JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Peer Review Process (Reviewer guidelines)

The Journal of Social Sciences follows a double-blind peer-review procedure for all submitted manuscripts. The identities of the reviewers are not disclosed to the authors, and the identities of the authors are not disclosed to the reviewers.

All manuscripts are sent to reviewers, who advise the Editor on whether a paper meets the high standards required for acceptance. The Editor forwards the reviewers’ comments to the authors for consideration, without revealing the reviewers’ names. Anonymity allows reviewers to assess a manuscript objectively and protects them from any influence by the authors.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Reviewers assist the Editor in making editorial decisions by evaluating the manuscript objectively. Through the editorial communication with the author, they may also help to improve the quality of the paper.
• Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. They should also alert the Editor to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to the manuscript under review.
• Reviewers must treat each manuscript as a confidential document. They must not show it to or discuss it with others, except as authorized by the Editor, and must not use privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review for personal advantage.
• Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the paper.

Responsibilities of Editors

• Editors decide whether to accept or reject a paper solely on the basis of its importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal.
• Editors evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Editors protect the identities of peer reviewers.
• Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. They must not use privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review for personal advantage.
• Editors must not consider manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the paper. In such cases, the Editor must ask a co-editor, associate editor, or another member of the Editorial Board to handle the manuscript.
• Editors cooperate with authors to retract or correct a paper if a significant error is identified in a publication.

Responsibilities of Authors

• Authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the work. Examples include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications or registrations, and grants or other funding. Conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
• Authors must also disclose all sources of financial support for the project.
• If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, they must promptly notify the Editor or publisher and cooperate to retract or correct the paper. If the Editor or publisher learns of a significant error from a third party, the authors must promptly retract or correct the paper, or provide evidence of the correctness of the original.

Publishing Ethics

The Technical University of Moldova, as publisher, ensures that good practice is maintained in accordance with the standards outlined above.

Anyone may report misconduct or unethical behavior to the Editor and publisher at any time. Submitted manuscripts found to contain plagiarized text are rejected.