General Instruction

• Preliminary information
• Types of Manuscripts
• Components of the Manuscript
  • Preliminary Section
  • Manuscript Section
  • Closing Section

Preliminary information

The authors should read the Aims and Scope of the journal to examine if their manuscript fits in with the scope of the journal. They should structure their manuscripts as per format and style prescribed in the 7th Edition of Publication Manual of American Psychological Association (APA). The attached MS Word Template/Sample Paper should be followed for structuring the manuscript. The manuscript should range between 5000 to 8000 words on the whole (including title, abstract, keywords, the main body of the article, acknowledgment, and references). However, the outstanding manuscripts may be exempted from this restriction, depending on the type of manuscript.

The authors should strictly adhere to the ethical consideration for publication before the online submission. They should make sure that the manuscripts submitted to JSSSH should not be submitted or published in another journal.

The journal recommends authors to maintain originality and quality of research and follow the prescribed format and style accurately before submitting a manuscript. The primary liability for the content, scientific accuracy, and originality of the manuscript (or plagiarism) lies solely with the author(s) of the manuscript. The authors need to check for plagiarism before submitting a manuscript to the journal. The journal may not consider the controversial issues related to religion, ethics and alike.In an extraodinary situation, the authors may nominate potential reviewer/s on the request of the Editor or Associate Editor of the journal. This is initiated only for a review of the manuscripts for which the relevant expert reviewers are not available and have to seek assistance from the authors. Nevertheless, the Editorial Office is not bound to forward a manuscript to the nominated reviewers. In such a case, the Editorial Office will make sure that there is no conflict of interests before approving the nominated reviewer/s. Nevertheless, the authors and reviewers are requested to disclose any conflict of interest before submitting and reviewing the manuscript, respectively.

Types of Manuscripts

The journal publishes original research articles/empirical research and theoretically-oriented analyses/innovative conceptual review papers. Both original research articles and review papers should present a significant and substantial amount of new knowledge that can contribute to the existing theory or practice in the relevant field. The review papers should present a highly conceptual, intellectual, and in-depth analysis of an issue supported by a vigorous synthesis of relevant literature.

Components of the Manuscript

The following are the main components of the manuscripts submitted to the journal.

Original research articles should have three parts:

Preliminary Section: It includes title, list of all contributing authors with their institutional affiliation and abstract (150-200 words) with 5-7 keywords.

Manuscript Section: It is the main body of the scientific manuscript that consists of an introduction, purpose/objective of the study, research questions and/or hypotheses, research methods/methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. These sections may slightly vary depending upon the type of research approach and design used in the research study.

Closing Section: It includes supplementary materials (if any), acknowledgment (optional), and a complete list of references corresponding to all the citations given in the text of the manuscript. The supplementary materials may include data files and other material relevant to the research study that should be submitted in separate files if required.

Review Papers should be different in the research manuscript part as it would contain different sections on the literature review. Authors may structure this part as per the nature, background, and the available literature on the issue argued in the manuscript.

A detailed description of each of the above three parts is given below:

Preliminary Section

This is a core part of all types of manuscripts submitted to the journal. It has the following components:

Title: The title should reflect the research problem, objective/purpose of the research, and it should be specifically and precisely worded. The type of manuscript should be evident in the title.

Author List with Institutional Affiliations: Each author should give his/her full name, name of the academic department/institute and name of the city and country where it is located. One of the authors should be nominated as the corresponding author who should give his/her email address at the end of the above-mentioned details. The authors are recommended to follow the guidelines given in HOW TO HANDLE AUTHORSHIP DISPUTES: A GUIDE FOR NEW RESEARCHERS developed by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Abstract: The abstract should range between 150 to 200 words and be structured in a single paragraph following keywords in a separate line. The abstract should represent the main part of the research manuscript. It should reflect a brief and comprehensive background following the aim of the study (main questions to be addressed), methods used for investigating the problem, a summary of significant findings, main conclusion and implications of the results.

Keywords: It should come immediately after the abstract and contain 5-7 specific and relevant keywords. They should reflect the research study and the relevant field of research.

Manuscript Section

Introduction: It introduces the research problem in a specific context with relevant citations from the literature that leads to the purpose of the research and corresponding research questions and/or hypotheses to be addressed. This should be supported by state-of-the-art research in the relevant field. The previous studies give rise to the identification of a gap that the researchers aim to address by stating the purpose of the research and how the study will contribute to theory and/or practice. This part of the manuscript should be comprehensive and appeals to the readers’ interest by stating its significance in the relevant field.

Methods: This gives a full range of descriptions on how the research problem was investigated and which procedures were used for selecting respondents, collecting and analyzing data. Each of the procedures should be described and justified with appropriate citations from the literature. It is argued why a specific method, approach, or design is used and how it is consistent with the purpose of the research and sated questions and/or hypotheses. Softwares used in data analysis should be described with their specific version and brief description.

Results: The results emerge after performing statistical techniques of data analysis in quantitative studies and/or employing softwares for both quantitative and qualitative data. The results are presented in tables, figures, graphs, and they are interpreted.

Discussion: The results are discussed in the light of previous studies and the research questions and/or hypotheses of the research reported in the manuscript. The implications for practice and further research are described, and limitations are stated that may be addressed by future researchers.

Conclusion: This section is a logical consequence of the results and discussion, and it is described in a comprehensive, brief, and concise paragraph on what emerged as a result of the investigation of the research problem.

Closing Section

Supplementary Materials: The necessary supplementary materials such as data files, figures, tables, video, interview transcripts, audio recordings, photos, and spreadsheets may be provided with the manuscript if required and requested by the Editorial Office.

Acknowledgments: This section is for the researchers who were funded for the research projects, and it should enclose all sources of financial support. A brief acknowledgment is given by the doctoral students who receive a scholarship from a university or another funding agency.

References: This is an integral part of all types of manuscripts. A complete list of references corresponding to the citations given in the text is produced at the end of the manuscript. The sources are given alphabetically, with the last name of the authors appearing in the beginning. Specific softwares for managing references such as Citavi, Zotero, or EndNote may be used. The authors must follow the citation and reafference management format given in the 7th Edition of Publication Manual of APA.

The authors are advised to read GUIDELINES ON GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICE developed by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Manuscript Submission

Manuscript complete in all respects should be submitted to the Editorial Office through online submission.

Article Processing Charges (APC)

The journal aims to disseminate quality research internationally in the selected fields of social sciences and humanities. To maintain the quality and rigor of scientific manuscripts, the manuscript processing and publication fee is kept very low.
The publication fee is paid according to the high-income economies (USD 155), middle income economies (USD 125) or low-income economies (USD 105). The fee is applicable on all the manuscripts submitted from first of January 2022. The mode of payment will be communicated after the acceptance of the manuscript. Please visit you country in World Bank List of Economies.
Annual Increase in the Publication Fee: From first of January 2023, keeping in view the high inflation, the publication fee will be paid by the authors according to the high-income economies (USD 175), middle income economies (USD 145) or low-income economies (USD 120).
The authors should read the important information on Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractices Statement and the relevant information on the Review Process before submitting a manuscript to the journal.