Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Solutions in Social and Management Sciences is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures to prevent publication malpractice. The journal adheres to the guidelines and best practice standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expects all parties involved in the publication process including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher, to meet these standards.

1. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship of a manuscript submitted to SSMS must reflect genuine intellectual contribution to the work. To qualify as an author, an individual must have made a substantive contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content; approved the final version submitted for publication; and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The practice of honorary authorship (listing individuals who did not contribute substantively) and ghost authorship (omitting individuals who did contribute) are both considered forms of publication misconduct and are not permitted. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all listed authors meet the above criteria and that no qualifying contributors have been omitted.

All authorship must be confirmed before submission. Changes to authorship after submission including additions, deletions, or changes to the order of authors are not permitted without written justification submitted to the Editor-in-Chief and explicit editorial approval. The editorial team reserves the right to request written confirmation from all listed authors.

2. Plagiarism

SSMS defines plagiarism as the presentation of another person's words, ideas, data, or creative work as one's own without appropriate attribution, regardless of whether the source is published or unpublished. This includes verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, mosaic plagiarism, and self-plagiarism (the reuse of one's own previously published work without disclosure).

All manuscripts submitted to SSMS are screened for plagiarism using iThenticate/Turnitin prior to peer review. A similarity index of 19% or below is required for a manuscript to proceed to review. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for revision or rejected outright depending on the nature and extent of the similarity.

Where plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal will issue a retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines and notify the relevant institutions.

3. Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data fabrication (the invention of data or results) and data falsification (the manipulation of research data, equipment, or processes to produce a misleading result) are serious forms of research misconduct. Authors must ensure that all data reported in submitted manuscripts are accurate, honestly obtained, and faithfully represented.

Empirical and computational manuscripts submitted to SSMS must include a Data Availability Statement specifying where the data used in the study can be accessed, or explaining any restrictions on access. The editorial team reserves the right to request access to raw data during the review process or after publication if concerns are raised.

Where data fabrication or falsification is identified after publication, the journal will issue a retraction and notify the authors' institutions.

4. Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

A manuscript submitted to SSMS must not be under simultaneous consideration at any other journal or publication venue. Submission of the same manuscript, or a manuscript that substantially overlaps with a previously published work, to more than one journal at the same time constitutes duplicate submission and is not permitted.

Authors must disclose in the cover letter any prior publication of the work in any form including conference papers, working papers, preprints, or book chapters and explain how the submitted manuscript differs from or extends the prior work. Preprint posting on recognised repositories such as SSRN, arXiv, or institutional repositories is permitted and does not constitute prior publication, provided the preprint is identified in the cover letter.

Where duplicate submission or redundant publication is discovered, the submitted manuscript will be rejected immediately. Where it is discovered after publication, the journal will issue a retraction and investigate the matter in accordance with COPE guidelines.

5. Corrections and Retractions

SSMS is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal will issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions as appropriate when errors or misconduct are identified in published articles, whether reported by authors, readers, reviewers, or discovered by the editorial team.

A correction will be issued where a published article contains a minor error that does not affect the conclusions of the work. A retraction will be issued where a published article contains errors serious enough to invalidate the conclusions, or where the work is found to constitute research misconduct including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or duplicate publication. An expression of concern will be issued where an investigation is ongoing and the editorial team considers it necessary to alert readers.

All corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions are published prominently, linked to the original article, and indexed in the same databases as the original. Authors are given the opportunity to respond before a retraction is issued except where doing so would cause undue delay or where the author cannot be reached.

6. Conflicts of Interest

All parties involved in the publication process are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that could be perceived as influencing their decisions or contributions.

Authors must disclose at the time of submission any financial, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could be perceived as influencing the work. This includes funding sources, employment relationships, consultancy arrangements, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony, patent applications, and any other financial or non-financial interests relevant to the work. Funding sources must be acknowledged in the title page.

Reviewers who identify a conflict of interest with the authors, institution, or subject matter of a manuscript under review must immediately notify the editorial team and decline the review. Editors who have a conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript must recuse themselves from all editorial decisions relating to that submission.

7. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers play a central role in maintaining the integrity and quality of published research. Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively and confidentially on the basis of their academic merit, without regard to the authors' nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, or any personal relationship with the authors.

Reviewers must not use unpublished material disclosed in a manuscript under review for their own research prior to publication. All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers who identify potential ethical concerns in a manuscript under review including plagiarism, data fabrication, or undisclosed conflicts of interest, must notify the editorial team immediately.

8. Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for making fair, timely, and informed decisions on all submitted manuscripts based solely on academic merit and fit with the journal's aims and scope. Editors must not use information obtained from submitted manuscripts for their own research prior to publication. Editors must recuse themselves from decisions relating to manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. Unpublished manuscripts must not be disclosed to any third party without the explicit written permission of the corresponding author.

9. Publisher Responsibilities

Sociopolicy Research Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd., as publisher of SSMS, is committed to supporting the editorial team in upholding these publication ethics standards. The publisher does not interfere in editorial decisions. Editorial decisions are made exclusively by the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board on the basis of academic merit. The publisher is responsible for ensuring that appropriate infrastructure is in place for the submission, review, and publication of manuscripts, and that the journal's publication ethics policies are publicly available and consistently applied.

10. Reporting Concerns

Any party who suspects publication misconduct in connection with a manuscript submitted to or published in SSMS is encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief at ssms@sp-research.org. All concerns will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines. The identity of the person raising a concern will be kept confidential to the extent possible.

For further information on publication ethics standards, the journal follows the guidelines available at publicationethics.org.