Interdisciplinary Studies in Media and Culture

Open Access and Publication Ethics

Open Access Policy

The Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Media and Culture is a fully Open Access journal. This means that all published content is available immediately upon publication at no cost to the user or their institution. Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

This journal strictly adheres to the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) and operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Under this license, authors retain copyright but allow others to share, adapt, and build upon their work, provided appropriate credit is given.

Publication Ethics & Code of Conduct

The Editorial Board is committed to upholding the highest standards of professional ethics in publishing. While the journal is currently in the process of seeking formal membership with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), it strictly follows COPE guidelines and the Research Ethics Charter of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology.

General Principles

1. Originality: The journal only accepts original research papers that provide new scientific insights. We do not publish descriptive compilations or simple translations.
2. Exclusivity: Submitted manuscripts must not have been published previously or be under consideration by any other journal.
3. Editorial Authority: The journal reserves the right to accept, reject, or request revisions for any submission.
4. Non-Liability: The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the journal.

Duties of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board

• Impartiality: Editors evaluate manuscripts solely for their intellectual content without regard to the authors' race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.
• Conflict of Interest: Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors.
• Transparency: Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair double-blind peer-review process.

Duties of Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also assist the author in improving the paper.
• Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves.
• Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
• Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.
• Disclosure: Reviewers must report any suspicion of plagiarism or overlap with previously published work.

Duties of Authors

• Reporting Standards: Authors must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance.
• Data Access: Authors may be asked to provide raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review.
• Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.
• Thesis-Based Papers: Articles derived from Master’s or PhD theses must be submitted by the supervisor, with advisors listed as co-authors.

Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

According to COPE definitions, plagiarism—whether intentional or unintentional—is the use of another person’s ideas, words, or data without proper attribution.

Instances of misconduct include:

• Submitting another person's work as one's own.
• Including authors who contributed nothing to the research (Gift Authorship).
• Duplicate submission (submitting the same paper to multiple journals).
• Data fabrication or falsification (manipulating research results).
• Salami slicing (breaking one study into multiple small papers).

Handling Misconduct

The journal uses similarity detection software (such as SamimNoor) to screen all manuscripts. If plagiarism is detected:

1. The manuscript will be rejected immediately.
2. If already published, the article will be retracted from the website.
3. A formal letter will be sent to the author’s affiliated institution and the Ministry of Science.
4. The author may be blacklisted from future submissions.

Submission and Publication Fees

In accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Science and the Board of Governors of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies:

• Initial Review Fee: 300,000 Tomans (payable upon submission).
• Publication Fee: An additional 300,000 Tomans (payable upon final acceptance for editing and publishing).

Submission Checklist & Formatting

• Length: 15 to 25 pages (Maximum 8,000 words).
• Font: B Lotus 13 (Persian) / Times New Roman (English).
• Required Documents:
• Title page with author details (Academic rank, affiliation, and ORCID).
• Abstract (max 200 words) and Keywords (max 7) in both Persian and English.
• References translated into English (required for indexing).
• For finalized articles, an Extended Abstract (approx. 700–1000 words) is required.
• Citation Style: In-text citations following the format: (Surname, Year: Vol/Page).