Submissions

Author Guidelines

We welcome paper submissions throughout the year! If you are interested in sharing your research and insights with a wider audience, we invite you to submit your paper for consideration. Our journal accepts a variety of topics and research areas from the domains of Public Policy, Public Administration, and Philosophy ensuring a platform for diverse scholarly contributions.

Authors are strongly encouraged to review the Journal's Publication Workflow Policy, Replication Policy, and Publication Time-Frame Policy before submitting their manuscript.

Please note that all papers must be submitted online through this website by the corresponding or submitting author. Submissions sent via email will not be accepted or considered.

To submit your manuscript to the journal, the corresponding or submitting author should follow these four steps:

1. Prepare your manuscript
2. Fill the Competing Interest Disclosure form
3. Provide a Cover letter to the Editor
4. Submit your manuscript

Step 1: Prepare Your Manuscript:

Please ensure your manuscript adheres to the Manuscript Formatting Guidelines provided on this page by the journal. Our review process is double-blinded, necessitating the removal of all author(s) information and identifications from the manuscript. Find out more about how to do that.

Step 2: Fill the Competing Interest Disclosure Form:

The corresponding or first author is required to submit a Competing Interest (CI) statement with their manuscript. Please access the CI disclosure form by clicking here.

Step 3: Provide a Cover Letter to the Editor:

After completing the first two steps, the corresponding or first author is required to submit a cover letter to the Journal Editor.

Step 4: Submit your Manuscript:

You have reached the final step of the submission process. To submit your article, please register with the journal. If you're already registered, simply log in and proceed with the five-step workflow process.

Manuscript Formatting Guidelines:

Authors should thoroughly review and follow these guidelines before preparing their manuscripts. Ensure your manuscript does not contain any information about the author(s) and is free of grammatical errors before submission. All submissions will undergo a double blind peer review process conducted by experienced and qualified reviewers.

Author, please note the following guidelines for submission:

1. Papers must be submitted in Word format (.DOC or . DOCX).
2. References must adhere to the APA 6th ed. style and should be meticulously reviewed for completeness, accuracy, and consistency.
3. All submitted papers will undergo double-blinded review. Therefore, authors are requested to remove all personal information and identifiers from the manuscript. Ensure that authors' names are not included in the document/file properties.
4. This is a peer-reviewed journal, and submitted papers/articles may be subject to revision and re-submission.
5. Submitted papers must not have been previously published or presented for publication elsewhere. Any legal ramifications resulting from duplication will be the sole responsibility of the author, with no liability attributed to the journal, editor, reviewers or referees.
6. Articles submitted for publication should include data no older than 5 years from the date of article receipt.
7. Each article should constitute a complete investigation and should not be divided into parts. Maintain proper continuity in presenting information, ensuring clarity, objectivity, and conciseness in all statements.
8. While there is no prescribed word or page limit for full-length articles, each article should occupy a minimum of 2 full printed pages of the journal.
9. There are no word limits for the Full Text, but the Abstract should not exceed 200 words.
10. All articles must be written in either British English or American English, using the respective spelling and terminology. The text and English language in new and revised articles must be checked, edited, and corrected by the authors, preferably with the help of a native English speaker.
11. Submissions may be formatted in single or double spacing, preferably in Times New Roman size 12 font. All accepted articles will be correctly formatted for publication.
12. The text of the article should include the following:
    1. Title (Concise and descriptive)
    2. Abstract (Max 200 words summarizing key points, findings, and conclusions)
    3. Keywords (at-least five words)
    4. Full Text
       
       1. Introduction (Background, aims and objectives, and significance)
       2. Theoretical background of the study
       3. Hypothesis
       4. Research Methodology (Detailed description of methods and materials)
       5. Research Findings (Results of the Data analysis, charts, and tables (if any))
       6. Discussion (Interpretation, relevance, and implications)
       7. Conclusion (Summary of findings and future scope)
    5. References (Follow APA (6th edition) citation style)
    6. Endnotes ((if any)(footnotes are not allowed)
    7. Tables, Figure Captions, and Figures (Numbered, labelled, and placed at the end of the document)
    8. Acknowledgements (if any)
    9. Abbreviations used (if any)
    10. Formatting (Times New Roman, 12-point, single/double spacing)

SOME EXAMPLES OF APA (6TH EDITION) CITATION STYLE

In-Text Citations:

1. Single Author: (Smith, 2010)
2. Two Authors: (Jones & Taylor, 2015)
3. Three to Five Authors (First Mention): (Brown, Lee, & Harris, 2012)
4. Three to Five Authors (Subsequent Mentions): (Brown et al., 2012)
5. Six or More Authors: (Williams et al., 2018)
6. Direct Quote with Page Number: (Johnson, 2017, p. 25)

Reference List Examples:

1. Book: Smith, J. (2010). The art of research writing. Academic Press.

2. Journal Article: Brown, K., Lee, M., & Harris, P. (2012). The effects of social media on education. Journal of Educational Studies, 45(3), 234-250. https://doi.org/xxxxx

3. Website: National Institute of Mental Health. (2019). Anxiety disorders. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety-disorders

4. Conference Paper: Taylor, R. (2015). Advances in machine learning. In M. Gomez (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on AI (pp. 55-70). Springer.

5. Dissertation/Thesis: Williams, T. R. (2018). A study on climate change adaptation (Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Download the Research Paper Template

To ensure proper formatting, all authors submitting to SOCRATES are encouraged to use our official research paper template. This template helps streamline the submission process and ensures compliance with our guidelines.

Download the Research Paper Template (Ms Word format as applicable)

Replication policy of the journal:

If the paper includes an analysis of primary or secondary data using any statistical software (for example: SPSS, STATA, R, Excel) the first/ corresponding/ submitting author must submit the replication data in accordance with the journal's guidelines before the review process begins. Providing replication data will assist reviewers in better understanding the paper and making an informed decision.