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Authors' Guidelines

Guidelines Index

1. Submission Guidelines and Originality
2. Ethics Approval and Research Involving Human Participants
3. Reporting Guidelines (EQUATOR Network)
4. Statements and Declarations
5. Page Proofs and Final Approval

Section 1: Submission Guidelines and Originality

1. Originality and Exclusive Submission

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences evaluates all submissions on the basis of scientific rigour, scholarly contribution, methodological accuracy, and linguistic integrity. By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author formally affirms that:

• The work is entirely original and has not been previously published in a peer-reviewed journal in any language.
• The manuscript is not currently under consideration for publication at any other journal.
• All listed co-authors have reviewed and approved the final submitted version.

2. Theses and Dissertations

The journal welcomes submissions containing material derived from academic theses or dissertations, provided this derivation is explicitly disclosed in the cover letter and the original thesis is properly cited within the manuscript. Authors will be required to sign a formal author declaration and publishing agreement upon acceptance.

3. Manuscript Preparation and Formatting

Manuscripts must be submitted as Microsoft Word documents (.doc or .docx) and must not exceed 8,000 words (including references and appendices). Formatting specifications:

• Arabic-language texts: Arabic Simplified font, size 12 (body), size 14 (headings)
• English-language texts: Times New Roman font, size 12 (body), size 14 (headings)
• Line spacing: 1.5 lines throughout
• Page margins: 2.5 cm on all sides

To ensure the integrity of the double-anonymized peer review process, authors must submit two separate files:

• Title Page (not for review): Must include the full article title, all author names, their highest academic degrees, full institutional affiliations, the email address of the corresponding author, and ORCID iDs for all authors.
• Main Manuscript (anonymized for review): This file must be completely stripped of all author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and any self-identifying references.

4. Bilingual Abstracts

All submissions must include a structured abstract (maximum 200 words) in both English and Arabic, regardless of the manuscript's primary language. Each abstract must be preceded by the translated article title, author names, and institutional affiliations. Abstracts should cover: background/purpose, methods, key findings, and conclusions.

5. Keywords

Authors must provide 4–6 specific keywords in both English and Arabic, placed immediately after each abstract. Keywords should be selected to maximise search discoverability and should reflect the disciplinary terms used in international indexing databases.

6. References and Citation Style

The journal adheres strictly to the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition style for all in-text citations and reference lists. References must be listed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript, arranged alphabetically according to the English alphabet.

• Romanisation of Arabic Sources: All in-text citations and the final reference list must be presented in English/Roman script. If an official English translation of an Arabic source title exists, that translation must be used. If no official translation exists, the title and publication details must be accurately transliterated into English.
• DOI Inclusion: Where available, all references should include a hyperlinked Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

7. Online Submission

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the journal's online Manuscript Tracking System. Submissions sent via personal email will not be processed. Submission portal: https://www.editorialmanager.com/alustath/

A step-by-step video tutorial on how to submit a manuscript is available here. Authors may also consult the publishing guidelines document (in Arabic) available for download here.

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Section 2: Ethics Approval and Research Involving Human Participants

All research articles submitted to Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences that involve human participants must confirm that the research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible national and/or institutional committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki (revised 2013) and its later amendments, or comparable ethical standards.

Required Ethics Statement in Manuscript

The manuscript must include, within the Methods section or in a dedicated "Ethics Approval" statement, all of the following:

• The full name of the ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) that approved the research
• The unique approval reference number issued by that committee
• Confirmation that written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study, or, where consent was waived by the ethics committee, a clear statement explaining the grounds for that waiver

Studies Not Requiring Formal Ethics Review

Studies conducted without formal ethics review (for example, secondary analysis of fully anonymised public datasets, or research involving only publicly available documents) must explicitly state this within the manuscript and provide clear academic justification for why formal ethics approval was not required.

Informed Consent and Participant Privacy

For all research involving human participants, the manuscript must confirm that voluntary informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to their inclusion in the study. Where studies involve children or other vulnerable populations, consent must be obtained from a legally authorised guardian. All personal information about participants must be treated as strictly confidential. Authors must not publish identifiable information about participants (including photographs, case details, or audio recordings) without explicit written consent from the individuals concerned.

Example Ethics Statement: "This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of [Institution Name] (Approval Number: [XXX]). All participants were informed about the nature and purpose of the study, and written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to data collection. The study was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki."

Manuscripts that do not contain an adequate ethics approval statement will be returned to the corresponding author without entering the peer review process.

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Section 3: Reporting Guidelines (EQUATOR Network)

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences requires authors submitting empirical manuscripts to adhere to the reporting standards of the EQUATOR Network relevant to their study design. Adherence to these standards ensures transparency, reproducibility, and the international credibility of published research.

Required Reporting Checklists by Study Type

Authors must upload the completed, signed reporting checklist as a supplementary document alongside the manuscript at the time of submission. Non-adherence to the applicable reporting standard will result in a request for revision prior to peer review or, in cases of significant non-compliance, desk rejection.

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Section 4: Statements and Declarations

The following statements must be included in all submitted manuscripts under the heading "Statements and Declarations", placed after the Conclusions section and before the References list. Submissions that do not include the required statements will be returned as incomplete.

1. Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support that facilitated the conduct of the research or the preparation of the manuscript. The statement must include the full name of the funding agency, the specific grant number(s), and the role of the funder in the study.

Example: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency Name] (Grant Number: [XXXXXX]). The funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, or the decision to publish."

Example (no funding): "This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."

2. Competing Interests

Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests within the past 36 months that are directly or indirectly related to the submitted work. This includes employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, unpaid advisory roles, and personal or ideological conflicts of interest.

Example (no conflict): "The authors declare no competing interests."

3. Author Contributions (CRediT Taxonomy)

The corresponding author is required to specify the contribution of every author using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). The 14 CRediT roles are: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Example: "Author A: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft. Author B: Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Author C: Supervision, Funding acquisition."

4. Data Availability Statement (Mandatory)

All submitted manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement. This statement should clearly indicate where the supporting research data can be accessed or provide a valid reason if sharing is not possible.

• Data in public repository: "The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [Repository Name] at [DOI/URL]."
• Data on request: "The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."
• No data: "No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study."
• Restricted: "The data are not publicly available due to [privacy/legal/ethical reason] but may be available upon reasonable request and appropriate permissions."

5. Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

See Section 2 (Ethics Approval and Research Involving Human Participants) for full requirements. A brief statement must appear in the Declarations section. For studies not requiring formal ethics approval, this must also be stated.

6. Declaration of Generative AI in the Writing Process

If generative AI tools were used during the preparation of the manuscript, authors must declare this. The declaration must specify the tool used, the version, and the purpose. The declaration does not apply to basic grammar or spell-check tools.

Example: "During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [TOOL NAME / VERSION] in order to [SPECIFIC REASON, e.g., improve English readability]. After using this tool, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content and take full responsibility for the content of the published article."

If not used: "The authors declare that no generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript."

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Section 5: Page Proofs and Final Approval

Following editorial acceptance, one set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by email to the Corresponding Author. The Corresponding Author bears the responsibility of sharing the proofs with all co-authors to ensure that everyone reviews and approves the final version prior to publication, in accordance with the journal's authorship and publication ethics policies.

The proofing stage is exclusively reserved for checking typographical accuracy, typesetting, formatting, and the completeness of text, tables, and figures. It is not an opportunity to introduce new data, alter scientific conclusions, or make substantive content revisions.

Any changes to the authorship list (including the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names) are generally not permitted after a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication.

To ensure rapid publication, please return all corrections as a single, consolidated communication to the editorial office within 48 hours of receipt. If no response is received within the specified timeframe, the publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication of the article in its current form.

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This page was last updated on September 7, 2026.