Editorial Policy

Protecting Intellectual Property

The journal is dedicated to protecting intellectual property. Key points include:

Supplementary materials requested during review are subject to double-blind peer review to ensure author anonymity.

Reviewers must not use or share ideas from supplementary materials without explicit permission from the author via the editor.

Advice on specific aspects of the manuscript may be sought from experts, but the author’s identity and intellectual property must remain confidential.

Impartiality and Fair Play

The journal ensures an impartial selection process for research papers, focusing on academic and scientific merit. The editor will promptly assign a processing number to each submission and provide fair consideration to all papers. Discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, politics, seniority, or institutional affiliation is strictly prohibited.

Focus on academic and scientific merit.

Each paper receives a processing number and timely response.

All submissions are evaluated based on merit.

The review process is free from bias related to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, politics, seniority, or institutional affiliation.

Peer review process

All reviews will follow a double-blind process to ensure confidentiality. Reviewers and editors are expected to provide constructive, prompt, and unbiased feedback while respecting the author’s dignity. The review process should focus on improving manuscript quality with collegiality and respect. The Editor-in-Chief holds the final authority on paper acceptance or rejection.

Ensures confidentiality for both reviewers and authors.

Reviews should be confidential, prompt, and unbiased.

The process should enhance manuscript quality while respecting authors.

The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on acceptance or rejection.

Disclosure

The Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Research & Reviews in Social Sciences Pakistan will not use any unpublished information or data from submitted research papers without the authors' permission. Any information received after the peer review process will remain confidential and will not be used for personal gain.

Unpublished data will not be used without authors' consent.

Information received post-peer review will be kept confidential.

Information will not be used for personal benefit.

Plagiarism & Fairness

‘The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own’ Oxford Dictionaries It is unethical for reviewers to “use information obtained during the peer-review process for their own or any other person’s or organization’s advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others” COPE

Reviews should be honest and objective. Reviewers should not be influenced by:

The origin of the manuscript

Religious, political or cultural viewpoint of the author

Gender, race, ethnicity or citizenry of the author

Reviewers Guidelines & Conflict of interest

The review process is an important aspect of the publication process of an article. It helps an editor in making decision on an article and also enables the author to improve the manuscript. Academic journal operates a blind peer review system.
Before accepting to review a manuscript reviewers should ensure that:

The manuscript is within their area of expertise.

They can dedicate the appropriate time to conduct a critical review of the manuscript.

“Conflict of interest (COI) exists when there is a divergence between an individual’s private interests (competing interests) and his or her responsibilities to scientific and publishing activities such that a reasonable observer might wonder if the individual’s behavior or judgment was motivated by considerations of his or her competing interests” WAME. ”Reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer-review process if a conflict exists”. ICMJE

Confidentiality

Manuscripts are confidential materials entrusted to reviewers solely for critical evaluation. Reviewers must ensure that the review process remains confidential, with all manuscript details and review information kept private during and after the review process.

Manuscripts are provided for critical evaluation only.

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality throughout and after the review.

All manuscript and review details should remain confidential.

Review reports & timeliness

In evaluating a manuscript, reviewers should focus on the following:

Originality

Contribution to the field

Technical quality

Clarity of presentation

Depth of research

Reviewers should also:

Observe that the author(s) have followed the instruction for authors, editorial policies and publication ethics.

Observe that the appropriate journal’s reporting guidelines is followed. The report should be accurate, objective, constructive and unambiguous. Comments should be backed by facts and constructive arguments with regards to the content of the manuscript. Reviewers should avoid using “hostile, derogatory and accusatory comments”

Reviewers should not rewrite the manuscript; however necessary corrections and suggestions for improvements should be made.

Reviewers should only accept manuscript that they are confident that they can dedicate appropriate time in reviewing. Thus, reviewers should review and return manuscripts in a timely manner.

Recommendations

Reviewers’ recommendation should be either:

Accepted

Requires minor corrections

Requires moderate revision

Requires major revision

Not suitable for the journal. Submit to another publication such as (suggest a journal):

Reject

Recommendation should be backed with constructive arguments and facts based on the content of the manuscript.

Editorial Policy

Editorial Policy