Policy Document
INTRODUCTION
Research Mosaic (RM), ISSN (P- 2959-1813) (E- 2959-1821), published under Global Research Development (SMC-Private) Limited (CUI No. 0247139), is a scientific, international, blind peer-reviewed, and open-access scholarly journal devoted to the field of management sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities and provides rapid publication of articles frequently in its issues. RM publishes original review papers, as well as auxiliary material such as research papers, case studies, review articles, and reports, etc. RM is the platform for the exchange of information and research results within all areas that align with its scope and editorial criteria. To expedite the process of publishing research work, the journal operates on Online Journal Management System for online submission and manuscript processing. In processing and publishing research work, the journal currently follows the HEC criteria for the "Y" category. The policy document covers various parameters from different dimensions as follow.
1. FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION
The frequency and regularity are the main requirements that directly influence the credibility of journals. In this connection, Research Mosaic (RM) publication schedule comprises one (01) volume with two (02) issues each year on a regular basis with the following description.
2. TIMELINE OF PUBLICATION
The Research Mosaic (RM) publication timeline represents the entire duration from article submissions to publications, with the following descriptions:
Period for publishing 1st issue: January-June
Period for publishing 2nd issue: July-December
3. AUTHORSHIP OF PAPER
Authorship of papers represents authors’ (Faculties, Researchers, and Ph.D. Scholars) scholarly contributions in different scope and domain as per their field and relevancy. Research Mosaic (RM) accepts the authorships contributions as per journal’s scope. The author contributions statement (equal contributions) towards the research work is included as separate statement at the end of article. The authors substantial contributions to the research work have been mentioned. The authors’ names, affiliations and e-mail addresses along with contact numbers of all authors (corresponding, principal, & co-authors) of manuscript have been mentioned on first-page. Furthermore, ORCID identifiers identification is encouraged.
4. ORIGINALITY AND PLAGIARISM POLICY
The articles submitted to Research Mosaic (RM), as part of submission process, the authors are required to check submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration in any other journal.
2. The manuscript is based upon the original research work submitted to the journal and is not plagiarized as a whole or any part of the manuscript.
3. The manuscript submitted holds nothing that is obscene, defamatory, abusive, fraudulent or illegal.
4. If author(s) send same manuscript to any other journal within or outside country, they will in anticipation let us know that will be considered as voluntary withdrawal from the RM.
5. The plagiarism policy is followed strictly in letter and spirit as available at HEC website to ensure the quality parameters from all requisite.
5. ETHICAL GUIDELINES
The Research Mosaic (RM) adheres to ethical guidelines outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Both the publisher and the editorial board of RM affirm their commitment to ensuring ethical considerations throughout the submission, review, conflict of interest disclosure, and publication process, as emphasized in the COPE declaration on publication ethics and conflict of interest. Furthermore, RM strictly follows ethical guidelines recommended by the Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC), which serve as necessary benchmarks for quality assurance in journals within the social sciences, management sciences, arts, and humanities categories.
6. PRIVACY STATEMENT
Information provided at the Research Mosaic (RM) site by authors such as names, email addresses, contact, etc. will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
7. GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF RESEARCH ARTICLES
Guidelines comprise the following bibliographic and formatting standards together with instances of common citation formats preferred to use in submissions.
1. Research Mosaic (RM) consider articles submitted via open journal system that could be accessed through the journal’s website www.researchmosaic.com.
2. Authors are required to get registered through Open Journal System prior to submission of the manuscript to the RM.
3. Once registered, authors are advised to follow the submission guidelines and ensure to have formatted manuscript according to format that Journal follows.
4. Once the manuscript is received online via OJS, desk editors will filter manuscript in the light of Author Guidelines. Based on desk review, manuscript is either sent back to the author(s) for further modifications or sent for the review.
5. It is author(s)’ responsibility to ensure that the manuscript has neither been published nor been submitted for publication either in parts or as a whole.
6. Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise, grammatically correct language, and formatted according to APA Editorial Style (approved by HEC).
7. Page Setup: Font=Times New Roman; Font Size=12; Line Spacing=1.0; Margins=1 Inch from All Sides.
8. Length: The length of the manuscript must not exceed the maximum limit of 7000 words. Manuscripts containing more than 7000 words will be returned to the author(s) for abridgement. Authors are urged to write as concisely as possible, but not at the expense of clarity.
9. Title Page: The title page should include an informative title (14 Font Size, bold, centered, and typed in capital letters), author's name, and complete address including postal and email information (the author who has submitted the article will be considered the corresponding author). The details of the authors should be properly formatted as italicized, except author's name.
10. Abstract: The abstract includes a brief summary of the problem, research design, major findings and conclusions (150 to 300 Words). It should be properly formatted as justified and italicized text.
11. Key Words: Authors must mention 3-8 key words. Key words should be listed alphabetically, separated by commas, and full stop at the end.
12. Introduction: This section provides sufficient background information to set the context of the issue with clearly mentioning the objectives behind the research.
13. Literature Review: This section provides background information about the research variables and their inter-relationships based upon the existing research/literature.
14. Research Design: The concise but with sufficient detail to allow replication of the methodology used to conduct the study and reaching the conclusion.
15. Results: Present them in logical sequence through paragraphs, tables & figures but avoiding repetition. Tables, figures, must be placed where used and not as annexures.
16. Discussions: Interpret results and relate them with existing knowledge relating to the methods and results of the respective area of research.
17. Conclusions: A short but pointed evaluation of the research activity and findings that what the researcher has achieved at the end.
18. References: As per HEC instructions, RM follows the APA Editorial Style therefore; the referencing will be done as:
1. The "Embedded" reference (within text): (2nd name of the Author, year) in case of Book, page no will follow the year–Year: 324), Single-Author: (Author, 2010), Two-Authors (Author-1 & Author-2, 2011), More than Two Authors: (Author et al., 2012).
2. References will be placed at the end of the manuscript in alphabetical order and formatted as follows:
- Journal Article: Mahesar, H. A., Chaudhry, N. I., & Rasool, Z. (2021). Impact of work family conflict and job stress on university teachers’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions: mediating role of job burnout. Journal of Social Research Development, 1(1):1-17.
- Book: Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing. Kothari, CR (1986). Quantitative techniques. VIKAS Publishing House, New Delhi.
- Thesis/Dissertation: Sattar, A. (2011). Job satisfaction of District Executive Officers in KPK. (PhD Thesis). Department of Public Administration, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, KPK, Pakistan.
- Chapter: Lyon, R. A., & Titeler, M. (1989). Pharmacology and biochemistry of the 5-HT2 receptor. In: Sanders-Bush, E. (ed). The Serotonin Receptors. Clifton, NJ: Humana Press: pp. 59-88.
- Website Material: Healthy People 2011, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on Dec 5, 2014 from: http://health.gov/healthypeople.
19. Tables and Figures: Tables and Figures should be placed within text wherever they are used, mentioned or discussed.
Note: Editor reserves the right to amend, abridge or otherwise alter the contents of the manuscript to make it suitable for publication. However, every effort will be made not to affect the spirit or effectiveness of the paper.
8. PEER REVIEW POLICY
Research Mosaic (RM) employs a double-blind peer review process for all submitted manuscripts, meaning that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from each other throughout the review process. A more in-depth description of RM peer review policy is provided below:
1. Submission of Paper
The corresponding author can submit research work for potential publication in Research Mosaic (RM) via the Online Journal System (OJS).
2. Editorial Office Assessment
The RM editorial office checks the submitted manuscripts' format and composition inline with the author's guidelines and the journal's scope. This stage of scrutiny does not assess the quality of research.
3. Chief Editor’s Appraisal
The chief editor apprises whether research work is original, has potential of novelty, and is appropriately aligned with the journal’s scope. If the manuscript does fulfil the aforementioned criteria, it is liable to rejection at this stage without being considered for any further review.
4. Chief Editor’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.
5. Desk Review
The associate editor scrutinizes the manuscript in light of the journal's scope and content requirements and recommends potential improvements and incorporation into the manuscript.
6. 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.
7. Invitation to Reviewers
The associate editor invites potential reviewers within specialized fields for manuscript review. The manuscript is then sent out to the reviewers based on their responses, with a request to complete the review within a maximum of 2 to 4 weeks. As per the journal’s policy, the manuscript is sent to two reviewers (two national).
8. Review Conducted
The potential and expert reviewers spare ample time to read the manuscript, reflected in how they highlight both strengths and weaknesses of the research work. If they find major issues in the manuscript, reviewers have the freedom either to completely reject it or suggest major revisions. The reviewers submit their reviews to the journal’s editorial team with recommendations to accept (with/without minor or major revisions) or reject.
9. 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, the editor might invite an additional reviewer (if deemed appropriate) to get further opinions before making the final decision.
10. Decision Communication
The editor communicates the decision with authors via email containing relevant reviewer’s comments and advises the authors to incorporate all the changes as per the reviewers’ suggestions.
11. Final Decision
The editorial team will look through the resubmitted manuscript to ensure that the author(s) have revised the manuscript in response to the reviewers’ comments. At this final decision stage, the author(s) may be required to make further revisions, or the manuscript might be rejected if the author(s) did not adequately carry out the revisions suggested by the reviewers.
12. Copyediting, Layout Editing, and Proofreading Stage
Once the manuscript is accepted by the editorial team, it will undergo copyediting, layout editing, and proofreading processes to ensure the linguistic quality of the manuscript. After the editing stage is finished, authors are requested to double-check the PDF file of the final version before online publication.
13. Appeals against Editorial Decisions
In case an author would like to challenge an editorial decision, he or she should contact the Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Upon receipt of the appeal, the Editor-in-Chief will review the manuscript and peer reviewers' comments, and then make a decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. If necessary, the Editor-in-Chief may choose to send the manuscript to new referees for peer review. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief is final in such cases. All submitted complaints will be acknowledged within two working days.
9. ARTICLE PROCESSING/PUBLICATION FEE
Research Mosaic (RM) currently does not charge Article Processing Charges (APC) for manuscript submission, processing, or publication. We believe in promoting open access to scientific research without imposing financial barriers on authors.
10. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS
The content pages and abstracts available on the journal’s webpage are open access, while the full document of the paper may be subscribed to by paying for hard copies. The subscription rate for foreign subscribers is $50, while the inland rate is PKR 1000.00 for one year (2 issues). This applies only to print material, while online material is available free of cost, in accordance with the open access policy of the journal. All subscription requests and orders should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief via email: editor@researchmosaic.com.
11. DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Conflict of interest (COI) refers to situations in which truthfulness of an academic activity, specifically research, might be perceived as compromised by monetary or other personal interests. A conflict of interest happens when a secondary interest either gets distorted or has the potential to distort judgement or decision associated with the primary interest. Additionally, a professional’s judgment does not essentially have to be prejudiced because that researcher to have a conflict of interest, even the manifestation of a conflict of interest is ethically troublesome. COI is defined as anything that has potential to create a divided loyalty or appearance of one between researcher, institution, and individuals enrolled in research. COI could be circumstances, cause risk that scholar professional judgments or actions concerning primary interest [academic uprightness, employee benefits & societal obligations] will be markedly influenced by a secondary interest [personal, monetary & professional benefits].
Interests are broadly categorized into two types: conflicts of commitment and financial benefits. In this linking, the conflicts could be a personal affiliation; such as family association, friends relationships, and any other close personal associations; beliefs and ideologies, such as religious or political that is relevant to the research work; the academic interests such as competitors or somebody whose research work is critiqued; affiliation such as the employment, advisory board membership, or membership of an organization with an interest in the outcome of said work; financial such as funding, goods, services, and any other payments received/anticipated by author(s) related to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work and maybe an intellectual property such as the trademarks or patents owned by an individual or an organization.
1. For Authors
All manuscripts, articles, editorials, original research reports, book reviews, comments, reviews, and letters that are submitted to 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 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 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 conduct or 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 topic at hand. In the article, authors must include a draft statement that discloses all relevant conflicts of interest and affiliations.
2. 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 author. Share or recently shared affiliations with author, collaborate, or 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 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 about tasks, responsibilities of all parties on how to avoid and manage COIs.
12. CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS OF RESEARCH ARTICLES
Well-defined and precise knowledge sharing is chief objective of Research Mosaic (RM) and facilitates the academic community via information distribution. Furthermore, to serve the academic community, RM has a strong faith in intelligibility through delivering correct information and maintaining all essential record. Journal explains this procedure from initial submission till final stage and the publications are available in diverse volumes and issues. Once manuscript is published, editorial team display the volume and issues of the journal at journal website, which can be easily explored, read, downloaded, and shared through an open access policy.
The RM 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 increase the likelihood that the journal content readers and the users would 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 editorial team of RM. Therefore, to improve the quality of published research work, the editorial team might opt for the 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 RM takes a serious note of the issues related to copyright infringement, plagiarism, and violation of other ethical codes in publication process. In this respect, sometimes, whenever any violation of publication ethics and copyright infringement are exposed, the journal reserves the right to proceed for appropriate and necessary actions to correct the record on the priority basis no matter that the authors present either intentionally or unintentionally and communicate to journal’s editorial team. Consequently, materials that this journal has already published, it becomes the journal’s intellectual property and holds the rights of replacing the accurate materials in the best interest of the journal and the academic community.
13. POLICY AND PRINCIPLES ON RESEARCH DATA
The principle and policy towards the research data signifies authors’ responsibility to submit reliable and accurate research data for publication with following description:
1. The contents of Research Mosaic (RM) are open as archives are freely available on its website. Thus, for copyright and licensing, RM 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 contents of RM. It is the responsibility of the journal to maintain metadata of articles processed for publications submitted to journal which can be communicated on-demand where required.
2. RM is an Open Access Journal, meaning its contents are freely available to 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 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 purpose without any permission from the journal.
3. The copyright of manuscripts published in RM are retained by the author/authors by granting the first publication rights to the RM. Research Mosaic (RM) and editorial team will not be responsible for any successive use of the author(s) work and even if desired so, it is responsibility of author(s) to bring an encroachment action by providing the clear statement about the conflict of interest in the copyright agreement between the authors and the RM to ensure the transparency of the publication ethics.
14. CONTRIBUTION OF EACH AUTHOR WITH DETAILS
Research Mosaic (RM) considers innovative and original research that has neither previously been published nor under considerations for publications with any other publisher or journal. It is the author(s’) obligation to ensure originality of their research work sent to journal for publication and have clear understanding that the contents of the manuscript are not under considerations either by or for any other publisher or journal. RM reserves rights to transform, revise, and translate author(s’) contributions nonetheless, the authors will receive a statement from the journal’s editorial representative prior to the publication of the same in the RM.
The author contributions statement refers to work or equal contributions of the work that includes as the 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 first-page upon submission of the manuscript. Moreover, the use of ORCID identifiers is encouraged.
15. ANY OTHER NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINE
Research Mosaic (RM) is an open-access, peer reviewed, multidisciplinary scholarly journal that provides a dedicated, multidisciplinary forum for international research on all aspects of educational sciences, library & archival sciences, communication & media studies, digital platforms, social media & related policy, behavior sciences, philosophy, gender & human rights, psychology & social psychology, sociology & social work, development studies, women’s empowerment, sports sciences, defense & strategic studies, peace & conflict studies, political science, international relations, public policy, law & legislature, constitutional development, business education, economics & commerce, management & administrative sciences, history, global studies, Pakistan studies, history of arts & design, geography, cultural studies, ethnography, archaeology, linguistic studies, anthropology, literature, religious studies and religious affairs. The journal offers authors opportunities to publish valued and original research work on diverse subjects and issues falling in the scope of the Journal.
Disclaimer
The aim of this disclaimer is to apprise the readers and users of the contents of this journal that all the viewpoints and ideas contributed by the authors is their sole property and are exclusively related to them, and not inevitably related to 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 of RM. 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 contents are the exclusive of the authors and do not reflect the standpoint of the RM team and publisher.
Copyright
The copyright of manuscripts published in Research Mosaic (RM) are reserved by the author(s) through granting its first publication rights to this journal. The RM 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 RM to ensure transparency of the publication ethics. Prior to submission of research work to RM, authors are advised and required to make sure to comply with all of the following guidelines, otherwise submissions might be returned to authors:
1. The submission file must be in the Microsoft Word, Open Office, or RTF document file format.
2. The work has neither previously been published nor is it for consideration to be published with any other.
3. The text follows the formal, stylistic, and bibliographic prerequisites thoroughly outlined in the Author guidelines.
4. The text is written single-spaced, 12-point font, and all figures, illustrations, and tables are placed within the text at exact points.
5. The manuscript includes nothing that could either be or interpreted as abusive, defamatory, fraudulent, obscene, libelous, or
6. In case of sending 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 withdrawal from RM.
