Publication Process

JLSPA: Journal of Law, Social, and Public Affairs follows a structured publication process to ensure the quality, originality, integrity, academic relevance, and ethical compliance of all published articles. Each manuscript submitted to the journal must undergo several editorial stages before publication.

1. Manuscript Submission

Authors submit their manuscripts through the journal’s online submission system. The manuscript must comply with the journal template, author guidelines, focus and scope, citation requirements, and applicable ethical standards.

Authors must ensure that the submitted manuscript is original, has not been previously published in substantially the same form, and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publisher.

2. Administrative Screening

After submission, the editorial team conducts an administrative screening to verify the completeness and conformity of the manuscript. The screening includes, but is not limited to:

  • manuscript format and journal template;

  • author names and affiliations;

  • abstract and keywords;

  • manuscript structure;

  • references and citation style;

  • author declarations and statements of originality; and

  • other supporting documents required by the journal.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s administrative requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before proceeding to the next stage.

3. Similarity Check

All submitted manuscripts are checked for similarity using iThenticate or other reliable similarity-detection tools.

The Editorial Board evaluates similarity reports carefully by considering the nature and source of textual overlap rather than relying solely on a numerical similarity percentage. Manuscripts containing plagiarism, substantial unattributed text overlap, inappropriate paraphrasing, duplicate publication, or improper citation may be returned for revision or rejected.

4. Initial Editorial Review

The Editorial Board conducts an initial evaluation to determine whether the manuscript is suitable for further review. The assessment considers:

  • relevance to the journal’s focus and scope;

  • originality and novelty;

  • academic and scholarly contribution;

  • clarity of research objectives or research questions;

  • appropriateness of theoretical or conceptual foundations;

  • methodological quality;

  • quality of legal, social, political, administrative, or policy analysis, as applicable;

  • ethical compliance; and

  • overall manuscript quality.

At this stage, the manuscript may be sent for peer review, returned for preliminary revision, or rejected if it does not meet the journal’s editorial standards.

5. Peer Review Process

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial review are sent to reviewers with expertise relevant to the manuscript topic.

JLSPA: Journal of Law, Social, and Public Affairs applies a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential during the review process.

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on aspects such as:

  • relevance to the journal’s scope;

  • originality and scholarly contribution;

  • theoretical or conceptual adequacy;

  • methodological appropriateness;

  • quality and validity of data or sources;

  • strength of legal reasoning, social analysis, political analysis, administrative analysis, or policy analysis, where applicable;

  • clarity and coherence of arguments;

  • consistency between findings, discussion, and conclusions;

  • ethical considerations; and

  • overall academic quality.

For legal research, reviewers may also assess the appropriateness of statutory, conceptual, comparative, case-based, historical, or other legal research approaches used by the authors.

6. Editorial Decision

Based on the reviewers’ comments, recommendations, and editorial evaluation, one of the following decisions may be made:

  1. Accepted;

  2. Accepted with Minor Revisions;

  3. Major Revisions Required;

  4. Resubmission Required; or

  5. Rejected.

The final editorial decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief or assigned editor after considering reviewer recommendations, the quality of the manuscript, the authors’ responses, and compliance with the journal’s academic and ethical standards.

7. Author Revision

If revisions are required, the manuscript is returned to the authors together with comments and recommendations from reviewers and/or editors.

Authors must revise the manuscript carefully and submit the revised version within the specified period. Authors are expected to provide a response to reviewers explaining how each comment or recommendation has been addressed.

When authors disagree with a reviewer’s recommendation, they may provide a clear and academically justified explanation.

8. Final Editorial Evaluation

The revised manuscript is evaluated again by the Editorial Board.

Manuscripts requiring minor revisions may be evaluated directly by the editor, while manuscripts undergoing substantial or major revisions may be returned to the original reviewers or other qualified reviewers for further assessment.

A manuscript will be accepted for publication only after it has satisfactorily met the journal’s academic, methodological, ethical, and editorial standards.

9. Copyediting

Accepted manuscripts undergo copyediting to improve:

  • language and readability;

  • grammar and consistency;

  • manuscript structure;

  • terminology;

  • citation and reference consistency;

  • formatting; and

  • conformity with the journal’s publication style.

Copyediting does not alter the substantive meaning, findings, arguments, or conclusions of the manuscript without appropriate consultation with the authors.

Authors may be requested to review and confirm editorial changes during this stage.

10. Layout Editing

Following copyediting, the manuscript is prepared in the journal’s publication layout.

The layout editing process ensures consistency in article presentation, including headings, tables, figures, references, author information, pagination, and other publication elements according to the journal’s visual identity and formatting standards.

11. Galley Proof Confirmation

The final galley proof is sent to the corresponding author for final verification before publication.

Authors are expected to review and confirm the galley proof within 48 hours.

At this stage, only minor corrections involving typographical errors, author information, affiliation details, formatting issues, or factual inaccuracies are generally permitted. Substantial changes to research data, analysis, arguments, findings, or conclusions are not normally allowed after the manuscript has reached the galley proof stage.

12. Online Publication

After the galley proof has been approved, the article is published online on the official website of JLSPA: Journal of Law, Social, and Public Affairs.

Each published article contains complete publication metadata, including, where applicable:

  • article title;

  • author names;

  • institutional affiliations;

  • corresponding author information;

  • abstract;

  • keywords;

  • publication date;

  • volume and issue information;

  • page or article number;

  • article file; and

  • other relevant publication metadata.

13. Indexing and Archiving

Published articles may be registered, indexed, archived, harvested, or disseminated through relevant academic indexing services, repositories, search engines, digital libraries, and digital preservation systems in accordance with the journal’s indexing and archiving policies.

The journal is committed to maintaining the long-term availability, discoverability, and accessibility of its published scholarly content.

Through this publication process, JLSPA: Journal of Law, Social, and Public Affairs is committed to maintaining scholarly quality, editorial independence, publication ethics, transparency, accountability, and long-term accessibility of research in the fields of law, social sciences, political science, public administration, public policy, governance, and public affairs.