Institutional Affiliation Policy
The Journal of Development and Social Sciences (JDSS) requires authors to provide clear and accurate information about their institutional affiliation. Correct affiliation details help ensure proper recognition of authors and institutions and maintain accurate academic and indexing records.
1. Affiliation Information
Each author should provide their main institutional affiliation at the time of submission.
The affiliation should normally include:
- Full official name of the university, research organization, government agency, or other institution.
- Department, faculty, school, institute, or research center, where applicable.
- City and country.
- An institutional email address where available.
Authors should use the official name of their institution rather than an informal abbreviation or shortened name.
The corresponding author should ensure that all author and affiliation information submitted to JDSS is complete and accurate.
2. Multiple Affiliations
An author who has more than one current institutional affiliation may list all relevant affiliations, provided that each affiliation represents a genuine professional or academic association.
Where an author has multiple affiliations, they should be clearly identified using superscript numbers.
Example:
Muhammad Ali¹˒²
¹Department of Criminology, University A, City B, Country C.
²Research Institute A, City B, Country C.
When two or more authors have the same affiliation, the affiliation should normally be listed once and linked to each relevant author.
3. Affiliation at the Time of Research
The primary affiliation should normally identify the institution where the research was conducted or where the author was affiliated when the work was carried out.
If an author changes institutions after completing the research but before publication, the original research affiliation may remain associated with the work.
A new institution may be added as a Present Address where appropriate.
Example:
Present Address: Department of Sociology, University B, Karachi, Pakistan.
4. Independent Researchers
Authors who are not affiliated with a university or research organization may identify themselves as:
Independent Researcher, City, Country
Independent researchers should not create or report an institutional affiliation that they do not actually hold.
Researchers working for government departments, NGOs, policy organizations, think tanks, companies, or other institutions should provide the official name of their organization and their relevant department or position where appropriate.
5. Accuracy of Affiliation
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their affiliation information is correct at the time of submission.
JDSS may request clarification when:
- An affiliation cannot reasonably be verified.
- The institution name appears inaccurate.
- An author appears to claim an affiliation that they do not hold.
- A significant change in affiliation occurs during the publication process.
False or misleading affiliation information may be treated as a publication-ethics concern.
6. Institutional Email
An institutional email address is recommended for authors where one is available.
The corresponding author should provide an active email address through which the editorial office can communicate during submission, peer review, and publication.
An institutional email is not mandatory for independent researchers who do not have access to one.
7. Funding and Institutional Support
If an institution has provided financial, technical, research, laboratory, data, computing, or other significant support for the study, this should be disclosed in the appropriate Funding or Acknowledgements section.
An institutional affiliation by itself does not necessarily mean that the institution funded or endorsed the research.
8. Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationship that could reasonably affect, or appear to affect, the research or its interpretation.
An institutional affiliation should not be used to suggest that the affiliated organization supports or endorses the findings unless the organization has expressly provided such support.
9. Changes to Affiliation After Submission
If an author's affiliation changes while a manuscript is under review or being prepared for publication, the author should inform the editorial office.
Changes should be reported accurately and should not be used to create a misleading impression about where the research was conducted.
10. Editorial Contact
Questions about institutional affiliations or the presentation of multiple affiliations should be sent to the JDSS Editorial Office:
Email:editor@jdss.org.pk
JDSS aims to maintain accurate affiliation information so that authors and their institutions receive proper academic recognition and the journal's publication and indexing records remain reliable.
