Policy Document

INTRODUCTION

Administrative and Management Sciences Journal (AMSJ), ISSN (Online-2959-2275) (Print-2959-2267), is an open access journal of Management Development & Research Innovation (MDRI) (SMC-Private) Ltd, under terms of Creative common attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License. It is published bi-annually as, a blind peer review. Original and review articles are published in this journal which are in line with the aims and scope of AMSJ.   AMSJ covers all areas of Business and management sciences. Areas included are Organizational psychology/Organization theory/Organization behavior, Leadership & Followership, Entrepreneurship & Social entrepreneurship, Ethics in organizations, Gender, race and diversity, Sustainability/ Sustainable Organizational Performance, Human resource management/Human Resource Development, Organizational Development/Career, Development/Training & Development/ HR Practices, Migration & Innovation Management, Strategic Management, Change management, International business, Learning and development in organizations, Governance structures & Public Management, Critical perspectives of accounting and finance, Logistics and Operations, Supply chain Management, Project Management, Marketing Management, Financial Management. For the expedited process of research work publication, the journal operates on an Online Journal Management System for online submission and processing of the manuscripts. In processing and publication of research work, the Journal currently follows the HEC criteria. The policy document covers the different parameters from different dimensions as follows:

1. FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION

Frequency and regularity are the main requirements that directly influence the credibility of journals. In this connection, the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal's publication schedule comprises One (01) volume with (02) issues per year regularly.

2. TIMELINE OF PUBLICATION

The administrative and Management Sciences Journal publication timeline represents the complete duration from article submissions to publications with the following descriptions:

Period for publishing one issue in June

Period for publishing one issue in December

3. AUTHORSHIP OF PAPER

Authorship of papers represents authors’ (Faculties, Researchers, and Ph.D. Scholars) scholarly contributions in different scopes and domains as per their field and relevancy. Administrative and Management Sciences Journal accepts the authorship contributions as per the journal’s scope. The author contributions statement (equal contributions) towards the research work is included as a separate statement at the end of the article. The authors’ substantial contributions to the research work have been mentioned. The authors’ names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses along with the contact numbers of all authors (corresponding, principal, & co-authors) of the manuscript have been mentioned on the first page. Furthermore, ORCID identifier identification is encouraged.

4. ORIGINALITY AND PLAGIARISM POLICY

For the articles submitted to the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal, as part of the submission process, the authors are required to check the submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors who do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration in another journal.
  2. The manuscript is based upon the original research work submitted to the journal and is not plagiarized whole any part of the manuscript.
  3. The manuscript submitted holds nothing obscene, defamatory, abusive, fraudulent, or illegal. Author (s) send the same manuscript to any other journal within or outside the country, they will in anticipation let us know that it will be considered a voluntary withdrawal from the AMSJ.
  4. The plagiarism policy is followed strictly in letter and spirit as available on the HEC website to ensure the quality parameters from all requisite dimensions.

5. PEER REVIEW POLICY

Submission of Paper

The corresponding author can submit research work for potential and prospective publication in the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal via the Online Journal System (OJS).

Editorial Office Assessment

The administrative and Management Sciences Journal editorial office checks the submitted manuscripts’ format and composition in line with the author's guidelines and the scope of the journal. This stage of scrutiny assesses the quality of the research.

Editor-in-Chief’s Appraisal

The editor-in-chief apprises whether the research work is original, has the potential of novelty, and is appropriately aligned with the journal’s scope. If the manuscript does fulfill the aforementioned criteria, it is liable to rejection at this stage without being considered for any further review.

Editor-in-Chief’s Assignment to an Associate Editor

After appraising the manuscript, the chief editor assigns the task of further appraisal to associate editors through desk review/ editing.

Desk Review

The associate editors scrutinize the manuscript in light of the journal's scope and contents requirements of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal and recommend potential improvements and incorporation in the manuscript.

Communicating Suggestions to Authors

The associate editor’s desk review suggestions for potential revisions and improvements of the manuscript are shared with authors for incorporation. After these necessary incorporations, the manuscript is forwarded to the experts’ review phase.

Invitation to Reviewers

The associate editor invites potential reviewers within specialized fields for the manuscript review. The manuscript is sent out to the reviewers in light of the responses received from them. As per the journal’s policy, the manuscript is sent to two reviewers (two national/ international or a combination of both).

Review Conducted

The potential and expert reviewers spare ample time to read the manuscript and this is reflected in the way they highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the research work. If they find major issues in the manuscript, reviewers have the freedom to either completely reject it or suggest major revisions. The reviewers submit their reviews to the journal’s editorial team with their commendations of either accept (with/ out minor or major revisions) or reject.

Journal Evaluates the Reviews

The journal’s editorial team considers and scrutinizes all the reviewers’ comments and decisions before reaching a final decision. In case of wider differences in reviewers’ comments, an editor might invite an additional reviewer ( if deemed appropriate) to get further opinions before making the final decision.

Decision Communication

The editor communicates the decision to authors via email containing relevant reviewer comments and advises the authors to incorporate all the changes as per the reviewers’ suggestions.

Final Decision

After receiving the revised draft from the authors, the editorial team ensures the incorporation of all reviewers’ suggestions and if found suitable in all respects, the manuscript is sent for copy editing. After this process, the manuscript is moved to the production phase as per the specified schedule for publication.

6. ARTICLE PROCESSING/ PUBLICATION FEE

The Administrative and Management Sciences Journal is managed under Management Development & Research Innovation (SMC PVT) Limited. Globally, the publication costs and associated expenses of many journals are covered by different resources sponsoring parties that include organizations, societies, and research groups, and thus do not demand any publication charges. In the case of AMSJ, there is no financial assistance and income sources to meet expenses associated with the publication process. AMSJ is determined to index with well-reputed indexing agencies and ensures standard parameters to bring up the journal at par with the international level. Journals use a variety of means to generate the income required to meet publication costs including editorial costs, peer review, website maintenance, indexing costs, content registration, promotion, circulation, and production.

To meet desired standards and secure the academic and financial scope of authors, AMSJ recommends nominal publication charges to meet the journal’s expenses. AMSJ charges a fee of one hundred Dollars or equal in PKR after acceptance of the article for publication based upon positive reviews from reviewers and their recommendations for publications that will cover the journal's overall expenses. The publication charges of the AMSJ will help to further improve standards and pave the way towards the inclusion of well-reputed indexing agencies like Scopus and Web of Science that are in dire need in contemporary competitive situations where researchers are desirous of publications.

7. DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Conflict of interest exists when the authors’ editor and reviewer have personal and financial relationships that have an inappropriate impact on his/her actions. There are other reasons for conflicts such as academic competition, and personal relationships. Studies receive financial support from some firms and foundations as well as governments which may have the potential to bias and discredit the research. It is required when authors submit an article they must disclose all funding and financial support and any relationship that might create biases. Authors must clearly state whether a potential conflict exists or not. The editorial committee of AMSJ may choose not to consider the manuscript for publication if any conflict is found.

ForAuthors

All manuscripts, articles, editorials, original research reports, book reviews, comments, reviews, and letters that are submitted to the journal must be accompanied by a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a declaration by the authors that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare. All the research work such as articles, etc., published in this journal should mandatorily accompany a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a statement that the authors have replied that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. To facilitate this policy, all authors must privately disclose ‘ALL their potential conflicts of interest’ to editors at the time of submission. These include all financial and non-financial interests and relationships with other organizations. Authors should disclose any conflict of interest that may have influenced either the conductor presentation of the research to editors, including but not limited to close relationships with those who might be helped or hurt by publication, academic interests and rivalries, and any personal, religious or political convictions relevant to the topic at hand. In the article, authors must include a draft statement that discloses all relevant conflicts of interest and affiliations.

For Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must reject/decline to be involved with the submission when they have a recent/ current publication or submission with the author. Share or recently shared affiliations with the author, collaborate, have close relationships with the author or financial interest/gain, or feel unable to be objective. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Reviewers must declare any remaining interests in the ‘Confidential’ section of the review form, which will be considered by the editor. Reviewer(s) must declare any conflict of interest which may affect their review work. In cases of conflict of interest, reviewer(s)are requested to notify the editorial team of their inability to review a particular research paper. Editors and peer reviewers should disclose interests that might appear to affect their ability to present or review work objectively. These might include the relevant financial interests or the personal, political, or religious interests, and detailed descriptions of tasks, and responsibilities of all parties on how to avoid and manage COIs.

8. CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS OF RESEARCH ARTICLES

Well-defined and precise knowledge sharing is the chief objective of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal and facilitates the academic community via information distribution. Furthermore, to serve the academic community, the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal has a strong faith in intelligibility through delivering correct information and maintaining all essential records. The journal explains this procedure from initial submission till the final stage and the publications are available in diverse volumes and issues. Once a manuscript is published, the editorial team displays the volume and issues of the journal on the journal website, which can be easily explored, read, downloaded, and shared through an open-access policy.

The Administrative and Management Sciences Journal offers prospects to authors for getting their manuscripts proofread beforehand the availability of the online version, which ensures the accuracy of contents. Since issuing corrigenda and errata increases the likelihood that the journal content readers and the users would have difficulties, contents are, therefore, made error-free to the possible extent. Further, in this connection, even after a manuscript is published, partial corrections might be made at the decision of the editorial team of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal. Therefore, to improve the quality of published research work, the editorial team might opt for minor alterations and corrections at any stage as they are vital to ascertain the integrity of the published materials to ensure the quality and transparency of research.

The Administrative and Management Sciences Journal takes serious note of the issues related to copyright infringement, plagiarism, and violation of other ethical codes in the publication process. In this respect, sometimes, whenever any violation of publication ethics and copyright infringement is exposed, the journal reserves the right to proceed with appropriate and necessary actions to correct the record on a priority basis no matter that the authors present either intentionally or unintentionally and communicate to the journal’s editorial team. Consequently, materials that this journal has already published, become the journal’s intellectual property and hold the right to replace the accurate materials in the best interest of the journal and the academic community.

9.    POLICY AND PRINCIPLES ON RESEARCH DATA

The principle and policy towards the research data signifies the authors’ responsibility to submit reliable and accurate research data for publication with the following description:

  1. The contents of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal are open as archives are freely available on its website. Thus, for copyright and licensing, the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal follows open access and open archives policies to facilitate the users of the journal. However, the users are required to cite the work with proper reference wherever they are using the contents of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal. It is the responsibility of the journal to maintain metadata of articles processed for publications submitted to a journal which can be communicated on-demand where required.
  2. The Administrative and Management Sciences Journal is an Open Access Journal which means that its contents are available free for the users. Without asking any prior permission from the publisher, the users are allowed to read, download, and use its contents for lawful purposes wherein by using its contents, the users are required to quote the materials with references where it is used in the citation that is prescribed under predetermined conditions specified by guidelines, code of conduct and CC by. Thus, authors hold copyright for their work and can use it for their legal purposes without any permission from the journal.
  3. The copyright of manuscripts published in AMSJ is retained by the author/authors by granting the first publication rights to the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal. Administrative and Management Sciences Journal and editorial team will not be responsible for any successive use of the author(s) work and even if desired so, it is the responsibility of the author(s) to bring an encroachment action by providing a clear statement about the conflict of interest in the copyright agreement between the authors and the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal to ensure the transparency of the publication ethics.

10.    CONTRIBUTION OF EACH AUTHOR WITH DETAILS

Administrative and Management Sciences Journal considers innovative and original research that has neither previously been published nor under consideration for publication with any other publisher or journal. It is the author(s’) obligation to ensure the originality of their research work sent to the journal for publication and have a clear understanding that the contents of the manuscript are not under consideration either by or for any other publisher or journal. Administrative and Management Sciences Journal reserves the rights to transform, revise, and translate author(s’) contributions none less, the authors will receive a statement from the journal’s editorial representative before the publication of the same in the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal.

The author contributions statement refers to work or equal contributions of the work that are included as a separate statement. The headings should include all those who have made substantial contributions to research work. The full names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses along with contact numbers of all authors (principal, co-authors & corresponding) must be provided on the first page upon submission of the manuscript. Moreover, the use of ORCID identifiers is encouraged.

11. ANY OTHER NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINE

Administrative and Management Sciences Journal is an open-access, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary scope that considers the authors’ scholarly contributions within the scope of AMSJ and covers all areas of business administration and management sciences. Areas included are organizational psychology/ Organization theory/ Organization behavior, Leadership & Followership, Entrepreneurship & Social entrepreneurship, Ethics in organizations, Gender, race and diversity, Sustainability/ Sustainable Organizational Performance, Human resource management/Human Resource Development, Organizational Development / Career, Development/ Training & Development/ HR Practices, Migration & Innovation Management, Strategic Management, Change management, International business, Learning and development in organizations, Governance structures & Public Management, Critical perspectives of accounting and finance, Logistics and Operations, Supply chain Management, Project Management, Marketing Management, Financial Management. The journal offers the authors opportunities authors to publish valued and original research work on diverse subjects and issues falling within the scope of the Journal.

Disclaimer

This disclaimer aims to apprise the readers and users of the contents of this journal that all the viewpoints and ideas contributed by the authors are their sole property and are exclusively related to them, and not inevitably related to the author(s’) employer, committee, an organization or any other group. All such opinions expressed by the author(s) through diverse sources by exploring participants’ views from any institution or organization(s) do not essentially replicate the opinions and views Administrative and Management Sciences Journal. Additionally, it clarified that all standpoints, opinions, findings, and conclusions that are expressed and articulated either in both submitted and published research work or any other content are exclusive of the authors and do not reflect the standpoint of the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal team and publisher.

Copyright

The copyright of manuscripts published in the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal is reserved by the author(s) through granting its first publication rights to this journal. The Administrative and Management Sciences Journal and its editorial team will not bear any responsibility for any consecutive or dual use of the author(s) research work and even if anticipated and desired so, it is the author(s) responsibility to bring an encroachment act by postulating a clear declaration about the conflict of interest duly mentioned in copyright agreement between the authors and the administrative and Management Sciences Journal to ensure transparency of the publication ethics. Before submission of research work to the Administrative and Management Sciences Journal, authors are advised and required to make sure to comply with all of the following guidelines, otherwise, submissions might be returned to authors:

  • The submission file must be in Microsoft Word, Open Office, or RTF document file format with no restrictions.
  • The text follows the formal, stylistic, and bibliographic prerequisites thoroughly outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • The text is written in single-spaced, 12-point font, and all figures, illustrations, and tables are placed within the text at exact points.
  • The manuscript includes nothing that could either be interpreted as abusive, defamatory, fraudulent, obscene, libelous, or prescribed.
  • In case of sending the same research work to any other publisher either within or outside the country, authors are liable to let us know in anticipation and that would be considered as their volunteer with drawal from Administrative and Management Sciences Journal.