Editorial Policy & Ethics
The integrity and credibility of the Journal of Socio-Cultural Narratives are built upon an unwavering foundation of editorial independence and transparent ethical practices. Our policies are designed to protect our contributors, our audience, and the intellectual mission of the journal from any and all external influences, ensuring that the work we publish is authentic, rigorous, and driven solely by its scholarly merit.
A cornerstone of our policy is complete financial independence. All conversations, interviews, and presentations featured in the journal are conducted and published without any financial exchange or sponsorship. No contributor has paid to appear, nor has the journal accepted funds, advertising, grants, or any other form of remuneration to showcase specific individuals or content. This strict non-commercial policy ensures that our editorial decisions remain uncompromised, free from market pressures or financial incentives. Our content is selected based on its ability to contribute to critical discourse, not its potential for monetization.
This commitment to independence extends to our editorial process. No contributor or guest has any influence over the journal’s editorial decisions beyond the content they themselves provide. The final curation, presentation, and contextualization of all material remain the exclusive purview of the editorial team. This separation ensures that the journal maintains a cohesive intellectual vision and that all published works are integrated into the broader thematic concerns of each issue in a manner that is consistent and editorially sound.
Our curation process is a multi-stage evaluation designed to ensure quality and ethical rigor. Every potential submission first undergoes a review for thematic alignment, assessing its relevance to the journal's scope and the specific focus of an upcoming issue. Following this, the submission enters a rigorous ethical review, which scrutinizes the protocols of informed consent, the dignity of representation, and the protection of privacy for all involved parties. We take seriously our responsibility to do no harm and to ensure that our contributors feel safe and respected throughout the publication process.
The final stage of review evaluates the scholarly contribution of the work. This includes an assessment of its intellectual clarity, the originality of its perspective, its potential impact on the field, and its overall contribution to the journal's mission. This stringent, editor-led review process guarantees a high standard of quality, coherence, and ethical responsibility across all published content. We believe this expert curation is the most appropriate model for our unique audiovisual and interview-based format.
Finally, all content is published on a fully open-access basis. We believe that knowledge should be a public good, not a commodity. There are no paywalls, subscriptions, or access fees of any kind. This commitment to open access ensures that the important conversations we publish are available to the widest possible audience, regardless of their institutional affiliation or financial means, thereby fostering a more equitable and democratic landscape for scholarly communication.