Editorial Policy

Journal of Contemporary Studies Editorial Policy adheres to the HEC – Higher Education Commission’s Standard Operating Procedures and HEC Ethical Guidelines for journals, editors, authors and reviewers as a baseline for handling publishing ethics. The publication process also considers COPE – Committee on Publication Ethics, in their Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011).

Frequency of Journal

Journal of Contemporary Studies is a bi annual publication. For the Summer Issue, papers are accepted from 1st Feb to 31st March and for the Winter Issue, from 1st Aug to 30th Sept.

Manuscript Policy

Submission of any manuscript to Journal of Contemporary Studies encompasses:

  • that the author(s) work has not published it earlier in any other journal, book, or book chapter, be it printed or online (except in the form of an abstract or an academic thesis).
  • that it is also not in any way under consideration for publication elsewhere,
  • that the submitted manuscript has the permission for publication from all the concerned author(s) and is approved by the responsible authorities where that work was carried out, and
  • that, if accepted by Journal of Contemporary Studies, will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, without the prior consent of the publisher.

Peer Review Policy

Journal of Contemporary Studies is a Double Blind Peer-Reviewed journal as per the policy prescribed by the HEC. Research Papers in the relevant research areas are submitted to National and International reviewers to determine the originality, validity, and significance of the work for the final selection of a manuscript to be published. A Peer Review Proforma is shared to evaluate the hypothesis, organization, argument, appropriate writing style.

Originality and Plagiarism Policy

The journal follows the policies of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan regarding plagiarism and similarity index and uses Turnitin Originality Report software. It has a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism. It allows an overall similarity of the content maximum up to 19% and single-source similarity must not exceed 4%.

Author’s Originality Declaration Form

The author/s provide consents and relevant information on the manuscript.

Publication Process

The following steps are involved from date of receipt of research article till the publication

  • Acknowledgment on receipt of the paper from author(s) along with an Originality Declaration Form.
  • Initially, it is assessed according to the Author’s Guidelines.
  • A Turnitin Report is generated to determine originality of the manuscript and meet the HEC requirements.
  • The articles are assigned to the editorial team for Initial Internal Review with an Internal Review Form.
  • Preliminary review by the editorial desk team (rejection, or provisional acceptance) according to the scope and policy of the journal.
  • The potential articles are selected.
  • The editor assigns the selected articles to peer reviewers within the field of research whose expertise aligns with the article. The Peer Review Request is sent along with a Peer Review Evaluation Form.
  • Double Blind Peer-Reviews are carried out by National and International reviewers.
  • Improvement/revision (if necessary) by the author(s) as suggested by the reviewer(s).
  • Manuscripts resubmitted to the reviewer(s), if they deem necessary.
  • Selection for the publication or rejection of the manuscript as per the reviewers’ recommendations.
  • Editorial process including proofreading, editing, formatting, processing, and printing.
  • Publication of the journal.
  • According to HEC’s Revised Policy, currently the partial process is carried out on OJS - Open Journal System through an independent journal website. JCS intends to be fully operational on OJS for the upcoming issue.

 

Publication Process Timelines:

 

Publication Fee and Subscription Details

The journal has no publication fees. It prescribes to an online Open Access policy through Open Journal System (OJS). The print journal has an annual subscription fee of Rs. 500 and a subscription form is printed in the journal to send subscription request in by mail.

Sources of Funding

The journal is partially funded by HEC and partially by National Defence University.

Privacy Statement

All rights are reserved. No part of the contents of this publication may be reproduced, adapted, transmitted, or stored in any form by any process without the written permission of the National Defence University.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent.

Complaint, Correction and Retraction Policy

The editorial team of Journal of Contemporary Studies welcomes complaints as they provide an opportunity for improvement. An article can be retracted through a decision made by the journal’s editorial board. Please write your complaint with journal vol. no., issue no., paper title, and page no to Editor Journal of Contemporary Studies at editorjcs@ndu.edu.pk.