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Policies

Who Can Submit?

The APSSR encourages and welcomes submissions from different social science disciplines, regions, countries, and epistemological, ontological, and methodological traditions. The journal may decline a second or third consecutive submission from authors whose works have been recently published or accepted in APSSR to maintain the diversity of contributors and provide publication opportunities for other scholars.

Anyone may submit an original manuscript for consideration in the Asia Pacific Social Science Review (APSSR) if they hold the copyright to the work or have secured authorization from the copyright owner to submit the manuscript. Authors are the initial copyright holders unless copyright has been contractually transferred. Recently published authors in the APSSR should wait for at least one year after their latest publication before submitting a new manuscript.

Submission and Publication Schedule

APSSR accepts submissions on a rolling basis. All submissions undergo editorial screening and double-blind peer review. Accepted manuscripts are scheduled for publication in the journal’s quarterly issues (March, June, September, and December).

Article Processing Fees and Publication Charges

There are no fees associated with submission, reviewing, or publishing in APSSR.

General Submission Rules and Process

All submitted manuscripts will undergo preliminary screening, which includes: similarity check (is the similarity rating justifiable and acceptable?), writing (is the English Language expression correct and clear?), completeness, and organization (does it have all the required sections?), and formatting (are the sections appropriately done according to the rules of the journal and the APA7 Style guide?). The journal editors may decide to review, unsubmit, or reject manuscripts at this stage.

Manuscripts that pass the screening are queued for desk review and evaluation by the journal editors. The APSSR editors evaluate submitted manuscripts based on several criteria, which may include but are not limited to:

  • Alignment of the topic to the scope of APSSR (i.e., interesting, relevant, or emerging topics situated within or with implications to the Asia-Pacific region)
  • A compelling rationale for the study (i.e., clear research problem, well-articulated research questions or objectives, compelling significance)
  • Soundness and clarity of methodology (i.e., appropriateness of the selected method for the study and sufficiency of information about the research design and specific method of data collection and analysis)
  • Quality of data and analytical rigor (i.e., adequacy of data and how well the analysis support the interpretation and conclusion)
  • Coherence and organization of the manuscript (i.e., the manuscript is well-organized and the different parts and sections go well together)
  • Potential contribution to scholarship and/or practice (i.e., the value of the contributions of the manuscript justify publication)

The APSSR editors will determine which manuscripts will proceed to external review during desk review and evaluation. The editors may decide to proceed to external review, unsubmit, or reject submissions at this stage.

The APSSR welcomes the following manuscript types:
Research Articles (5,000–8,000 words)
Research Briefs (3,000–4,000 words)
Book Reviews (800 -1,200 words)

Submissions must not be previously published or under review elsewhere. Manuscripts should follow the APA 7 style guide. Submissions must be uploaded through the journal’s ScholarOne portal.

Main Manuscript Formatting Requirements

The main file must be anonymized and include only:
Title
Abstract
Full text
Tables and figures
References

Submissions must be in MS Word format. Names, affiliations, and other personal and institutional identifiers should not appear on the manuscript.

Refer to this sample manuscript.

Review Process and Duration

Manuscripts undergo editorial screening followed by double-blind review by at least two experts. Decisions include Accept, Revise and Resubmit, or Reject.

The Asia Pacific Social Science Review (APSSR) is committed to a rigorous and timely peer review process. Following initial editorial screening, manuscripts typically undergo review for approximately three to six months, depending on reviewer availability and the complexity of the submission. APSSR ensures transparent communication with authors throughout the process and strives to deliver decisions as efficiently as academic standards permit.

AI Policy

AI platforms may not be credited as authors and must be used only for limited, non-substantive tasks such as language editing, summarization, or data organization. Any use of AI must be transparently disclosed, and authors retain full responsibility for verifying the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content. Undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI constitutes a breach of research ethics, and the editorial board reserves the right to request clarification or reject manuscripts that do not comply with these standards.

Open Access Policy

APSSR is an open-access journal. All articles are freely available.

Archiving Policy

Published articles are archived by the journal’s institutional repository. Authors retain copyright and may archive their work in non-commercial repositories.