Author Credit Policy

Author Credit and Contribution Policy

Pakistan Social Sciences Review (PSSR) maintains a transparent framework to ensure fair recognition for all contributors across every phase of research and manuscript development. Aligning with international ethical publishing practices, the journal requires explicit clarification of each contributor's specific role prior to publication.

Author Contribution Framework

Submissions must outline individual author responsibilities using the standard CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) structure. Contributors should specify and justify their involvement across applicable roles:

• Conceptualization – Design and formulation of overarching research goals and aims.
• Methodology – Development or design of research methodologies and models.
• Software – Programming, code design, or implementation of supporting software components.
• Validation – Verification of replication, reproducibility, and overall execution of experiments or results.
• Formal Analysis – Application of statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques to analyze data.
• Investigation – Conducting research, data collection, and experimental procedures.
• Resources – Provision of study materials, laboratory space, computing resources, or instrumentation.
• Data Curation – Management, scrub, and maintenance of research data.
• Writing (Original Draft) – Preparation and creation of the initial written manuscript.
• Writing (Review & Editing) – Critical review, revision, and commentary by members of the research team.
• Visualization – Preparation and presentation of data graphics, figures, and technical layouts.
• Supervision – Oversight and leadership for the research activity planning and execution.
• Project Administration – Coordination and management of the research project planning.
• Funding Acquisition – Acquisition of financial support for the project.

Authorship Criteria & Artificial Intelligence

Authorship status is restricted to individuals who make direct, substantive intellectual contributions to the study. PSSR adheres to the authorship principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

To be credited as a co-author, an individual must fulfill all three of the following conditions:

1. Contribute substantially to the study design, methodology, data collection, or analytical interpretation.
2. Participate actively in drafting the paper or revising it critically for intellectual content.
3. Review and grant explicit approval for the final version prior to publication.

Individuals who assist with funding, administrative tasks, language assistance, or technical operations without meeting all three criteria must be credited in the Acknowledgements section rather than listed as co-authors.

Generative AI Policy: Large Language Models and AI utilities (such as ChatGPT) cannot be listed as authors. AI tools may only be utilized for minor language polishing (grammar and clarity improvements), and such use must be explicitly declared in the manuscript. Generating core scholarly arguments, literature syntheses, or empirical findings via AI tools is strictly prohibited.

Author Order & Role Definitions

The sequence of author names should reflect the relative level of intellectual contribution to the project. The primary contributor typically appears first in the author list.

The Corresponding Author acts as the primary liaison between the journal editorial office and all co-authors during initial submission, peer review, and post-publication stages.

Administrative & Editorial Task	Submitting Author	Corresponding Author
Verify accuracy of author names, order, and institutional affiliations	✓	✓
Manage submission workflow and coordinate responses to review reports	✓	✓
Act as primary point of contact with the editorial office	✓	✓
Monitor system communications and progress updates	✓	✓
Ensure ethical approvals, consent disclosures, and funding metadata are accurate	✓	✓
Provide official contact email for publication display		✓
Respond to post-publication inquiries regarding methodology or data		✓

Unethical Authorship Practices

PSSR strictly prohibits unethical authorship arrangements, including:

• Ghost Authorship: Omitting key contributors who made substantial intellectual contributions to the manuscript.
• Honorary or Gift Authorship: Including individuals who did not actively participate or contribute to the scholarly work.

Handling Authorship Disputes

Authorship disputes should be resolved among contributors prior to manuscript submission. All co-authors must sign an official Author Contribution Declaration Form when submitting their work. In the event of an authorship conflict during review or publication, PSSR follows COPE guidelines under the following protocol:

1. Written Notice: The contesting party must submit a formal statement along with supporting documentation to editor@pssr.org.pk.
2. Temporary Hold: Manuscript evaluation or production is paused immediately while inquiries are conducted.
3. Contributor Statements: All listed authors and contesting individuals are asked to provide signed statements clarifying their specific contributions.
4. Institutional Referral: If co-authors fail to reach a mutual consensus, the editorial board will defer the matter to the authors' affiliated institution(s) for formal investigation. The journal does not adjudicate internal personal disputes.
5. Resolution: Editorial operations resume once an official resolution or institutional determination is submitted in writing. Unresolved disputes may result in manuscript rejection or formal withdrawal.

Editorial Enquiries

For questions regarding contribution statements or authorship policies, contact the editorial office at editor@pssr.org.pk.