Ethics Statement

For Authors

The authors must ensure that the submission made to APSSH is an original work and has been produced with objectivity as a primary consideration.

Any conflict of interest on the part of the author(s) should be disclosed at the time of manuscript submission. In addition, the funding agencies and their influences on research (if any) should clearly be stated.

Informed consent should be obtained from all research participants, and no such information should be revealed that invades the respondents’ privacy.

The authors should ensure the use of an inclusive language that respects diversity and does not intentionally omit any particular segment of society.

It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and have consented to its submission to APSSH.

It is expected that all the authors notified to APSSH at the time of submission have a consensus over the list and order of the authors.

The authors are responsible for the content submitted to APSSH, and all authors (in case of multiple authors) will be held accountable in case of any misconduct.

Authors are expected to notify the editors in case they find any significant errors in their works, whether during the publication process or post-publication. They should also coordinate with editors if such an issue is reported to them through any other means.

The manuscripts submitted to APSSH should not be published elsewhere or under consideration concurrently for publication in any other academic avenue. However, articles building on or extracted from any published presentation, lecture, or academic thesis can be submitted with an appropriate declaration of prior publication in any (aforementioned) form.

The authors are expected to acknowledge and refer to the appropriate sources of information. Permissions should be taken (where applicable) before quoting the ideas or words that do not belong to the authors.

For Reviewers

The reviewers are expected to assist the editorial team in decision-making on the acceptance/rejection of any manuscript.

The reviewers who find themselves unable to review the manuscript in the allocated time should inform the editor ahead of time.

The reviewers should decline to review the manuscripts that they find unrelated to their research interests or out of the domain of their expertise.

The manuscripts received for review should be treated as confidential documents, and the information should not be disseminated for any purpose.

The reviewers are expected to communicate to the editors any ethical issues they (suspect to) find in the articles

The reviews should be objective, rationalized – supported by evidence, and inherently to improve the quality of the article.

Also, the reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest upon receiving the request for review.

For Editors

The APSSH editorial board is solely responsible for the decisions taken regarding the acceptance/rejection of the manuscripts submitted to the journal.

The editors are obliged to apply the best of their abilities to uphold the integrity of the journal.

Transparency and timeliness are the core features of the editorial policies and are to be diligently followed by the editorial team.

It is the editors’ responsibility to ensure that the articles are sent to suitable and credible reviewers (considering their areas of interest) and that timely reviews are received to the journal.

In addition to ensuring fairness in reviews, the editors are also expected to assess the (potential) conflicts of interest (disclosed by the authors and reviewers).

All decisions will be made solely based on the content of the manuscript and completely independent of the (ethnic, racial, religious, political, or socio-economic) background of the authors and their institutional affiliations.

The rationale behind the editorial decisions shall be communicated to the respective authors, and any appeals against the editorial decisions shall be well-catered to.

The editors are to reveal their potential conflict of interest in relation to any submission received by the journal.

All information and correspondence related to the submitted manuscripts shall be treated as confidential and shall only be shared with the respective authors and (potential) reviewers. Furthermore, the editors are not to use any (unpublished) data for their personal advantage or research.

It is the responsibility of the editorial team to cater to the issues pertaining to misconduct on the part of any individual involved in the publication process and respond effectively to such complaints.

The editorial team is also expected to keep the authors updated regarding the reviewing and publication process.