LGUJLS PEER REVIEW POLICY

The practice of peer review is to ensure that only good science is published. It is an objective process at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out by all reputable scientific journals. LGUJLS follows double blind peer review policy as per HEC ‘Y category’ Journals. Each manuscript is peer-reviewed at least by two reviewers in the relevant field before acceptance. The processing of LGUJLS manuscripts has been maintained through OJS, journal management system. The journal will follow HEC recognized indexing/ abstracting agencies as well as well-reputed international databases preferably SCOPUS. Our referees play a vital role in maintaining the high standards Transport Policy and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.

INITIAL MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION

It is mandatory for LGUJLS editors to perform their responsibilities fairly and maintain the quality publications. The standard publication ethics are followed vigilantly and without any biasness in processing articles according to HEC policy. The Editor first evaluates all manuscripts. It is rare, but it is possible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Manuscripts rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are normally passed on to at least 2 experts for review.

ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE AUTHOR(S)

The ethical guidelines recommended by HEC are obligatory for all author(s). Their violation may result in application of penalties by the editor, including but not limited to the suspension or revocation of publishing privileges.

Reporting Standards

• It is the author(s)' responsibility to ensure that the research report and data contain adequate detail and references to the sources of information in order to allow others to reproduce the results.
• Fraudulent or inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
• Originality and Plagiarism
• It is the author(s)' responsibility to ascertain that s/he has submitted an entirely original work, giving due credit, by virtue of proper citations, to the works and/or words of others where they have been used.
• Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is not acceptable.
• Material quoted verbatim from the author(s)' previously published work or other sources must be placed in quotation marks.
• As per HEC’s policy, in case the manuscript has a similarity index of more than 19%, it will either be rejected or left at the discretion of the Editorial Board for the purposes of a conditional acceptance.
• Declaration

• Authors are required to provide an undertaking / declaration stating that the manuscript under consideration contains solely their original work that is not under consideration for publishing in any other journal in any form.
• Authors may submit a manuscript previously published in abstracted form, for e.g. in the proceedings of an annual meeting, or in a periodical with limited circulation and availability such as reports by the Government agencies or a University.
• A manuscript that is co-authored must be accompanied by an undertaking explicitly stating that each author has contributed substantially towards the preparation of the manuscript in order to claim right to authorship.
• It is  the  responsibility  of  the  corresponding author  to  ensure that all those who have  substantially  contributed  in  the  manuscripts have and they have  agreed to the order of authorship.
• Multiple, Redundant and Current Publication

• Authors should not  submit  manuscripts describing  essentially the  same  research  to  more than  one  journal  or  publication  except  if  is  a  resubmission  of  a  rejected or withdrawn.  
• Authors may re-publish previously conducted research that has been substantially altered or corrected using more meticulous analysis or by adding more data.
• The authors and editor must agree to the secondary publication, which must cite the primary references and reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document.
• Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
• Acknowledgment of Sources

• A paper  must  always  contain  proper  acknowledgment  of  the  work  of  others, including clear indications of the sources of all information quoted or offered, except what is common knowledge.
• The author(s) must also acknowledge the contributions of people, organizations and institutes who assisted the process of research, including those who provided technical help, writing assistance or financial funding (in the acknowledgement).
• It is duty of the author(s) to conduct a literature review and properly cite the original publications that describe closely related work.
• Authorship Credit

• Authorship of the work may only be credited to those who have made a noteworthy contribution in conceptualization, design, conducting, data analysis and writing up of the manuscript.
• It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to include the name(s) of only those co-authors who have made significant contributions to the work.
• The corresponding author should ensure that all co- authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspect of the research should be acknowledged for their contribution in an "Acknowledgement" section.
• Privacy of Participants

• Authors must respect the privacy of the participant of research and must not use any information obtained from them without their informed consent.
• Authors should ensure that only information that improves understanding of the study is shared.
• Authors must ensure that in instances where the identity of the participant needs to be revealed in the study, explicit and informed consent of the concerned party is obtained.
• In the case of the demise of a participant, consent must be obtained from the family of the deceased.
• Data Access and Retention

• If any question arises about the accuracy or validity of the research work during the review process, the author(s) should provide raw data to the Editor.
• Images

• The author(s) should ensure that images included in an account of research performed or in the data collection as part of the research are free from manipulation,
• The author(s) must provide an accurate description of how the images were generated and produced.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

• The potential and relevant competing financial, personal, social or other interest of all author(s) that might be affected by publication of the results contained in the manuscript must be conveyed to the editor.
• Author(s)  should  disclose  any  potential  conflict  of  interest  at  the  earliest  possible  stage, including but not limited to employment, consultancies, honoraria, patent applications/registrations, grants or other funding.
• All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed alongside a brief overview of the role played, if any by the responses during various stages of the research.
• Copyright

• Authors retain the copyright to their work while granting LGUJLS the right to publish the article under a specified license.

TYPE OF PEER REVIEW

Transport Policy employs double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process.

HOW THE REFEREE IS SELECTED?

Whenever possible, referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise and our database is constantly being updated.

REFEREE REPORTS

Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript: - Is original - Is methodologically sound - Follows appropriate ethical guidelines - Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions - Correctly references previous relevant work.

Language correction is not part of the peer review process, but referees may, if so wish, suggest corrections to the manuscript.

HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW PROCESS TAKE?

The time required for the review process is dependent on the response of the referees. Should the referee’s reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. In rare cases for which it is extremely difficult to find a second referee to review the manuscript, or when the one referee’s report has thoroughly convinced the Editor, decisions at this stage to accept, reject or ask the author for a revision are made on the basis of only one referee’s report. The Editor’s decision will be sent to the author with recommendations made by the referees, which usually includes verbatim comments by the referees. Revised manuscripts might be returned to the initial referees who may then request another revision of a manuscript.

FINAL REPORT

A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees, and may include verbatim comments by the referees.

EDITOR’S DECISION IS FINAL

Referees advice the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.