Global Humanities and Social Sciences

1. Editorial and Research Integrity

Global Humanities and Social Sciences (GHSS) and its publisher, the International Academic Organizations Alliance (IAOA), are committed to responsible editorial practice, academic integrity and the fair treatment of authors, reviewers, editors and readers.

Editorial decisions are based on the academic merits of the manuscript, its relevance to the journal, the clarity and originality of its contribution and its compliance with applicable editorial and ethical requirements.

An author’s nationality, institutional affiliation, professional status or relationship with IAOA, GHSS or a cooperating institution must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted for publication.

2. Originality and Prior Publication

Submitted manuscripts must be original, must not have been published previously in substantially the same form and must not be under consideration by another journal or publication at the same time.

The following practices are prohibited:

• plagiarism or unattributed use of another person’s work;
• fabrication or invention of data, sources, evidence or results;
• falsification or inappropriate alteration of research materials;
• duplicate or simultaneous submission;
• redundant or duplicate publication;
• inappropriate text recycling;
• misleading presentation or selective omission of relevant evidence; and
• undisclosed manipulation of images, figures, tables or other research materials.

Material derived from the authors’ previously published work must be identified and cited appropriately. Authors should inform the editorial office where a submission is related to another manuscript, conference paper, working paper, report, thesis or previously distributed version.

3. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the work, approved the submitted version and accepted responsibility for the aspects of the work to which they contributed.

Individuals who provided technical, administrative, linguistic, financial or other assistance but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

Guest, honorary, purchased and undisclosed authorship are not acceptable.

Authors should agree on the authorship list and order before submission. Requests to add, remove or reorder authors may require an explanation and confirmation from all affected authors.

Authorship disputes should normally be resolved by the authors and, where necessary, their institutions. The journal may suspend consideration of a manuscript while a material authorship dispute remains unresolved.

4. Funding, Competing Interests and Declarations

Authors should disclose all relevant funding and any financial, professional, institutional or personal interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation or presentation of the manuscript.

The existence of a competing interest does not automatically prevent publication. The purpose of disclosure is to allow editors, reviewers and readers to assess the work transparently.

Where applicable, manuscripts should include statements concerning:

• Funding;
• Author Contributions;
• Competing Interests;
• Data Availability;
• Ethics Approval;
• Informed Consent; and
• Acknowledgements.

Editors and reviewers must also disclose relevant conflicts of interest and should withdraw from the assessment of a manuscript where their impartiality could reasonably be questioned.

5. Research Methods, Sources and Data

Research methods, evidence, sources and analytical approaches should be described with sufficient clarity to permit appropriate scholarly evaluation, taking account of the conventions of the relevant discipline and manuscript type.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of quotations, references, translations, data, archival materials and other supporting information.

Data or supporting materials should be preserved and shared where this is appropriate, lawful and consistent with disciplinary practice. Requirements concerning data access must take account of:

• confidentiality and privacy;
• informed consent;
• legal and contractual restrictions;
• intellectual property rights;
• cultural or community responsibilities;
• research security; and
• legitimate restrictions imposed by data providers or archives.

Where data cannot be shared publicly, authors should provide an appropriate explanation in the Data Availability statement where applicable.

6. Human Participants and Animal Research

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, sensitive communities or animals must comply with applicable laws, institutional requirements and recognised ethical standards.

Approval, review or an appropriate exemption from a recognised ethics committee, institutional review body or equivalent authority should be obtained where required by the nature of the research and the applicable institutional or legal framework.

Authors should provide relevant approval information when applicable and must be prepared to supply supporting documentation if reasonably requested by the editorial office.

Informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and the protection of vulnerable participants must be addressed where relevant.

The absence of a formal ethics committee in a particular institution or jurisdiction does not remove the author’s responsibility to explain how ethical issues were identified and managed.

7. Editorial Assessment and External Review

Manuscripts are assessed in accordance with the journal’s Editorial and External Review Process.

Editors and external reviewers must:

• act impartially and in good faith;
• maintain the confidentiality of submitted material;
• disclose relevant conflicts of interest;
• avoid using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage; and
• provide assessments based on appropriate academic considerations.

Editorial Board membership, institutional cooperation, sponsorship, participation in an IAOA activity or a personal relationship with an editor does not guarantee external review, acceptance, publication or preferential treatment.

Reviewer reports are advisory. The final publication decision rests with the responsible editor, acting in accordance with the journal’s editorial and ethical policies.

8. Confidentiality

Submitted manuscripts, supplementary materials, reviewer reports and editorial correspondence must be treated as confidential by editors, editorial staff and external reviewers.

Unpublished material must not be shared, quoted, used or discussed outside the editorial process without appropriate authorisation, except where disclosure is reasonably necessary to investigate a legal, ethical or research-integrity concern.

Editors and reviewers should not upload confidential manuscripts or substantial manuscript content to external artificial intelligence systems or other services where confidentiality, data retention or future use cannot be adequately controlled.

9. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for submitted work, approve a final manuscript or be accountable for its accuracy and integrity.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted in their names, including content developed, translated, summarised, analysed or edited with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools.

Substantive use of generative AI in manuscript preparation, data analysis, translation, literature synthesis, coding or image production should be disclosed transparently in the manuscript, acknowledgements, methods section or cover letter, as appropriate.

Routine spelling, grammar or language-support tools do not normally require detailed disclosure unless their use materially affects the content or interpretation of the work.

Authors must verify all AI-assisted content, including facts, citations, quotations, translations, data and interpretations. Fabricated references, misleading images, undisclosed synthetic data and the presentation of AI-generated material as independently verified scholarship are not acceptable.

10. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

Where a material error or ethical concern is identified after publication, GHSS may take appropriate action according to the nature and seriousness of the matter.

Possible actions include:

• correcting bibliographic or factual information;
• publishing a formal correction;
• updating supplementary information;
• publishing an expression of concern;
• retracting an article; or
• removing material in exceptional circumstances involving legal, privacy or serious safety considerations.

A correction may be issued where an error affects part of the publication but does not invalidate its overall contribution.

A retraction may be considered where the findings or conclusions are no longer reliable, where serious misconduct has occurred, where the work was published elsewhere without appropriate justification or where publication involved a serious ethical or legal breach.

An expression of concern may be issued where serious questions have been raised but the available evidence is incomplete or an investigation has not yet concluded.

Notices should identify the affected article and explain the reason for the action as clearly as legally and ethically appropriate.

11. Allegations and Investigations

Concerns about suspected misconduct will be considered according to the available evidence and the seriousness of the allegation.

The journal may:

• request an explanation or supporting information from the authors;
• consult editors, reviewers or independent experts;
• contact an author’s institution, funder, ethics body or other relevant authority;
• suspend editorial consideration while a concern is investigated; or
• take appropriate pre-publication or post-publication action.

The journal is not a court or institutional disciplinary body and may not be able to determine every disputed matter independently. Where necessary, the journal may rely on findings made by an author’s institution or another competent authority.

Anonymous reports may be considered where they include sufficiently specific and verifiable information. Allegations made without supporting information may not be capable of further investigation.

12. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may raise a reasoned concern about editorial procedure or request reconsideration of a decision where they believe that a material factual, procedural or ethical issue has been overlooked.

An appeal should explain the specific grounds for reconsideration and should not consist only of disagreement with an academic judgement.

Complaints and appeals will be reviewed by an appropriate editor or representative of the publisher. Where reasonably possible, a person directly responsible for the disputed decision should not be the sole person assessing the complaint.

Submission of a complaint or appeal does not guarantee that an editorial decision will be changed.

13. Reporting Publication-Ethics Concerns

Questions, complaints or concerns relating to publication ethics may be sent to:

International Academic Organizations Alliance
Email: info@iaoalliance.org

Reports should identify the relevant manuscript or published article and provide sufficient information to allow the concern to be assessed.

Reports will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible. However, complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed where disclosure is required for a fair investigation, legal compliance or the protection of affected individuals.

14. International Guidance

The journal’s policies are informed by internationally recognised publication-ethics principles and relevant guidance issued by organisations including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

This statement describes the sources of guidance considered by GHSS and IAOA. It does not imply that GHSS or IAOA is a formal member of, accredited by or endorsed by COPE unless such membership or status is separately and expressly confirmed.