Author Guidelines

Guidelines for preparing and submitting manuscripts to Social Sciences Journal.

Important Notice

Authors must carefully read these guidelines before submitting a manuscript. Submissions that do not comply with the journal’s focus and scope, manuscript template, publication ethics, or technical requirements may be returned for correction or declined during the initial editorial screening.

Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the journal’s online submission system. Manuscripts sent by email will not be processed.

Manuscript Requirements at a Glance

1. General Requirements

1. The manuscript must be original, scientifically sound, and relevant to the focus and scope of Social Sciences Journal.
2. The manuscript must not have been previously published and must not be under consideration by another journal, conference proceeding, book, or publisher.
3. The manuscript must demonstrate a clear research problem, appropriate theoretical or conceptual foundation, rigorous method, critical analysis, and identifiable scholarly contribution.
4. Authors must prepare the manuscript using the official article template provided on the journal website.
5. The manuscript must be written in clear, concise, formal, and academically appropriate English or Indonesian.
6. All authors listed in the manuscript must have made a meaningful contribution to the research and must approve the submitted version.
7. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, and integrity of the submitted manuscript.

2. Focus and Scope

Social Sciences Journal publishes theoretical, empirical, conceptual, and applied studies that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the social sciences. The journal welcomes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research addressing contemporary social, political, economic, educational, cultural, legal, and humanitarian issues at local, national, regional, and global levels.

Manuscripts may address, but are not limited to, the following subject areas:

Other related fields may include public administration, international relations, communication and media studies, government studies, development studies, gender studies, cultural studies, demography, management, accounting, tourism studies, library and information science, public health, social welfare, religious studies, and other relevant interdisciplinary fields.

3. Types of Manuscripts

4. Manuscript Organization

Original research articles should generally be organized in the following order:

1. Title
   The title must be specific, informative, concise, and accurately reflect the principal content of the manuscript. Avoid uncommon abbreviations, formulas, and unnecessary introductory phrases.
2. Authors and affiliations
   Provide the full name of each author without academic titles, institutional affiliation, city, country, and email address. The corresponding author must be clearly identified. Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iD.
3. Abstract
   The abstract must contain 150–250 words and briefly describe the background or research problem, objective, method, principal findings, and conclusion. The abstract must not contain citations, tables, figures, or undefined abbreviations.
4. Keywords
   Provide three to five specific keywords or phrases that represent the main concepts of the manuscript. Avoid merely repeating words already used in the title.
5. Introduction
   Present the research background, current state of knowledge, relevant literature, identified research gap, novelty, research question or hypothesis, and objective of the study. The introduction should demonstrate why the research is important and how it contributes to the field.
6. Research Method
   Explain the research design, setting, participants or data sources, sampling procedures, instruments, data collection procedures, validity or trustworthiness measures, analytical techniques, and ethical considerations. The method must be described sufficiently to permit evaluation and replication where applicable.
7. Results and Discussion
   Present the findings clearly and systematically. The discussion must interpret the findings, relate them to relevant theories and previous studies, explain similarities or differences, identify scholarly and practical implications, and demonstrate the contribution or novelty of the research. Results should not merely repeat information already presented in tables or figures.
8. Conclusion
   State the principal conclusions in direct relation to the research objectives and findings. The conclusion should include the study’s contribution and may include implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research. Do not introduce new data or citations unless essential.
9. Acknowledgments
   Acknowledge individuals or institutions that contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship. This section is optional.
10. Funding statement
    Identify the source of research funding and grant number, where applicable. If the study received no external funding, authors should state this clearly.
11. Conflict of interest statement
    Authors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the research. If no conflict exists, state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
12. References
    Include only sources cited in the manuscript. Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every reference-list entry must be cited in the text.

5. Tables, Figures, and Equations

• Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively according to their order of appearance in the manuscript.
• Table titles must be placed above the table, while figure captions must be placed below the figure.
• Every table and figure must be referred to and discussed in the manuscript.
• Tables should be editable and should not be submitted solely as images.
• Figures must be clear, legible, and of sufficient resolution for publication.
• The source must be provided for tables, figures, maps, or images adapted or reproduced from other publications.
• Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material.
• Equations must be written using an equation editor and numbered consecutively when referenced in the text.

6. Citations and References

Citations and references must follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Authors are strongly encouraged to use reference management software such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote.

• Prioritize relevant primary sources, particularly peer-reviewed journal articles.
• References should be current and appropriate to the development of the research field.
• Classical or foundational references may be used when theoretically necessary.
• Include the DOI in the format https://doi.org/xxxxx whenever available.
• Avoid excessive reliance on non-academic websites, unpublished materials, textbooks, or unverifiable sources.

Reference Examples

7. Research and Publication Ethics

• Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical principles, including informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, and protection from harm.
• Where required, authors must provide the name of the approving ethics committee and the ethical approval or clearance number.
• Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, redundant publication, citation manipulation, and inappropriate authorship are prohibited.
• Authors must obtain appropriate permission for the use of copyrighted instruments, images, tables, figures, questionnaires, or other protected materials.
• Authors must disclose funding sources, potential conflicts of interest, and any relevant institutional or professional relationships.
• When requested, authors must be prepared to provide research data, ethical documentation, permissions, or other supporting evidence for editorial verification.

8. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, or ethical compliance of a manuscript.

Authors who use generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies for language improvement, data processing, coding, analysis, or other substantial purposes must disclose the name of the tool, its purpose, and how it was used. Routine spelling and grammar checking does not require detailed disclosure.

Authors remain fully responsible for verifying all AI-assisted content, references, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions. AI-generated or fabricated citations, data, images, or findings are prohibited.

9. Online Submission Procedure

1. Register or log in to the journal’s online submission system.
2. Start a new submission and select the appropriate manuscript section.
3. Complete the submission checklist and agree to the journal’s policies.
4. Upload the manuscript file in Microsoft Word format.
5. Enter complete metadata for all authors, including names, affiliations, countries, email addresses, manuscript title, abstract, and keywords.
6. Upload supporting files, ethical approval, research instruments, data statements, or permissions when applicable.
7. Review all submission information and complete the submission process.

10. Double-Blind Peer Review

Submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening to evaluate their relevance to the journal’s scope, compliance with the author guidelines, originality, ethical integrity, and basic scholarly quality.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are evaluated through a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of the authors and reviewers are concealed from each other.

To support anonymous review, authors must remove identifying information from the review manuscript, including author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and file properties. Author identities and affiliations must be entered separately in the OJS metadata. The final publication decision is made by the editor based on the reviewers’ recommendations and the journal’s editorial policies.

11. Manuscript Revision

• Authors must address every comment provided by the editor and reviewers.
• The revised manuscript must be accompanied by a point-by-point response explaining how each comment has been addressed.
• Changes in the revised manuscript should be clearly marked when requested by the editor.
• Authors must upload revisions through the OJS revision feature and not as a new submission.
• Revised manuscripts must be returned within the deadline specified by the editor. Authors who require additional time must contact the editorial office through the official OJS communication channel.

12. Final Checklist Before Submission

Before completing the submission, authors must ensure that:

• The manuscript is relevant to the journal’s focus and scope.
• The manuscript is original and is not under review elsewhere.
• The official journal template has been used.
• The manuscript does not exceed 14 pages.
• The title, abstract, and keywords accurately represent the manuscript.
• The research objective, method, results, discussion, and conclusion are clearly presented.
• All tables and figures are numbered, cited, and accompanied by appropriate titles or captions.
• Citations and references follow APA Style, 7th edition.
• All references cited in the text appear in the reference list and vice versa.
• DOIs have been included where available.
• Funding, conflicts of interest, ethical approval, and AI use have been disclosed where applicable.
• Identifying information has been removed from the review manuscript.
• Complete author metadata has been entered in the OJS submission system.

Editorial Decision

Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. The editorial team reserves the right to decline manuscripts that fall outside the journal’s scope, fail to meet scholarly or ethical standards, or do not comply with these author guidelines. Editorial decisions are based on academic merit, reviewer recommendations, ethical compliance, and the journal’s publication policies.