1. Submission procedures
All manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) electronic submission system. Only registered users may submit articles for consideration. Authors are required to register and log in to the submission portal. For any inquiries regarding the electronic submission process, please contact: support@gaerpsy.com
2. Author responsibilities
Each author must accept full responsibility for the submitted work. A corresponding author must be designated for submissions with multiple authors. The corresponding author assumes primary responsibility for the manuscript, subsequent correspondence, corrections, clarifications, and handling all inquiries received before and after publication.
3. Before submission
- The manuscript must be complete, grammatically correct, and free of spelling or other errors.
- The manuscript must be concise and complete. It should neither be published elsewhere nor be under consideration for publication in another journal.
- The author(s) must ensure that third-party images and other materials subject to copyright have appropriate authorisation.
- The article(s) must reflect originality. The IJSSR considers all original research manuscripts that are scientifically sound, researchable, and reliable.
- All articles must comply with the journal's Vision, Scope, and Aims; Publication Ethics; Open Access Policy; Licensing Policy; Copyright Policy; and Article Processing Charges.
4. Cover letter
All manuscript submissions must include a cover letter in a separate document containing:
- Names (first name and surname) and affiliations of all authors (department, university, province/city/state, country).
- Informed consent statement confirming that written consent was obtained from all participants.
- Ethics statement: relevant materials for an appropriate ethics statement for research involving human or animal subjects.
- Trial registration: the name of the trial registry, trial registration number (if applicable).
- A summary of main findings: at least 3–5 lines highlighting the main findings and essential conclusions, presented in short bullet points.
5. Types of articles
The IJSSR accepts the following types of academic articles:
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: Comprehensive, methodologically rigorous syntheses of existing research following established protocols (e.g., PRISMA, Cochrane). They must include at least 10,000–12,000 words.
- Scoping reviews: Broad explorations of the extent, range, and nature of research activity on a specific topic. They must include at least 10,000–12,000 words.
- Review protocols: Pre-registered plans for systematic reviews, including search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and analysis methods. They must include at least 5,000 words.
- Methodological papers: Articles focusing on novel or comparative methods for conducting systematic reviews. They must include at least 8,000 words.
- Editorials: Opinion pieces written by editorial board members or invited experts. They may count no more than 1,500 words.
- Short communications: Brief reports presenting original research findings in a condensed format. They may count no more than 3,000 words.
6. Manuscript structure
The following sections are recommended and can be adjusted depending on the type of article:
- Title: The title should clearly identify the paper as a systematic review and communicate the main topic, population/context, intervention/exposure, or phenomenon being reviewed. The IJSSR recommended format: [Main topic]: A systematic review, or [Topic] among [Population/Context]: A systematic review. Where appropriate: [Topic]: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. PRISMA specifically recommends identifying the report as a systematic review in the title. authors must avoid:
- Vague or overly broad titles
- Titles that simply say "A review"
- Titles that do not indicate that systematic methods were used.
- Author Information: All manuscripts should provide the name, surname, and affiliation of each author (Department, University, Country), and the corresponding author(s) should be identified.
- Abstract: The abstract should briefly summarise the paper's main objectives, methodology, key results, and conclusions. The abstract should be limited to 300 words or fewer. The abstract clearly identifies the work as a systematic review. The objective/review question is explicit. The principal eligibility criteria are reported. The major information sources/databases are identified. The search period or last search date is reported where appropriate. The risk-of-bias or quality appraisal method is identified. The synthesis method is stated. The number of included studies is reported. The number of participants is reported where applicable. The principal findings are clearly presented. Quantitative results are reported where applicable. Important limitations of the evidence are acknowledged. The conclusion is supported by the findings. The abstract does not contain references unless specifically required by the journal. The abstract does not introduce information that is absent from the main manuscript. Abbreviations are avoided or defined at first use. The abstract is written clearly and objectively.
- Keywords: Keywords must be relevant and searchable. The manuscript should include 3-6 keywords after the abstract, separated by semicolons.
- Introduction/Background: The introduction highlights the significance of the research, including the research background, problem, focus, and purpose.
- Methods: Authors should provide comprehensive information on the search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, data extraction, quality assessment, and synthesis methods. For systematic reviews, adherence to PRISMA guidelines is required.
- Results: A presentation of the findings, which may include tables, graphs, forest plots, and other visual aids.
- Discussion: Authors should discuss the implications of their findings, compare with previous studies, highlight limitations, and suggest directions for future research.
- Conclusion: An effective conclusion should summarise the article's main findings and implications for further research, policy, or practice.
- Conflicts of Interest: Authors are obligated to disclose any potentially relevant conflicts of interest.
- Data Availability Statement: Authors should provide information about data availability and materials used in the study.
- Funding: Authors should provide information on any sources of financial support.
- Acknowledgement: Authors can express gratitude to individuals, organisations, or institutions that have supported their work.
- AI Usage Declaration (Optional): Authors must clearly specify the type of AI software used and its purpose.
7. References
References should be written in English, conform to international academic norms, and be included at the end of the main manuscript. Sources should be cited in the text and reference section according to APA 7th Edition.
8. Formatting requirements
- The text should be single-spaced and use an 8-point font.
- Employ italics rather than underlining (except for URL addresses).
- All illustrations, figures, and tables should be placed within the text at the appropriate points rather than at the end.
- The submission file must be in Microsoft Word document file format.
- Where available, DOIs or URLs for references must be provided.
9. Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should be numbered in order of appearance (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2). Tables should be self-descriptive, include clear, concise captions above each table, and be provided as editable raw data (not as images). Figures should be presented in a file format such as JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or BMP.