For Editors

GUIDELINES FOR EDITORS

DEEKSHA: Bi-Annual Peer Reviewed Journal of Social Work

The Editorial Team of DEEKSHA: Annual Peer Reviewed Journal of Social Work plays a pivotal role in upholding academic excellence, editorial independence, ethical integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing. These guidelines define the roles, responsibilities, and standards expected of all editors to ensure a fair, rigorous, timely, and transparent editorial process.

Editors shall carry out their responsibilities objectively and professionally. Editorial decisions must be based solely on the academic merit, originality, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, relevance, and contribution of the manuscript to the field of Social Work. Editors must not discriminate against authors on the basis of gender, nationality, ethnicity, institutional affiliation, religion, political beliefs, or other personal characteristics.

Editorial Structure and Roles

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief provides overall academic leadership and strategic direction for DEEKSHA. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for ensuring adherence to the journal's editorial policies, ethical standards, and publication procedures. The Editor-in-Chief safeguards editorial independence and integrity and holds final responsibility for decisions relating to the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts. The Editor-in-Chief also oversees the functioning of the Editorial Team and ensures that the journal maintains high standards of academic quality and ethical publishing.

Associate and Academic Editors

Associate and Academic Editors support the Editor-in-Chief in the academic evaluation and management of submitted manuscripts. Their responsibilities include conducting the initial screening of submissions, assessing the relevance of manuscripts to the scope of the journal, identifying and recommending suitably qualified peer reviewers, evaluating reviewer reports, and providing recommendations regarding editorial decisions. They are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts meet the required standards of academic quality, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, and relevance to Social Work.

Managing and Handling Editors

Managing and Handling Editors coordinate the administrative and procedural aspects of manuscript processing. They facilitate communication among authors, reviewers, and academic editors; organise and monitor the peer review process; ensure the timely progression of manuscripts; issue reminders where necessary; and maintain appropriate documentation and archival records related to submissions, reviews, and editorial decisions.

Production Editors

Production Editors are responsible for preparing accepted manuscripts for publication. Their duties include copyediting, language editing, formatting, proofreading, and coordinating the final production process. Substantive editorial changes should be communicated to and confirmed by the authors. Production Editors must ensure the accuracy of citations, references, formatting, author information, and publication metadata before publication.

Initial Manuscript Assessment

Upon receipt of a manuscript, the Editor-in-Chief or an authorised Associate Editor shall conduct an initial assessment to determine whether the submission is suitable for further consideration. The manuscript should be evaluated for its relevance to the scope and objectives of DEEKSHA: Bi-Annual Peer Reviewed Journal, originality, academic quality, methodological appropriateness, and potential contribution to Social Work knowledge, theory, research, education, or practice.

Editors shall verify the originality of the manuscript through appropriate similarity or plagiarism-detection procedures and identify potential ethical concerns, including plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication or falsification, undisclosed conflicts of interest, copyright violations, and other forms of research or publication misconduct. Where applicable, editors should verify whether appropriate ethical approval and informed consent have been obtained.

Manuscripts that do not meet the basic academic, ethical, or technical requirements of the journal may be rejected without external peer review. Such decisions should be communicated to the authors promptly, professionally, and with a clear and appropriate explanation.

Ethical Responsibilities and Editorial Integrity

Editors must uphold the highest standards of publication ethics and maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and all associated editorial communications. Information concerning a manuscript must not be disclosed to anyone other than those directly involved in the editorial, peer review, production, or publication process.

Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and should not handle manuscripts in which they have personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other relationships that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their editorial judgment. In such circumstances, responsibility for handling the manuscript should be transferred to another suitably qualified editor.

Editorial decisions must be made independently and should not be influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressures, personal relationships, or any other inappropriate considerations. Editors must ensure that the peer review process remains fair, impartial, confidential, and consistent with the journal's policies.

Selection and Appointment of Reviewers

Editors are responsible for identifying and appointing suitably qualified peer reviewers whose expertise corresponds to the subject matter and methodology of the manuscript. Reviewers should possess the necessary academic or professional competence to provide an informed, impartial, comprehensive, and constructive assessment.

Editors must take reasonable steps to identify and avoid potential conflicts of interest. In selecting reviewers, efforts should be made to ensure diversity in terms of academic expertise, institutional affiliation, geographical representation, and scholarly perspectives. Editors should also avoid repeatedly assigning review responsibilities to the same individuals when other suitably qualified reviewers are available.

Reviewers should be provided with clear information regarding the journal's evaluation criteria, confidentiality requirements, conflict-of-interest expectations, and the expected timeline for submitting their review reports.

Peer Review Process

Review Model

DEEKSHA: Bi-Annual Peer Reviewed Journal follows a double-blind peer review process to promote objectivity, fairness, and academic rigour. The identities of authors and reviewers shall remain anonymous throughout the review process to minimise potential bias and ensure an independent evaluation of the manuscript.

Editors are responsible for ensuring that author-identifying information is removed from manuscripts before they are sent for review and that reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors.

Review Management

Reviewers should be provided with clear evaluation criteria and reasonable deadlines for submitting their reports, normally within three to four weeks. Editors should actively monitor the progress of reviews and issue reminders when necessary.

Where delays occur, editors should take appropriate measures to avoid unnecessary postponement. If the review process is substantially delayed, authors should be informed appropriately and transparently about the status of their manuscript.

Quality Control of Reviews

Editors must assess the quality, relevance, and usefulness of peer review reports before relying on them in the editorial decision-making process. Reviews should be rigorous, constructive, respectful, objective, and supported by appropriate academic reasoning or evidence.

Reviewer comments should focus on relevant aspects of the manuscript, including originality, academic merit, conceptual clarity, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, analysis, interpretation, relevance, and contribution to knowledge and Social Work practice.

Where a review report is inadequate, unclear, inappropriate, or substantially conflicting with another review, the editor may request clarification from the reviewer, seek an additional independent review, or make an independent and reasoned editorial judgment based on the available evidence.

Editorial Decision-Making

Editorial decisions shall be based on peer review reports and the independent academic judgment of the responsible editor. Depending on the quality and suitability of the manuscript, the decision may be to accept the manuscript, request minor revisions, request major revisions, or reject the manuscript.

Editors must communicate decisions promptly, professionally, and clearly. Authors should receive a structured summary of reviewer comments and editorial requirements where revisions are requested. Revision requests should clearly specify the areas requiring attention and provide an appropriate deadline for resubmission.

Where an editorial decision differs substantially from the recommendations of peer reviewers, the responsible editor should provide an appropriate academic justification for the decision. All decisions must be based solely on academic merit, originality, methodological rigour, ethical standards, relevance, and contribution to knowledge.

Handling Revisions

When a revised manuscript is resubmitted, the responsible editor should assess whether the authors have adequately addressed the comments and recommendations provided during the review process. Authors may be required to submit a detailed response-to-reviewers document explaining how each comment has been addressed and identifying the corresponding changes made in the manuscript.

Manuscripts involving minor revisions may be assessed by the handling editor. Where substantial revisions have been made, the manuscript may be returned to the original reviewers or sent to additional reviewers when necessary. The editor must ensure that the revised manuscript meets the required academic, ethical, and editorial standards before recommending or granting final acceptance.

Communication with Authors and Reviewers

Editors must ensure that all communication with authors and reviewers is professional, respectful, timely, and clear. Editorial correspondence should provide appropriate information regarding manuscript status, editorial decisions, revision requirements, and applicable deadlines.

Editors should avoid unnecessary delays and keep authors appropriately informed when significant delays occur. Reviewers should receive clear instructions regarding their responsibilities and should be acknowledged for their contribution to the scholarly review process.

All communications related to manuscripts must be treated as confidential.

Handling Complaints and Appeals

Editors must handle complaints, grievances, and appeals related to editorial decisions or the peer review process with fairness, professionalism, confidentiality, and transparency. Concerns should be examined carefully and objectively, and appropriate responses should be communicated to the concerned parties within a reasonable timeframe.

Where an appeal raises a substantive concern regarding the fairness or integrity of the review or editorial process, the Editor-in-Chief may arrange for an independent assessment or reconsideration of the manuscript. Any reconsideration should follow the principles of fairness, transparency, and editorial independence.

Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Concerns

Editors are responsible for addressing significant errors, allegations of research misconduct, ethical concerns, or other issues identified after publication. Where an error materially affects the accuracy or interpretation of a published article, the Editorial Team should work with the authors and, where necessary, relevant institutions to determine the appropriate corrective action.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction. Retractions and other post-publication actions should follow the journal's established policies and recognised principles of publication ethics, including applicable guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics.

All post-publication notices should be transparent, clearly identified, and appropriately linked to the original publication.

Confidentiality and Protection of Manuscripts

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and associated documents. Unpublished material contained in a manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research, teaching, publication, or other work without the explicit permission of the author.

Manuscript information should be shared only with individuals who have a legitimate role in the editorial, peer review, production, or publication process.

Monitoring Journal Quality and Scholarly Impact

The Editorial Team should continuously work towards improving the academic quality, visibility, credibility, and scholarly influence of DEEKSHA. Editors are encouraged to monitor the dissemination and academic impact of published articles through appropriate indicators such as citations, indexing databases, readership, academic engagement, and other relevant scholarly measures.

Efforts to enhance the journal's visibility should prioritise the publication of high-quality, original, ethically conducted, and socially relevant research. Editorial policies and practices should be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research ethics, and relevant academic standards.

Final Editorial Responsibility

All members of the Editorial Team share responsibility for protecting the integrity, credibility, and academic standards of DEEKSHA. Editors must perform their duties with impartiality, professionalism, accountability, and respect for authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider academic community.

The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the editorial direction and integrity of the journal and for ensuring that editorial decisions and procedures remain consistent with the journal's stated policies and recognised standards of ethical scholarly publishing.

These guidelines may be reviewed and updated periodically to ensure continued alignment with the journal's editorial policies, applicable academic standards, publication ethics, and evolving best practices in scholarly publishing.