Journal Policies

Principles of Transparency and Antiplagiarism

The Editorial Board of JOMSA is committed to upholding high academic and ethical standards in line with the principles of transparency, research integrity, and best practices in scholarly publishing. The journal follows the ethical principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) outlined in the Core Practices, and is committed to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

All submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere. Authors are solely responsible for ensuring the authenticity, originality, and accuracy of their submissions.

To safeguard academic integrity, each manuscript is subjected to plagiarism screening using the StrikePlagiarism platform prior to peer review. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized content, whether through unreferenced textual borrowing, duplication of previously published material, data manipulation, or other forms of academic misconduct, will be rejected by the Editorial Committee.

Any form of plagiarism, including excessive text reuse, improper citation, duplicate publication, or misappropriation of research results, is considered unethical and unacceptable. If a manuscript includes fragments, ideas, data, or statements derived from other works, authors must provide accurate and complete bibliographic references, clearly identifying the original author and source.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the Editorial Board are expected to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the evaluation, interpretation, or publication of a manuscript.

The Editorial Committee strictly enforces these standards to ensure that JOMSA maintains the highest levels of scholarly credibility, publication ethics, and research integrity. Where serious ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal may issue corrections, retractions, or other appropriate notices to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial decisions, peer review procedures, or publication ethics matters. Complaints and appeals will be reviewed fairly, objectively, and confidentially by the Editor-in-Chief and, where appropriate, by members of the Editorial Board not involved in the original decision.

Process of Peer Reviewing

All submitted manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review. Under this model, the identities of both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the review process. Reviewers are expected to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

The first stage of evaluation is an editorial assessment to verify that the manuscript complies with the Author Guidelines, falls within the journal's scope, and meets the required standards of originality and academic quality. During this stage, all submissions are screened for plagiarism using the StrikePlagiarism platform.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial assessment are sent to at least two independent reviewers with expertise relevant to the subject area of the manuscript. Reviewers who consider themselves insufficiently qualified to evaluate a submission or who identify a conflict of interest are expected to decline the review invitation.

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts on the basis of originality, scientific quality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and contribution to the field.

Following evaluation, reviewers may recommend one of the following decisions:

The first editorial decision is normally communicated to the authors within 60 days after submission. The average time from submission to publication is approximately 25 weeks.

Where revisions are required, anonymized reviewer comments are provided to the authors. Revised manuscripts are evaluated to determine whether the reviewers' comments have been adequately addressed and may be subject to further review where necessary.

The final decision regarding publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief, taking into consideration the reviewers' recommendations, the editorial assessment, and the results of the plagiarism screening.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Peer Review and Editorial Processes

To preserve the confidentiality, integrity, and quality of the peer-review process, reviewers and editors must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to prepare, generate, or substantially draft peer-review reports, editorial evaluations, or publication decisions. Limited use of AI-assisted tools for language editing or rewriting may be permitted, provided that such use is disclosed where appropriate, does not compromise confidentiality, and does not replace independent human judgment.

The Editorial Office may use automated tools to support editorial processes, including plagiarism detection, text similarity analysis, and the identification of potential research integrity concerns. Any routine use of such tools is subject to human oversight. Results generated by automated systems are considered advisory and are verified by an editor or other authorized member of the Editorial Board before any editorial action or decision is taken.

Submissions

JOMSA accepts original research articles for publication in English (US). Authors must prepare and submit their manuscripts in accordance with the Journal's Author Guidelines in Submissions section, which provide detailed instructions regarding manuscript structure, formatting, references, ethical requirements, and submission procedures.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, not previously published, and not under consideration by another journal. Authors are solely responsible for ensuring the originality, validity, and reliability of the research and results presented.

The corresponding author is responsible for the correct composition of the list of co-authors and for confirming that all listed authors have made a significant intellectual contribution to the submitted work.

When using content from other sources, authors must provide clear and accurate citations, including complete bibliographic references to the original author and source.

Authors must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, that could influence the interpretation of the research. Where applicable, authors should also identify funding sources and relevant institutional affiliations.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Manuscript Preparation

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is permitted for language editing, grammar correction, coding assistance, or research support. Any use of generative AI tools that contributes to the preparation of a manuscript must be clearly disclosed by the authors at the time of submission and described in the Acknowledgements section of the article. Generative AI tools cannot be cited as authors or as primary sources of information. In line with COPE recommendations, artificial intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all submitted content, including any content generated or modified using AI tools. This policy does not apply to standard software tools such as spelling and grammar checkers, reference managers, or similar editorial assistance software.

Data Availability

Authors are encouraged to retain and, where appropriate, share the data supporting the findings of their research. The Editorial Board may request access to underlying data where necessary to verify the validity, accuracy, or integrity of the reported results. Where restrictions apply to data availability, authors should clearly indicate the reasons in the manuscript.

By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to comply with the journal's publishing policies and ethical standards.

Author Identification and Verification

To ensure transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the scholarly record, JOMSA requires all authors to provide verifiable information regarding their identity and institutional affiliation.

Each author must have a registered ORCID iD with publicly visible information, including at minimum their current institutional affiliation.

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's online submission system. Authors are required to use an institutional email address associated with their declared affiliation. Exceptions may be granted only to independent researchers or in exceptional circumstances, subject to editorial verification and approval.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to request additional information or documentation where necessary to verify authorship, institutional affiliation, or contributor identity.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant JOMSA the non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, and preserve the published version of the article.

All articles published in JOMSA are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, and sharing of the work in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the journal is acknowledged as the source of first publication.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:

  • the work is original and does not infringe the copyright or other rights of any third party;
  • the content has not been previously published;
  • the manuscript is not under consideration by another publication;

Upon acceptance, authors grant JOMSA the non-exclusive right to:

  • publish the article;
  • distribute and make the article publicly available through the journal website;
  • disseminate the article through academic databases, indexing services, institutional repositories, and other scholarly platforms.

Authors retain the right to use, reproduce, distribute, and archive their published work. In all cases, it is mandatory to provide a full bibliographic reference to the original publication in JOMSA, including a hyperlink to the article's official version on the journal's website.

Archiving Policy

JOMSA is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation, accessibility, and availability of its published content.

All published articles are archived and preserved in the Institutional Repository of the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), which provides long-term digital storage, preservation, and public access to scholarly publications.

Published articles are also disseminated through external scholarly databases and repositories, including CEEOL, which further supports the visibility and accessibility of the journal's content.

In the event that the journal ceases publication or the journal website becomes unavailable, the archived content deposited in the UNWE Institutional Repository will remain accessible to the scholarly community.

The journal regularly maintains electronic backups of its content to support the preservation, security, and integrity of the scholarly record.

Privacy Statement

The names, email addresses, and other personal information entered on this journal website will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any third party except where required by law or necessary for the operation of the journal.

Personal data are processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and are used solely for editorial, publishing, and communication purposes related to the journal.