Publication Policy

The Journal of Legal and Political Sciences welcomes original, peer-reviewed scholarly research in the fields of law, political science, and related disciplines, in Arabic and English, from inside and outside Iraq. The journal focuses on publishing research that provides a clear scholarly contribution within its scope, whether it is an independent research article or derived from a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, provided that it is rewritten in the form of a publishable scholarly article and is subject to initial editorial screening, specialized peer review, and the journal’s approved publication policies.

The journal adopts a publication policy based on scholarly originality, specialized peer review, transparency, research ethics, and publication ethics, according to the following principles:

  1. The Journal of Legal and Political Sciences is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published semi-annually by the College of Law and Political Science, University of Diyala.
  2. The journal specializes in publishing original, peer-reviewed scholarly research in the fields of law, political science, and related disciplines. Only materials submitted in the form of scholarly research articles that meet academic publishing requirements are considered for publication.
  3. The journal accepts research articles derived from master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, provided that they are submitted as original and complete scholarly articles, not as thesis or dissertation summaries, and include an independent title, abstract, keywords, clear methodology, results and discussion, and a reference list. Such manuscripts are subject to the journal’s editorial screening and peer-review procedures.
  4. Manuscripts submitted for publication must be original, not previously published in whole or in part, and not under consideration by any other journal or publisher at the same time. Authors bear full responsibility for any violation related to duplicate publication, simultaneous submission, or unauthorized republication.
  5. Authors must comply with the journal’s author guidelines and approved template. Manuscripts must be written in sound academic language, properly documented, and include a clear title, informative abstract, keywords, appropriate methodology, results, scholarly discussion, and a complete reference list.
  6. Authors must observe academic integrity and research and publication ethics, including proper citation of sources, references, legal texts, and judicial materials, and must avoid plagiarism, fabrication, data manipulation, duplicate publication, and any form of research misconduct.
  7. All submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism and text-similarity screening using approved software. The journal does not rely solely on the numerical similarity percentage, but the Editorial Board evaluates the nature, source, documentation, and effect of similarity on the originality of the manuscript.
  8. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent for specialized peer review. Decisions of acceptance, revision, or rejection are based on reviewers’ reports, the Editorial Board’s evaluation, and the manuscript’s compliance with the journal’s guidelines and publication ethics.
  9. The journal reserves the right to reject any manuscript that does not fit its scope, fails to meet the requirements of originality, methodology, documentation, or language quality, or violates publication ethics, even before peer review.
  10. Acceptance or rejection decisions are not influenced by any financial fees, and the journal does not provide paid fast-track publication that bypasses editorial screening or peer review. Publication priority after final acceptance is based on completion of technical and editorial requirements, order of acceptance, and the journal’s issue publication policy.
  11. The journal adopts an Open Access policy and makes the full texts of published articles freely available to readers, researchers, and institutions through its website.
  12. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright of their published works and grant the journal the right of first publication. Articles may be used, shared, and reused under the terms of the license, provided that proper acknowledgment is given to the authors, the journal, and the original source of publication.
  13. The opinions expressed in published research articles are solely those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the journal, the Editorial Board, or the publisher.
  14. Authors must disclose any potential conflict of interest, acknowledge all sources of funding or support, if any, and obtain the necessary ethical or official approvals when the research includes field data, interviews, questionnaires, or information related to individuals or institutions.
  15. Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence tools, if any, for language editing, improving wording, translation, or organizing ideas. Artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, and full scientific, ethical, and legal responsibility remains with the authors.
  16. Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the journal’s online submission system on its official website, in order to document all stages of submission, screening, peer review, and correspondence. Submissions sent through social media applications or delivered personally are not considered official submissions unless they are properly entered into the journal’s online system.
  17. The corresponding author is responsible for providing accurate and complete information about all authors, including names, institutional affiliations, email addresses, authorship order, and confirmation that all authors have approved the final version submitted for publication.
  18. The journal seeks to notify authors of the results of editorial screening and peer review within an appropriate timeframe. However, the review period may vary depending on the nature of the manuscript, availability of qualified reviewers, and the need for scientific, linguistic, or technical revisions.
  19. After acceptance, authors are required to complete the requested revisions, review the final version, and cooperate with the Editorial Board in fulfilling technical and editorial requirements, including author information, references, tables, figures, and abstracts.
  20. The journal is not obliged to return original manuscripts or submitted materials, whether accepted or rejected, while maintaining the confidentiality of submitted materials and not using them outside the editorial, peer-review, and publication processes.
  21. Publication fees or any technical fees, if applicable, are announced clearly on a separate page on the journal’s website. Publication fees are charged only after acceptance and shall not influence editorial decisions or peer-review outcomes.
  22. If a significant error, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or breach of publication ethics is discovered after publication, the journal reserves the right to take the appropriate action in accordance with its policies, including publishing a correction, issuing an expression of concern, retracting the published article, or notifying relevant bodies when necessary.
  23. The journal is committed to continuously developing its editorial, ethical, and technical policies in line with the standards of high-quality scholarly publishing and the requirements of local, regional, and international indexing databases.