Policy

1. **Editorial Policy:**
- PJSSR is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity, rigor, and ethical conduct in all aspects of its operations.
- The editorial team is responsible for ensuring the fair, transparent, and timely peer review process for all submitted manuscripts.
- Editors and reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts based on their originality, significance, methodological soundness, and contribution to the field of social sciences.

2. **Publication Ethics:**
- PJSSR adheres to the principles outlined in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and expects authors, reviewers, and editors to uphold ethical standards throughout the publication process.
- Plagiarism, data fabrication, and other forms of academic misconduct are strictly prohibited. Manuscripts found to violate ethical standards will be rejected or retracted, and appropriate action will be taken against the responsible parties.

3. **Authorship and Contributorship:**
- All authors listed on a manuscript must have made significant contributions to the research and be able to justify their inclusion.
- Any individual who has contributed to the research but does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the manuscript.

4. **Conflict of Interest:**
- Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation or evaluation of their research findings.
- Editors and reviewers are expected to recuse themselves from handling manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with the authors or the content of the manuscript.

5. **Open Access Policy:**
- PJSSR is an open-access journal, meaning that all articles published are freely accessible to readers without any subscription or access fees.
- Authors retain copyright of their published work and grant PJSSR the right to publish and disseminate their articles under a Creative Commons license.

6. **Data Sharing and Reproducibility:**
- Authors are encouraged to make their data and research materials publicly available whenever possible to promote transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration.
- Replication studies and analyses using publicly available data are welcomed to validate and extend the findings reported in PJSSR.

7. **Corrections and Retractions:**
- PJSSR will consider issuing corrections, clarifications, or retractions if errors or inaccuracies are identified in published articles.
- Corrections will be issued promptly to rectify factual errors, while retractions will be considered in cases of serious misconduct or irreproducibility.

8. **Appeals and Complaints:**
- Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions or raise complaints regarding the handling of their manuscript.
- Appeals and complaints will be handled in a fair and impartial manner by the editorial team, and appropriate action will be taken to address any concerns raised.

9. **Editorial Independence:**
- PJSSR operates with editorial independence and autonomy from any external influences, including funding sources or affiliations.
- Editorial decisions are based solely on the scientific merit and quality of the submitted manuscripts, irrespective of authors' affiliations or financial interests.

10. **Policy Review:**
- This policy document will be periodically reviewed and updated as needed to ensure its alignment with best practices, ethical standards, and the evolving needs of the journal and its stakeholders.

PJSSR is committed to fostering a culture of integrity, transparency, and excellence in scholarly publishing. This policy framework provides guidance for authors, reviewers, editors, and other stakeholders to uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct and professionalism in all aspects of research and publication.