Policies & Guidelines

Publication Malpractice Statement

IJEMD-SS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. The journal follows the ethical guidelines of COPE and HEC Pakistan to prevent any form of malpractice, including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, and unethical research practices. Editors, reviewers, and authors must uphold honesty, transparency, and integrity at all stages of the publication process. Suspected misconduct is investigated promptly, and appropriate actions are taken when necessary.

HEC Policies / Guidelines: https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/journals/Pages/default.aspx

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines

Guidelines for the Reviewers: https://publicationethics.org/authorship-discussion-document

Guidelines for the Editorial Office: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/ethics-toolkit-editors

Guidelines for Publisher: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/guidelines-managing-relationships-between-society-owned-journals-their-society

Guidelines for Authors: https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/complete-set-english

Authorship Policy

Authorship should reflect significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Ghost authorship, gift authorship, or misrepresentation of contributions is strictly prohibited.

Disclosure of Authorship: Each author should provide a statement that outlines their contribution to the research. This statement should be included in the article. In the article's acknowledgements, contributors who do not meet these criteria should be acknowledged. A statement outlining each author's contribution to the research project is required. During the submission process, this statement must be made available to the Journal's editorial team and included in the article.

Corresponding Author: The manuscript should identify the corresponding author and include their contact information. Throughout the submission, peer review, and publication phases, communication with the Journal is the corresponding author's responsibility.

Conflict of Interest: Any potential financial or other conflicts of interest that could affect how the research is interpreted must be disclosed by all authors. The article ought to detail any potential conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments: In the acknowledgements section, all contributors who do not meet the requirements for authorship should be acknowledged. This section should also mention technical assistance and funding sources.

Open Data and Reproducibility: Authors may be required to make their research data and findings public. Transparency and reproducibility in research may benefit from this.

Duplicate Submission: The authors are required to disclose whether the submitted research paper has been previously published or is currently being reviewed by another journal. The authors must provide the specifics of the previous publication or submission if the paper has been previously published or is currently being reviewed by another journal.

The Journal's editorial team will thoroughly examine the manuscript to see if it shares any similarities or overlaps with other works that have been published. The Journal might look for duplicate submissions by using software that detects plagiarism.

The Journal may reject the manuscript, notify the author's institution, and take disciplinary action against the authors, including a ban on future submissions, if it discovers a duplicate research paper submission.

The authors will be notified and allowed to respond if the Journal discovers a potential case of duplicate submission.

To resolve any concerns regarding duplicate submissions, authors must cooperate with the Journal's editorial team and provide all necessary information.

The Journal may take measures to prevent submissions of duplicate research papers, such as requiring authors to sign a statement stating that the paper has not been published before or is not being reviewed by another journal.

Citation Manipulation: Authors must adhere to ethical standards when citing previous work, such as avoiding excessive self-citation and citing only relevant and significant research.

The Journal's Editorial Board will keep an eye on how papers are cited and investigate any unusual spikes in citations. If it turns out that a paper used citation manipulation, the Journal may retract it.

Authors who manipulate citations may face penalties from the Journal, such as rejection, exclusion from future publications, and notification of the author's institution, among other things.

Corrections & Retraction Policy

IJEMD-SS allows corrections, clarifications, or retractions when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record

Corrections: If an error is found in a distributed paper, the author(s) should inform the journal's editorial team. The editorial team will take corrective action after a thorough investigation. The Journal may publish a correction notice with the updated information and any necessary explanations if the error is minor. The Journal may consider retracting the paper if the error is more severe.

Retractions: Retractions are reserved for situations in which a paper contains serious errors or ethical concerns, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, and falsification, among others. The author(s) must inform the Journal in writing and explain the retraction if one is required. The Journal's Editorial Team will thoroughly examine the paper, which may involve outside experts if necessary. The Journal will issue a retraction notice with the reasons for the retraction, the title of the paper, the authors, and any other pertinent information if the investigation demonstrates the need for retraction. The withdrawal notice will be distributed in the Journal and mainly linked to the first paper.

Appeals: The author(s) may write an appeal to the Journal's Editorial Team if they disagree with the correction or retraction decision. The Editorial Team will provide a written response to the appeal.

Digital Archiving Policy

All published articles in IJEMD-SS are digitally preserved through secure archiving systems to ensure long-term accessibility.

The Journal will give open access to it's archived files, permitting readers to look, view, and download papers without limitations. Using standard indexing and metadata services, the Journal will also ensure that the digital archives are easy to find.

The Journal will deposit papers in a format suitable for long-term accessibility and preservation. The Journal will also provide authors with guidelines regarding the preferred submission formats to guarantee that papers are deposited in the appropriate format.

The Journal will provide accurate and comprehensive metadata for each paper uploaded to the digital repository. The title, authors, abstract, keywords, and publication date will all be included in the metadata.

Plagiarism Policy

The Journal has zero tolerance for plagiarism. All submissions undergo plagiarism screening before peer review. Manuscripts containing significant plagiarized content are rejected. Minor and unintentional similarity may be addressed through revisions, but serious cases result in immediate rejection. The journal follows COPE and HEC guidelines in handling plagiarism and unethical citation practices.

For details, please visit:

HEC Plagiarism guidelines at https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/journals/Pages/default.aspx 

COPE Plagiarism Flow Chart at
https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/plagiarism-published-article-cope-flowchart.pdf.

Repository Policy

Authors are permitted to deposit their preprint, postprint, or published version (PDF) in institutional or subject repositories with proper citation to the journal. Self-archiving is allowed after publication, and deposited versions must include a link to the journal’s official website or DOI.

The journal's policy outlines the open-access options available for each version of the article as follows:

Published Version (VoR):

License: CC BY 4.0
Copyright Owner: Authors
Location: Any repository, author’s homepage, journal website
Conditions: Users can copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the work—even commercially—as long as the original source is credited.

Accepted Version (AAM):

License: CC BY 4.0
Copyright Owner: Authors
Location: Any repository, author’s homepage, journal website
Conditions: Same as above; proper attribution required.

Submitted Version (Preprint / AOM):

License: CC BY 4.0
Copyright Owner: Authors
Location: Any repository, author’s homepage, journal website
Conditions: Same as above; original source must be credited.

Notes:

  • Preprint (Submitted Version / AOM): Authors may share their original manuscript before peer review. Upon publication, authors should update the preprint with a citation and link to the final published version.

  • Accepted Version (AAM): Authors may deposit the peer-reviewed, pre-copyedited manuscript immediately upon acceptance. A citation and link to the published version must be included.

  • Published Version (VoR): Authors may share the final, typeset article freely without embargo on any repository, personal/professional websites, or journal platforms.

Accessibility & Open Access Statement

All articles published in the International Journal of Emerging Multidisciplinaries - Social Science
(IJEMD-SS) are freely available to readers worldwide immediately upon publication.

IJEMD-SS does not require any subscription, registration, or payment to access its content. Readers are free to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all articles, as long as proper attribution is provided to the authors and the journal.

By adopting an open access model, IJEMD-SS is dedicated to promoting global knowledge sharing, and supporting the advancement of education, management, and development fields.

Peer-Review Policy

IJEMD-SS uses a double-blind peer review process. All submissions are screened by the editors and then evaluated by at least two independent reviewers. Decisions are based on originality, quality, relevance, and ethical standards.

Authors submit their manuscripts through an online submission system called “Open Journal System”. The identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential to avoid any bias in the peer-review process. Authors are asked to submit the blind version of their manuscript without any identifying information such as their names, affiliations, and acknowledgments from the manuscript. The editor does not disclose the identity of reviewers. After the review, reviewers’ constructive feedback is shared with the author for the revisions anonymously. Based on the peer review, the editor decides on whether to accept, reject, or request revisions to the manuscript.

Authors should be cognizant of the fact that during the review and publication process, their submissions may be edited for substance, language, and grammar by a team of referees and expert editors. All editorial and review decisions shall be considered final.

The journal follows a continuous article publication model, whereby articles are published online individually as soon as they successfully complete the peer review and editorial processes, rather than waiting for complete issues.

The timelines for the editorial and review process are as follows:

Paper Submission – Open throughout the year.
Review of Articles (Double-Blind Peer Review) – Approximately 2–3 months.
Editing / Acceptance / Online Publication of Articles – Approximately 1 month after final acceptance.
Publication Timeline – Manuscripts are accepted on a rolling basis. Each article undergoes a plagiarism/software screening, and two independent double-blind peer reviews. Accepted articles are published online immediately after completion of professional editing and formatting. Late submissions are carried forward in the ongoing publication cycle without delay.

Publication Fee Policy

IJEMD-SS does not charge any Article Processing Charges (APCs), allowing authors to publish their work free of cost.
The publisher of International Journal of Emerging Multidisciplinaries - Social Science (IJEMD-SS) is dedicated to disseminating research for the benefit of all stakeholders, therefore, the Institute does not charge Publication Fee or Article Processing Charges from the authors. The publisher institute bears the expense of staff, hosting of website and other related costs.

Copyright Policy

Under the Creative Common Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) license, authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.

Under CC-by 4.0 authors are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms if the license terms are followed.

Under the following terms:

Attribution — Author must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. Author may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses author or author’s use.

No additional restrictions — Author may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Confidentiality / Privacy Policy

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

IJEMD-SS guarantees that private information gathered from authors, reviewers, or others is handled safely. The Journal will also ensure that personal information is kept safe and can only be accessed by authorized individuals. The Journal will inform the individuals affected and provide a concise explanation of any breach of confidentiality.

Conflict of Interests Policy

All authors must provide a Declaration of Competing Interests. Each author is required to clearly state any potential conflicts of interest—financial, professional, or personal—that could influence the research or its interpretation. If no such conflicts exist, authors must explicitly declare this.

Example statement:

“The authors declare no competing interests.”

This declaration must be submitted for each contributing author, and the information provided in the submission system will be considered the official and final record when the work is published.