becker, E. (2001, August 27). Prairie farmers reap conservation's rewards. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Encyclopedia Articles: Brislin, R. W. (1984). Cross-cultural psychology. In R. J. Corsini (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 319-327). New York, NY: Wiley. Technical and Research Reports (often with corporate authors) Hershey Foods Corporation. (2001, March 15). 2001 Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www.hersheysannualreport.com/2000/index.htm A website with no author or date of publication: Census data revisited. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2009, from Harvard, Psychology of Population website, http://harvard.edu/data/index.php |
For further guidance on APA 7th Edition.
