Editorial policies

Submission Policies:

• The Text invites unpublished papers.
• The author should not submit the manuscript elsewhere while it is under consideration in The Text.
• In case of joint publication, the corresponding (submitting) author is solely responsible for communication with the co-authors regarding submission, review, acceptance/rejection and publication.
• The author submits an original research work.
• The author has to read and agree to the policies of The Text.
• The manuscript should conform to the terms and conditions of The Text.

Peer Review Policies:

The Text follows double-blind peer review system. Hence, every manuscript submitted for consideration will be sent for double-blind peer review process. The Text ensures a fair, unbiased scrutiny of the author's work. Both the authors and the reviewers will remain anonymous throughout the review process. Confidentiality will be maintained in this regard until the manuscript is published. Qualified peer reviewers with sufficient experience in academics/research will be selected and sent invitations for peer review. On acceptance, the manuscript will be sent to them. They can decline the offer, if there is any conflict of interest with regard to the subject matter or the scientific content or any other acceptable reasons.

Initial screening of all submitted documents will be done by the Chief Editor or the Associate Editor . The scrutiny is based on the relevance of the scientific content, anti-plagiarism declaration, plagiarism report, basic structure of the manuscript i.e. abstract, keywords, introduction, Work Cited, conformation to latest MLA style sheet, among others. If any of the required document is missing, authors will be intimated about the requirements. In second screening, the Chief Editor or Associate Editor reviews the referees' comments, author's revision and decides whether to accept or reject the revised/re-submitted manuscript. Manuscripts lacking scholarly/academic standards may not be considered for peer review. In such cases, the decision on whether to proceed with peer-review is at the Editor's discretion. The submitted manuscript will be sent for peer review only if it conforms to the primary standard and scope of the journal. If not, it will be rejected at the editorial desk and the decision will be promptly communicated to the author.

Unethical authorship and publishing practices are not entertained. The submitted manuscript may be rejected if the Editor recognizes that the research has not been carried out within an ethical framework.

The Editor reserves the right to reject a paper even after it has been accepted if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems with its scientific content or our editorial/publishing policies have been violated. The rules also apply to the members of the Editorial board and the peer review team.

Peer Review Period:

Acknowledging the receipt of the submitted manuscript will be intimated to the authors within two weeks of submission. The Text takes up to 8-12 weeks to complete the review process. The referees' reports will be evaluated by the Editor before making a final decision. The decision on the submitted manuscript along with reviewers' comments will be communicated to the author through e-mail. All authors are obligated to correct any errors or omissions that may have been made in their work. Authors are given a deadline for submitting amendments when they are requested for. Based on the type and volume of the recommended revisions, authors and reviewers will agree on an expected timeframe.

Peer reviewers are expected to:

• Make a fair and objective review of the manuscript.
• Scrutinize all aspects of the scholarly content including originality, methodology, relevance of the resources and findings interpretation and discussion, English language and grammatical errors for the suitability of the manuscript.
• Submit constructive/suitable comments/suggestions and forward the recommendations for publication to the Editorial Board.
• Submit the filled out review form within two weeks of acceptance. Request for additional time may be directly communicated to the editor-in-chief.
• Keep all the details of the editorial/review process confidential.
• Must not misuse/appropriate author's ideas or the content of the manuscripts for their personal use.
• Destroy hard/soft copies of the manuscripts and their related contents immediately after the submission of their reviews.
• Abide by the publication/review policies of the journal.

Screening guidelines for Editorial Board members and peer reviewers:

All Editorial Board members (internal) and peer reviewers (external) selected for the peer review process will be provided with manuscript screening guidelines to ensure effective review process. This helps them to review the manuscript for any language/grammatical error, scientific/logical requisite. Reviewers are expected to follow this screening guidelines. Nevertheless, they are also free to review more than the guidelines provided to them. This manuscript screening guidelines is confidential and is available only for the reviewers and the members of the Editorial Board.

Confidentiality:

The names and organisational/institutional affiliations of the authors and reviewers recorded by the journal in the course of its functioning will remain confidential and will not be used beyond the publication requirements. All submitted manuscripts and communication with peer reviewers and authors will be treated as confidential. All parties involved in publication are automatically bound by the policies of The Text to maintain strict confidentiality of their assigned work. The authors must treat all correspondence with The Text, referees' report and other material as confidential and must not be post or publicize anywhere without prior permission from The Text. Editors should not misuse/appropriate author's ideas or the content of the unpublished manuscripts for their personal use without getting explicit written consent from the authors.

Conflict of Interests/Competing Interests:

Editors/reviewers will withdraw from evaluating the manuscript if they have any conflict of interest or competing, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with authors, corporations, or institutions associated with the publications. In such cases, the manuscript will be handled by other members. All conflict of interest between authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial board will be precluded by the journal.

Article Processing Fee:

The Text does not charge any processing/publication fee. Editorial decisions are not compromised or influenced by publication fees or waiver status.

Copyright and Licensing:

When you submit a manuscript to The Text, it implies that:
• The author holds the copyright of the article
• The author confirms that The Text as the publisher has the right to first publication of the manuscript and the right to produce and disseminate the contributions, whether in conjunction with other articles or on their own, in all media formats known or yet to be developed.
• The author must cite the original source of the publication when redistributing/reusing/republishing the work.
• The author retains the right to reuse or share their research work with proper acknowledgement for any lawful or scholarly purposes.

Open Access:

The Text is a non-profit, non- commercial open access initiative in India founded by T. Pandiyan in 2019. Making its publications freely available online, the journal allows readers to read, copy, cite, download, print, distribute its publications and to utilize them for any other lawful purpose.