Editorial Screening

All manuscripts submitted to the Caucasus Journal of Social Sciences (CJSS) undergo an initial editorial screening prior to peer review to ensure compliance with the journal’s scholarly, ethical, and technical standards.

Although CJSS operates a double-anonymized peer review system, only manuscripts that successfully pass editorial screening are forwarded for external review. Editorial screening does not guarantee progression to peer review.

Scope, Quality, and Compliance Assessment

During editorial screening, manuscripts are evaluated against the following criteria:

  • Alignment with the journal’s aims, scope, and readership in the social sciences;
  • Originality and contribution to social science scholarship;
  • Theoretical and conceptual grounding appropriate to the discipline;
  • Methodological soundness and academic rigor;
  • Compliance with submission guidelines and formatting requirements;
  • Adherence to ethical standards, including authorship and responsible research practices;
  • Results of similarity screening using recognized similarity detection tools (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate, or equivalent); and
  • Clarity of language, structure, and overall academic presentation.

Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria do not proceed to peer review.

Editorial Responsibility and Decision-Making

The Editor-in-Chief retains full responsibility for all editorial decisions at the screening stage.

Subject Editors may:

  • Conduct initial assessments;
  • Provide recommendations.

However, the final determination regarding progression to peer review rests solely with the Editor-in-Chief, ensuring consistency, accountability, and adherence to the journal’s editorial standards.

Desk Rejection (Editorial Rejection)

A manuscript may be rejected at the editorial screening stage without external peer review if it:

  • Falls outside the journal’s scope or thematic focus;
  • Lacks sufficient theoretical grounding or contribution to social science research;
  • Does not meet minimum academic, methodological, or scholarly standards;
  • Demonstrates insufficient clarity of language or structure that prevents appropriate scholarly evaluation;
  • Shows evidence of plagiarism, redundant publication, or other forms of academic misconduct;
  • Involves undisclosed or inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in violation of the journal’s AI policy;
  • Fails to comply with the journal’s editorial policies or submission requirements.

Desk rejection constitutes a formal editorial decision.

Authors are notified of the outcome and provided with the principal reasons for rejection. Resubmission does not guarantee acceptance, and, where appropriate, any resubmitted version will be treated as a new submission and undergo a full editorial screening process.

Technical and Language Revisions Prior to Review

If a manuscript is considered potentially suitable but requires technical, structural, or linguistic improvements, it may be returned to the authors for revision prior to peer review.

In such cases:

  • Authors revise within the same submission record;
  • No new submission is required; and
  • The revised manuscript undergoes re-evaluation before a decision on peer review is made.

This step is intended to support authors in meeting the journal’s academic and formal standards before external evaluation.

Ethical and Editorial Safeguards

All manuscripts are screened for similarity and potential ethical concerns prior to peer review.

Editors handling submissions must declare any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves where necessary. Editors are not permitted to handle manuscripts in which they are involved as authors or contributors.

The editorial screening process is conducted independently and free from external influence.

All procedures are conducted in accordance with the journal’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

The journal is committed to maintaining integrity, transparency, consistency, and fairness throughout the editorial process.

Process Transparency

Editorial screening is applied consistently to all submissions and conducted promptly to ensure an efficient review process.

Only manuscripts that meet CJSS baseline scholarly and ethical standards proceed to double-anonymized peer review.