Social Problems of Iran

Submission and Peer Review Process

The process of receiving, evaluating, and publishing manuscripts in the Iranian Journal of Social Problems is conducted in accordance with international academic publishing standards. To maintain scientific rigor and procedural transparency, the workflow is defined as follows:

1. Registration on the Journal Website

To submit a manuscript, the corresponding author must visit the journal’s website. If you are submitting for the first time, you must first create a “User Account.” All subsequent correspondence and tracking will be conducted exclusively through this account.

2. Manuscript Submission

Upon logging into the system, it is essential that the manuscript files are prepared and uploaded strictly in accordance with the “Author Guidelines.” These files include the “Main Manuscript File (without authors’ names)”, “Title Page (Authors’ details)”, and the mandatory signed forms (Authorship Declaration Form and Conflict of Interest Statement). Please note that manuscripts submitted via email will not be considered.

3. Initial Assessment and Peer Review

In this stage, the submitted manuscript is first evaluated by the Managing Editor and the Editor-in-Chief for “alignment with the journal’s aims and scope,” “compliance with structural formatting,” and “originality (plagiarism check via similarity detection software).” If it does not meet these criteria, the manuscript will be Desk Rejected at this stage. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to at least two subject-matter experts for specialized evaluation. The journal employs a “Double-blind Peer Review” process.

4. Peer Review Results

Upon receipt of the reviewers’ reports, the Editorial Board will make one of the following three decisions based on the reviewers’ recommendations and notify the author:

• Acceptance: The manuscript is scientifically approved without the need for any revisions.
• Revisions Required (Minor or Major): The manuscript is returned to the author to address the raised issues and comments.
• Rejection (Unpublishable): The manuscript is declined due to fundamental theoretical or methodological flaws.

5. Manuscript Revision

If the manuscript is given a “Revisions Required” status, the corresponding author is obliged to incorporate the reviewers’ requested modifications into the text and upload the revised version along with a “Response to Reviewers” file within a maximum of two weeks. The revised file is then evaluated by a final reviewer to confirm the accuracy and adequacy of the implemented revisions.

6. Final Acceptance

Following the approval of revisions by the final reviewer and endorsement in the Editorial Board meeting, an official certificate of acceptance is issued (issuance is contingent upon the payment of the approved Article Processing Charges - APC). After this stage, the manuscript proceeds to copyediting, typesetting, and final publication (under an Open Access policy).

7. Tracking Manuscript Status

Authors can track the latest status of their submitted manuscript (e.g., Awaiting Initial Assessment, Under Review, Needs Revision, etc.) at any stage of the review process by logging into their dedicated dashboard on the journal’s system.