Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures is mainly based on multiple considerations and interdisciplinary dialogues that would benefit from a specific structure, explained in what follows.

Each issue of the journal opens with an Editorial, summarising the content of the “Topics” section. The latter collects the contributions of the main section, selected via periodical call for papers. The Editorial also introduced the themes dealt with in the articles of the different sections. The section on “Topics” consists of three sub-sections: epistemological issues concerning the different approached employed to discuss the main theme of the issue; central topic; and keywords used to look at the central topic.

There follows a section including research, interventions, and works in progress welcoming contributions and reflections about the issues raised in the journal’s Aims and scopes”. The contributions included in the section titled theory and critical research all address possibilities for theory and research outside the mainstream, with particular emphasis on issues of social change.

The section conflicts, resistances, and voices focuses on personal accounts documenting the lived experience of subaltern subjects.

The subsequent sections feature reprints and represented: old and new classics, a series of keywords where international invited scholars are asked to discuss a specific theme, and reviews and portraits.

Code of ethics 

Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is inspired by the ethical code of publication worked out by COPE, Committee on Publication Ethics, Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors.pdf.

Publisher responsibilities

The Publisher must provide the Journal with adequate resources and the guidance of experts (for example, as far as legal and graphic advice are concerned); this in order to carry out his/her role in a professional way and to improve the quality of the Journal itself. The Publisher should be in possession of a written agreement that defines his relationship with the owner of the Journal and/or with the Editor. The terms of this agreement should follow the code of behavior for Publishers of Scientific Journals, worked out by COPE. The relationship among the Editor in chief, the Editorial Board and the Publisher should be firmly based on the principle of the publishing independence.

Below there is a list of tasks required to the Scientific Directors, the members of the editorial organs, the peer reviewers and the authors of the journals.

Editor responsabilities

  • Scientific Director, Editors, members of the Editorial Board responsible for the decisions about the publication of the articles, are bound by the editorial policy of the journal and must comply with the applicable laws about defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
  • The Scientific Director is warrant for the correctness of the procedures used to accept, evaluate or reject the papers received, with the support of the editors of individual issues and of at least two reviewers, selected among scholars and experts outside the Editorial Board, monitoring the double-blind peer review procedure.
  • The Scientific Director and the Editorial Board must evaluate contributions exclusively on the basis of their scientific contents, regardless of the author’s gender, their sexual, political, religious or academic orientation, or their ethnicity or citizenship.
  • The Scientific Director, the Editors of each single issue, the Scientific Committee and the Editorial Board have the obligation to not spread any information about the papers received. Communications related to the publishing process should be sent, exclusively, to authors, reviewers or potential reviewers and to the editorial consultants, as appropriate.
  • Only written permission by the Author allows the Scientific Director, the Editors of each single issue as well as the members of the Scientific Committee and the Editorial Board to use the unpublished material contained in contributions submitted to the journal for the development of their own research.
  • The Scientific Director and the Editorial Board will promptly notify the Author of the existence of any errors, inaccuracies or plagiarisms in the published paper, or the presence of any conflicts of interest. Appropriate measures will be adopted based on recommendations, guidelines and lists of control provided by the COPE, which include the publication of an errata corrigenda or, if considered appropriate, the rejection of the contribution.

Reviewers responsibilities

The Reviewers assist the Scientific Director and the Editors of each single issue in editorial decisions by possibly suggesting references to the author and providing advice to help improve the paper.

  • The papers received are confidential documents. Information, ideas or results acquired during the review should not be made public or intended for personal use.
  • The review should be based on maximum objectivity and accompanied by arguments presented in an understandable way and convoyed by precise bibliographic references.
  • The reviewers are obliged to draw the attention of the Scientific Director and of the Editorial Board on any substantial similarities between the presented article and other already published documents.
  • The selected scholars who consider themselves unable to perform the review in due time or do not judge themselves qualified for the evaluation of the proposed paper must decline the appointment, notifying their decision to the Scientific Director, to the Editors and to the Editorial Board of the issue.
  • The proposal must also be declined if there are any conflicts of interest resulting from a situation of competition or cooperation between the reviewers and the authors or the companies or entities in any way connected with the topics discussed in the paper.

Authors responsibilities

If the paper is accepted, the Author recognizes to the journal the right to publish it, through a release.

  • The Authors must ensure that their papers are unpublished and not simultaneously submitted to the evaluation of other journals.
  • If other scholars’ works are used, it is mandatory to indicate the respective bibliographic references. Authors must also mention the full range of publications that have had a significant influence in determining the setting of the proposed contributions. Papers based on original research must explain in detail their contribution to the relevant debate, the methodological strategy adopted to achieve the results presented and the scientific meaning that they assume within the field of study.
  • Authors must ensure the objectivity of their interpretations and authenticity of the data, which must be submitted in detail, in order to allow other scholars, if methodologically appropriate, to replicate the research. Authors undertake to obtain the necessary authorizations to use images, tables or other already published contents, as by the laws on copyright.
  • The Authors must accept the terms of selection of the contributions and the process of double blind peer review and agree to it that once the article is accepted, all economic rights, with no space limit and through all technology presently existing or hereafter developed, are transferred to the journal.
  • The authorship of the article pertains exclusively to those who actually participated in the writing of the text by giving a significant contribution to the conception, design or interpretation of the object of study. The main Author is responsible for ensuring that only those who have really seen and approved the final version of the paper appear as co-authors and agree on its publication. Any other persons who have contributed to the paper should be listed in the acknowledgments as contributors.
  • The Authors undertake to declare, simultaneously with the sending of the paper, the absence of any conflicts of interest that could affect the results or interpretation of their work. All financial support sources must be expressly indicated.
  • If significant errors or inaccuracies are found in the published paper, the Author is obliged to promptly notify the Scientific Director and the Editorial Board, providing an appropriate errata corrigenda.