Criteria for Manuscript Preparation and Authorship

The Journal of Social Commerce welcomes original scholarly manuscripts that contribute to the understanding and development of social commerce and related fields. Manuscripts must demonstrate academic rigor, relevance to the journal’s Focus and Scope, and a clear contribution to existing knowledge.

1. Manuscript Eligibility

Submitted manuscripts must meet the following criteria:

  1. Relevance: The manuscript must fall within the journal’s stated Focus and Scope.

  2. Originality: The manuscript must present original scholarly work and must not have been published previously, in whole or in substantial part, except where prior dissemination is permitted under the journal’s policies and fully disclosed.

  3. Exclusive submission: The manuscript must not be under consideration by another journal at the same time.

  4. Scholarly contribution: The manuscript must offer a clear contribution to theory, research, methodology, practice, or policy relevant to social commerce and associated disciplines.

  5. Academic rigor: The arguments, methods, analysis, and conclusions must be logically developed and supported by appropriate evidence and scholarly literature.

  6. Clarity and organization: The manuscript must be clearly written, logically structured, and suitable for an academic readership.

  7. Verifiable references: Sources must be relevant, reliable, and accurately cited. Every in-text citation must correspond to a reference-list entry, and every reference-list entry must be cited in the manuscript.

  8. Compliance with journal policies: Authors must comply with the journal’s applicable policies concerning publication ethics, copyright, licensing, and publication charges.

2. Eligible Manuscript Types

The journal may consider the following types of scholarly contributions, provided that they fit its Focus and Scope:

  • Empirical research articles: Studies based on quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research.

  • Theoretical or conceptual articles: Papers that develop, integrate, critically examine, or extend theories and conceptual frameworks.

  • Other scholarly article types: Other contributions may be considered where they are relevant to the journal and accepted under its editorial policies.

3. Criteria for Empirical Research Articles

Empirical manuscripts should clearly present the research problem, objectives or research questions, relevant theoretical foundation, research methods, findings, discussion, and conclusions.

Authors should provide sufficient information about the research design, data sources, sampling or participant selection, data collection procedures, and analytical methods to allow readers to assess the credibility of the study.

Where applicable, manuscripts should address research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, and other relevant ethical safeguards.

The results and conclusions must be supported by the data and analysis presented. Limitations and implications should be discussed where appropriate.

4. Criteria for Theoretical and Conceptual Articles

Theoretical and conceptual manuscripts must offer a substantive contribution beyond a general description or summary of previous literature.

Such manuscripts should:

  1. Identify a clear theoretical problem, conceptual gap, or unresolved issue in the relevant literature.

  2. Explain the theoretical perspectives and scholarly debates on which the argument is based.

  3. Critically synthesize relevant literature rather than merely list or summarize previous studies.

  4. Develop a coherent argument, conceptual framework, propositions, or theoretical insights, as appropriate to the article.

  5. Explain how the proposed argument or framework extends, integrates, challenges, or refines existing knowledge.

  6. Discuss the theoretical implications and, where relevant, implications for research, practice, or policy.

  7. Support substantive claims with appropriate and verifiable scholarly references.

A conceptual article is not required to use an empirical research structure. Its organization should instead reflect the research problem, theoretical argument, development of concepts or propositions, and contribution to the literature.

5. Authorship and Author Contributions

All listed authors must have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the manuscript and must be able to take responsibility for their contributions.

Authors should agree on the author list and the order of authors before submission. The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication with the journal and confirming that all authors approve the submitted version.

Any change to the author list after submission must be explained and is subject to editorial approval. Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors; their contributions may be acknowledged where appropriate and with their permission.

6. Manuscript Structure and Formatting

Authors must prepare manuscripts according to the journal’s current Author Guidelines and official article template.

Depending on the article type, a manuscript may include a title, abstract, keywords, introduction, literature review or theoretical foundation, methods or conceptual development, results or analysis, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgments where applicable, declarations where required, and references.

The structure should be appropriate to the manuscript type. Authors submitting theoretical or conceptual papers should not include empirical sections that are not relevant to their work.

Citations and references must follow the latest edition of the APA Style guidelines as specified by the journal. Authors should consult the official APA Style website for current guidance: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines.

Authors should use the journal’s official article template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LJG9BBQZ3Q8k8G0gg-7uIlJf7Eops6c6/edit?rtpof=true&sd=true&tab=t.0.

7. Language, Data, and Research Transparency

Manuscripts must use clear, professional academic language. Authors are responsible for checking grammar, terminology, tables, figures, and other manuscript elements before submission.

Research data, analytical procedures, and supporting materials should be described sufficiently to permit appropriate scholarly evaluation. Data or materials should be made available when ethically, legally, and contractually permissible. Any restrictions on access should be explained where relevant.

Authors must ensure that tables, figures, images, and other third-party materials are used with the necessary permissions and acknowledgments.

8. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors must ensure that all submitted content is accurate, original, properly referenced, and reviewed by the human authors. Where the use of artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools is subject to disclosure under the journal’s applicable policy, authors must provide the required disclosure.

AI tools must not be listed as authors. Human authors remain responsible for the integrity, accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance of the manuscript.

9. Editorial Assessment

Compliance with these criteria does not guarantee acceptance. Submitted manuscripts may undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine their relevance, originality, completeness, and compliance with the journal’s requirements.

Manuscripts that do not meet the basic requirements may be returned for revision or declined before peer review. Manuscripts that pass the initial assessment may proceed to the journal’s editorial and peer-review process, in accordance with its published procedures.

For related requirements, authors should consult the journal’s Focus and Scope, Publication Ethics, Article Processing Charge, and Copyright Notice pages.