Research Documentation:

It is important that the authors record the results of their research in a form that its analysis and review could be done before the publication and by other researchers for a reasonable period after publication. Fabrication, like reporting results that were never conducted or deceive or intent to mislead, is a form of scientific misconduct and regarded as highly unethical and in some jurisdictions may be illegal.

Publication Practice:

The authors should submit their research papers in the journal's precised format for each publication. The information provided by the authors should be concise, authentic and give details of the research experiments performed. Authors should include recent research articles and bring in comparative analysis to support their research. However, in doing so authors should rewrite the information in their own words and represent it in a form that supports their original work of research. This information, used from the work of competitors, other researchers and partners, should be cited as references in the research papers. They should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship Practice:

Authorship credit should be based on substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and final approval of the version to be published. A cited author should meet all of these criteria. Individuals that made other contributions to the research like obtaining funds for the research, collecting important data and materials, or co-ordinating with the publication, are significant but do not qualify for authorship. These individuals can be acknowledged in the research papers.

The source of funding for the research project or the publication of the document should be stated. The author should clearly declare that the submitted work and its essential substance have not previously been published and are not being considered for publication elsewhere. If a primary research report has been published, the author should clearly state it and also mention the advancement and new analyses or syntheses of data in the secondary research report. An overlap of about 10 per cent is considered acceptable between such journals.

Plagiarism is an unethical practice in the field of research and is completely unacceptable. Authors are required to state they are the copyright owners or they have taken the copyright owners' permission before submitting the research report. Any breach of copyright is not acceptable. Besides journals, SSRG also publishes Conference Proceedings for a no fee. These are intended to serve the community as a means of sharing the most recent work-in-progress in respective areas of research. Conference organizers have to declare that the proceedings will not be shared with or published in any other journal.

Editorial Responsibilities:

The editor of a journal has a complete authority and responsibility to accept or reject a submitted paper and is not influenced by the management or owners in any form. The editor may confer with associate editor, co-editors and peer-reviewers while making a decision. The editors should judge all submissions on their scientific merit and minimize the influence of other factors. The decision should be timely and fair irrespective of caste, culture, origin, gender or citizenship of the author. Editors, authors, and peer reviewers have a responsibility to disclose interests that might appear to affect their ability to present or review data objectively. These include relevant financial, personal, political, intellectual, or religious interests. Editors and board members should, whenever these are relevant to the content being considered or published, declare their interests and affiliations. The editorial team should not disclose any information about a submitted paper under consideration other than to reviewers. Situations that may lead to conflicts of interest should be avoided.

Research Documentation:

It is important that the authors record the results of their research in a form that its analysis and review could be done before the publication and by other researchers for a reasonable period after publication. Fabrication, like reporting results that were never conducted or deceive or intent to mislead, is a form of scientific misconduct and regarded as highly unethical and in some jurisdictions may be illegal.

Reviewers Responsibilities

The purpose of peer review

Peer review is a critical element of scholarly publication, and one of the major cornerstones of the scientific process. It ensures that published research is sound and properly verified and improves the quality of the research.

Reviewers for SSRG journals are selected by the handling editors on the basis of their knowledge of the field. Reviewer names are anonymised so authors will not be informed of the identity of the reviewers. You must therefore take care not to identify yourself or your institution in your comments. Note also that the material you will be reviewing is confidential and must not be used for your own work.
Before agreeing to review

Reviewing a paper

As a reviewer, it is important that you remain objective in your critical appraisal. You should not allow your personal prejudice about research topics or researchers to influence your judgment. Your comments should be professional and courteous, and should help the author to improve their paper and present their research as clearly and concisely as possible.

If you have reasons to believe that the material is not original or has been plagiarised, please alert the handling editor or the editorial office.
When reviewing a paper, you should take into consideration the following:

Submitting your report

Please submit your report [i.e. the filled score card] through the mail we send you the article.
If you need any assistance, please contact the editorial office.

Scoring and submitting your review

Reviewer Scorecard particulars:

You also have the ability to attach files to your review. If you attach any files, please ensure that they are anonymous maintaining the blind review process.

Please ensure you complete all required sections of your review report. These fields will be marked with a red "req" symbol. Try to avoid straight yes or no answers when completing the scorecard. In some cases the journal may also require you to complete a further questionnaire and this will be sent to you when you accept the invitation to review a manuscript.

After you have completed the written fields on the Scorecard, you are required to make a recommendation to the Editor as to the next step for the journal. The Recommendation criteria may vary from journal to journal. The Editor will take your overall recommendation into account.

Recommendations:

What's the difference between "minor" and "major" revisions?

This varies from journal to journal. However, minor revisions may more often require the author to make relatively small adjustments to the paper, the type of which that would not take too much more time. These may be to bring the paper more in line with author guidelines with a slightly reduced word count, formatting changes or the labelling of tables or figures; further evidence of an understanding of the extant research literature; or to elaborate a little more on the research findings.

Major revisions might require the author to make more significant improvements, the type of which that may take weeks or even months rather than days. Authors may be asked to address flaws in the methodology; collect more data; conduct a more thorough analysis; or even adjust the research question to ensure the paper contributes something truly original to the body of work.

The exact motivations behind an Editor's decision are always unique. Importantly, constructive feedback should be provided by the reviewers so that authors are clear on how to improve their papers.

Content & Technical issues

Any questions relating to the content of the paper or any other issues should be addressed to the journal Editor or editorial office.