International Journal of Social Sciences (IJSS) is committed to high ethical standards for editorial processes. Providing an unbiased and principled platform for authors, editors, and reviewers is a priority for us. IJSS seeks to provide transparent policies as they relate to the peer review process from the submission to the actual publication of a manuscript.
Because of its commitment to the best practices within scholarly publishing, IJSS has aligned its publication policies and procedures with the Committee on Publications Ethics. The rigorous standards that the Committee on Publications Ethics sets forth include an adherence to a professional code of conduct, plagiarism statements, ethical guidelines, and authorship principles.
IJSS is dedicated to providing an academic publishing opportunity that is vested in integrity, professional ethics, and transparent publishing practices. Therefore, IJSS supports and promotes the guidelines, statements, and values found within the Committee on Publications Ethics. Any cases of academic or publishing misconduct on the part of authors, editors, reviewers, or staff will be evaluated and processed accordingly.
The following are the the Committee on Publications Ethics Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. The IJSS policy or procedure that addresses specific principles is stated or linked below each principle:
1. Peer review process: All of a journal’s content, apart from any editorial material that is clearly marked as such, shall be subjected to peer-review. Peer review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers, expert in the field. This process, as well as any policies related to the journal’s peer review procedures, shall be clearly described on the journal’s Web site. All manuscripts submitted to an IJSS journal are subject to double-blind peer review. Double-blind review is defined as a review process wherein both the authors and the reviewers are anonymous. Peer review is defined as the evaluation of academic research by other academics in field. All IJSS reviewers are terminally degreed and published in the field(s) they review.
When a manuscript is received for review in IJSS the following procedure is followed:
- The manuscript is logged into the Journal Registration Database.
- Reviewers are not expected to be able to identify all instances of plagiarism. Consequently, effective August 2012, 100% of manuscripts received for review will be submitted to an online plagiarism detection website to verify authenticity. Papers exceeding a 10% similarity level (excluding quotes, bibliography and matches of 1% or less) will be reviewed and returned to the author for revision.
- If the manuscript is determined to be original in accordance with the above it is then forwarded for editorial review by a staff member or the journal's editor. This review is to ensure conformance with the IJSS Submission Guidelines.
- Author names, university affiliations, and contact information are removed from the review copy of the manuscript. Manuscript is subsequently sent by an IJSS staff member or the journal's editor to reviewers for blind-peer review. Peer reviewers are requested to use the IJSS Submission Review Form as a guideline for the review process. Additional comments may be provided as needed. Reviewers not using the review form are requested to type their comments on the cover sheet of the manuscript.
- Manuscripts may be accepted, returned for revision, or rejected. Authors are so notified.
- If manuscripts are returned for revision, the author is provided specific instructions as to the revision requirements via email. Authors then have 10 days to complete the required revisions and return the manuscript.
- If a manuscript is rejected, the author is notified and provided the reviewer's comments specifying the reason(s) for rejection.
- If a manuscript is accepted the author is notified.
2. Governing Body: Journals shall have editorial boards or other governing bodies whose members are recognized experts in the subject areas included within the journal’s scope. The full names and affiliations of the journal’s editors shall be provided on the journal’s Web site.
The IJSS is comprised of editors and selected other distinguished academics. The purpose of the advisory board is to consult with IJSS management regarding publication policies and procedures. The advisory board is not a review board. Advisory board membership is by invitation only. See the IJSS Editorial Advisory Board for the list of current members.
3. Editorial team/contact information: Journals shall provide the full names and affiliations of the journal’s editors on the journal’s Web site as well as contact information for the editorial office. The journal editor's name and university affiliation are on the individual journal's webpage along with a link to the editor's curriculum vitae and the editor's email address.
4. Author fees: Any fees or charges that are required for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in the journal shall be clearly stated in a place that is easy for potential authors to find prior to submitting their manuscripts for review or explained to authors before they begin preparing their manuscript for submission. All charges are clearly explained on the IJSS Publication Charges and the IJSS Secure Payment Page webpage.
5. Identification of and dealing with allegations of research misconduct: Publishers and editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In no case shall a journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal - the publisher or editor shall follow Committee on Publications Ethics Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing guidelines (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations. As part of the submission process, all IJSS authors certify that the submitted manuscript is their own original work that has not been previously published in whole or part in an academic journal or other copyrighted material. Authors certify that the submitted manuscript is not currently being reviewed for publication consideration by another journal or other copyrighted material. Author(s) agree to and accept all the terms and conditions published herein including the IJSS Publication Policy, the IJSS Research Misconduct Policy and the IJSS Submission Guidelines. All manuscripts received for review are submitted to an online plagiarism detection website to verify authenticity.
6. Ownership and management: Information about the ownership and/or management of a journal shall be clearly indicated on the journal’s Web site. Publishers shall not use organizational names that would mislead potential authors and editors about the nature of the journal’s owner.
7. Web site: A journal’s Web site, including the text that it contains, shall demonstrate that care has been taken to ensure high ethical and professional standards. The IJSS website is audited on a bi-annual basis, checking for nonfunctioning links, misspelling, grammatical errors and content accuracy. Additionally, IJSS authors and readers are encouraged to report any website errors or inaccuracies, which are promptly evaluated and corrected as needed.
8. Conflicts of interest: A journal shall have clear policies on handling potential conflicts of interest of editors, authors, and reviewers and the policies should be clearly stated. IJSS requires all editors, authors, reviewers, and staff to disclose any potential conflicts of interest which might affect professional judgment as it relates to the editorial and peer review process of submitted manuscripts. For the purposes of this disclosure statement, a conflict of interest occurs when an editor, author, or reviewer has a beneficial or personal relationship with a third party which could bias or compromise his or her academic or professional objectivity. Editors, reviewers and authors are responsible for disclosing financial and other potential conflicts of interest that could potentially impact your submission or reviews. Editors and Reviewers must complete the conflict of interest disclosure form.
9. Access: The way(s) in which the journal and individual articles are available to readers and whether there are associated subscription or pay per view fees shall be stated. IJSS journal is published online, open access. No subscription or charge is required to read or download IJSS published manuscripts.
10. Advertising: Journals shall state their advertising policy if relevant, including what types of ads will be considered, who makes decisions regarding accepting ads and whether they are linked to content or reader behavior (online only) or are displayed at random. Advertising is not accepted on the IJSS website or in IJSS publications.
11. Publishing schedule: The periodicity at which a journal publishes shall be clearly indicated.
All manuscripts accepted for publication in IJSS are published to the online journal shortly after acceptance and receipt of publication fee. Journal volumes are printed when 14 manuscripts are accepted for publication in the online volume. See the IJSS Publication Policy webpage.
12. Archiving: A journal’s plan for electronic backup and preservation of access to the journal content (for example, access to main articles) in the event a journal is no longer published shall be clearly indicated. Links to all published manuscripts are accessible through the individual journals' web page.