Duties of the Editorial Board/Publisher
Duties of the Editorial Board and Publisher
Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences is committed to maintaining the highest standards of editorial quality, research integrity, transparency, and ethical publishing practices. The Editorial Board and the Publisher work collaboratively to ensure the fair, objective, timely, and independent evaluation and publication of scholarly research.
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
The Editorial Board is responsible for safeguarding the academic quality, integrity, and editorial standards of the journal and ensuring that editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit.
The Editorial Board and Editors are expected to:
- Evaluate submitted manuscripts fairly, objectively, consistently, and without discrimination.
- Ensure that all manuscripts undergo an appropriate and rigorous double-blind peer-review process.
- Make editorial decisions based on the originality, quality, scholarly significance, methodological rigor, and relevance of the research.
- Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and all related editorial communications.
- Manage actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest appropriately and refrain from participating in editorial decisions where such conflicts exist.
- Safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record.
- Address allegations of research misconduct, publication misconduct, ethical concerns, authorship disputes, and complaints in accordance with internationally recognized ethical standards.
- Promote transparency, fairness, accountability, and academic integrity throughout the editorial process.
Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief
The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for the journal's editorial content, editorial policies, and publication decisions.
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for:
- Overseeing the editorial and peer-review process.
- Appointing Editorial Board Members and assigning manuscripts for editorial handling.
- Making the final decision regarding the acceptance, revision, or rejection of manuscripts.
- Ensuring consistency, fairness, transparency, and quality in editorial decision-making.
- Managing ethical concerns, complaints, appeals, corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions where appropriate.
Responsibilities of the Publisher
The Publisher supports the journal's editorial activities while fully respecting the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board.
The Publisher is responsible for:
- Supporting the journal's publishing infrastructure and operational processes.
- Preserving the integrity, accessibility, discoverability, and long-term availability of published content.
- Supporting ethical publishing practices and research integrity.
- Providing guidance and resources relating to publication ethics and best publishing practices.
- Assisting, where appropriate, in the investigation of suspected publication misconduct.
The Publisher does not interfere with editorial decisions regarding the acceptance, revision, or rejection of submitted manuscripts.
Handling of Ethical Concerns and Publication Misconduct
The Editorial Board and the Publisher are committed to safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record and addressing allegations of publication misconduct, ethical concerns, complaints, and authorship disputes in accordance with internationally recognized ethical standards and the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
All allegations of misconduct are treated seriously and investigated confidentially and fairly. These may include, but are not limited to:
- Plagiarism.
- Data fabrication or falsification.
- Citation manipulation.
- Image manipulation.
- Duplicate or redundant publication.
- Inappropriate authorship practices.
- Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
- Ethical concerns relating to research involving human participants or animals.
- Peer-review manipulation.
- Any other form of research or publication misconduct.
Where allegations are substantiated, the journal may take appropriate editorial action, including requesting corrections, publishing expressions of concern, retracting articles, notifying relevant institutions, or implementing any other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
The journal follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when handling ethical concerns, complaints, appeals, and allegations of publication misconduct.
Corrections and Retractions
Where appropriate, the journal will publish corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other editorial notices to preserve the accuracy, reliability, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record.
Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently and exclusively on the basis of academic merit, originality, scholarly quality, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal's aims and scope. Editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, sponsorship, institutional affiliations, political considerations, or personal relationships.
Ethical Standards and Guidance
The journal follows the principles and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
For further guidance, please refer to:
