Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability is a Bi-Annual research-based journal published By Contemporary Science Research Publisher. Aims of the Journal The Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability (JRSDS) aims to publish high-quality research papers, reviews, and case studies that address issues related to sustainable social development. Scope of the Journal The journal's scope encompasses a wide range of interdisciplinary topics that contribute to sustainable development, including politics, sociology, and psychology. It also encompasses several areas related to economics, finance, and management. But not limited to: Social policies and social development Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and social development Community development and social sustainability Social entrepreneurship and sustainable development Social justice and sustainable development Social work and sustainable development Education and sustainable social development Gender and sustainable social development Health and sustainable social development Human rights and sustainable development Indigenous knowledge and sustainable social development Climate change and social sustainability Sustainable agriculture and rural development Urbanization and sustainable development International development and sustainable social development JRSDS publishes articles on the economic dimensions of sustainable development, including macroeconomics, microeconomics, economic growth, development, trade, poverty, inequality, and human development. It also accepts papers on environmental economics, natural resource economics, and sustainable tourism. JRSDS invites submissions on finance and sustainable development, including studies on sustainable finance, responsible investing, impact investing, and green bonds. The journal also welcomes papers on financial regulation and policy, risk management, and sustainable banking. JRSDS welcomes papers that explore the management aspects of sustainable development, including corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management, sustainable supply chain management, and sustainable entrepreneurship. The journal also publishes articles on sustainable business models, circular economy, and sustainable innovation. JRSDS welcomes submissions that use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches and encourage research that is empirical, theoretical, or policy-oriented. The journal also encourages interdisciplinary research that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries to address complex sustainability challenges. Our holistic endeavor includes the establishment and promotion of academic/professional researchers/students and their valuable contributions by providing them with an electronic platform where they can publish their research and contributions in order to have a larger readership. JRSDS seeks an influential role to play in the development of training, research, leadership, and knowledge management skills not only among its members but also among its readers so that society could enable the transfer of knowledge among the world’s intellectual human capital. We invite you to join our purpose and to make it stronger so that this noble cause could spread on its all webs. Our Vision Explore the intellectual capital by emphasizing on creation, dissemination, and protection of knowledge by our valued intellectuals, professionals, scholars & researchers and leveraging their collective wisdom. Our Mission Develop the world’s largest directories of academic e-publications in the field of Business & Education Management, Social Sciences, and Humanities and provide an international platform where intellectuals, scholars, and researchers could collaborate for effectual knowledge management. Frequency of journal Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability is a Bi-Annual Research Journal. It publishes two issues per year. Guidelines for submission of research articles Authors are requested to upload manuscript that does not carry any author’s and his institution's Information or any information that can reveal any author’s identity. The title page that carries details of authors and their institution, acknowledgment, details of the conflict of interest, disclosures, and details of the contribution of each author must be submitted separately. Author Agreement Form must be submitted separately with the manuscript and title page. The author has to ensure that the research work, he/she is submitting for publication, is genuine and that the same paper has neither been published nor has been presented elsewhere for publication. Manuscripts for publication should comprise 4000 to 6000 words, typed in MS-Word format on A-4 size paper should be submitted via the submission tab. An abstract of 150 to 200 words should be a structured summary indicating the purpose, theoretical background, methodology, results, and contribution of the study. It should not contain any citations. The summary should be clear and understandable to readers. The article should be in the standard format in APA referencing style. Maximum of three contributors will be allowed in one article. Original drawings should preferably be submitted in a form ready for printing. Each illustration should bear a number, the author’s name, and the title of the paper. Tables should be clear, readable, and appropriately labeled. The Source of each table should be given at the bottom. Loanwords accepted in English usage should be spelled in accordance with the standard dictionaries. All submitted manuscripts will be checked with anti-plagiarism software (Turnitin) before they are sent for blind peer review. A maximum of 19% similarity is allowed as per the mandatory condition of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Every submitted manuscript will be initially screened by the Editor / editorial team in order to determine if the topic fits within the scope of the journal. All manuscripts received, will be accepted after initial screening, and undergo a double-blind peer-review process. The reviewer’s response will be shared with the corresponding author. In case of revision, the corresponding author will be given time to incorporate the revisions and resubmit the work. The Editor / Editorial Board reserves the right to edit the draft and make necessary changes, defer for revision, or reject the paper. Research paper, once reviewed, cannot be withdrawn, provided the Editor / Editorial Board allows it upon request of the author/s in some special cases. Copyright for articles published in JRSDS journals is retained by the authors. JRSDS is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. Peer-review policy Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability is a Double-Blind Peer-Reviewed Research Journal. All articles submitted to the journal are sent to reviewers without the details of the authors and their institutions. Originality and plagiarism policy Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability Publish only original research conducted by authors as mentioned in the author guideline. The journal allows a similarity index of less than 19% as per the policy of HEC Pakistan. Subscription Details The Journal of Research in Social Development and Sustainability can be subscribed for Print Copy by sending an email to editor.jrsds@csrpublisher.com beside this the online copy of the journal is freely available for open access at https://journals.csrpublisher.com/index.php/JRSDS The subscription fee for a print copy is Rs 3,000/= Ethical guidelines Authorship Authorship credit should be based on meeting the following criteria: 1. Substantial contribution to paper concept or design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2. drafting the article or reviewing and introducing fundamental changes to it; 3. final approval of the version to be published. All persons designated as authors and co-authors should meet these criteria. As co-authors of a paper, there should be identified all persons who have made significant scientific contributions to the work reported, and who therefore share responsibility for its content and results. Authors should also appropriately recognize the contributions of technical staff and data professionals. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship (e.g., financial support) should be listed in the section “Acknowledgements” (financial disclosure). Editors retain the right to request information about the contributions of each person in writing the article. Authors should also be aware that the following phenomena are examples of scientific misconduct and must be avoided: ghostwriting and guest writing authorship. A group of co-authors should jointly make the decision about the order in which their names are given. During manuscript submission, the submitting author must provide contact information (full name, email address, institutional affiliation, and mailing address) for all of the co-authors. The author who submits the manuscript for publication accepts the responsibility of notifying all co-authors of the manuscript being submitted. The author must submit an Author Agreement Form duly signed by each author, which should be submitted together with the manuscript. All detected cases of scientific misconduct will be documented and the appropriate institutions and entities will be notified. Sources of data and ideas Authors are required to faithfully acknowledge and identify contributions of other persons to their reported work as well as clearly identify sources of both data and ideas. Authors should cite all publications that have been important in the development of the submitted study and that will guide the reader to the earlier researchers that are essential for understanding the present analysis. Authors are required to make reasonable and diligent efforts to find, and then accurately cite original sources and publications. Authors should only present as reliable either personally verified or peer-reviewed sources of scientific data and literature. Authors must not engage in plagiarism or self-plagiarism. Plagiarism is verbatim or near-verbatim copying, or paraphrasing without due modification, of text, data, or other material containing results of another person’s work, without explicit identification of the source of such material. Similarly, self-plagiarism is replicating of the author’s own previously published text or results without acknowledgment of the source. Exercising care for publishing only original research, editors of JRSDS are committed to deterring plagiarism and self-plagiarism and may use special software to screen submitted manuscripts for similarity to previously published material. The manuscripts may be screened during the whole editorial cycle, including the submission process, and until the final publication in online or print form. Duplicate publications It is prohibited for an author to submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal of primary publication unless it is a resubmission of a manuscript rejected for or withdrawn from publication. An author is required to organize his or her paper so that it provides a well-rounded description of the examined issue. Fragmentation of research reports excessively consumes journal space and unduly complicates literature research; therefore, authors are expected to avoid it whenever possible. Open Access Policy JRSDS provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Copyright for articles published in JRSDS journals are retained by the authors. JRSDS is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author’s responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author. All articles published in JRSDS can be deposited in public and institutional repositories such as Researchgate, university libraries, personal websites, etc. Privacy Statement The names and email addresses entered on our site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of our journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. Content license JRSDS applies for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. Author Agreement Form Authors of the research article are required to submit an Author Agreement Form that declares originality, not accepted for publication anywhere, consent of Authors for paper publication in the journal, and nomination of corresponding authors. The Author Agreement Form must be signed by all the authors of the research paper. Deadlines of all processes The authors can submit their research papers throughout the year. There is no submission deadline. Reviewing and Editing JRSDS is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. Submitted papers and short communication are evaluated by independent referees/reviewers and Editorial Board members specialized in the article field. Two independent Reviewers evaluate the submitted material’s scientific significance and novelty, define its accordance with the general journal profile, and scrutinize its content for compliance with the journal’s publication ethics. After the refereeing process is complete, the paper may be rejected, returned to the author for revisions, or accepted for publication. The authors are responsible for the contents of their paper or short communication. Editors may request an author, when considered necessary, to elaborate on the content or technical details of the paper. Scientific editing might change the format and correct the writing to render it compliant with the editorial policy of the journal. Pictures and graphs are special subjects for editorial consideration, as their quantity should be optimal and only necessary in the content of papers. Pictures, graphs, and textual content alike are subject to ethical standards concerning authorship and integrity. Additionally, whenever images are included in accounts of the research process or results, or in data collections, the author must provide an accurate description of how the images originated. Acceptance of articles and publication of articles The acceptance and publication of the article are based on the decision of the Editor of the journal. The Editor takes a decision in the light of the review report received from the reviewer. Timelines of publication of issues The Journal released two issues per year. The first issue is released on 30th June of every year and the Second issue is released on 31st of every December. The Journal takes at least one month/ 4 weeks to complete the review process after the date of submission. The Journal publishes all research articles in the next issue which are being received less than the 4-week time before the release of the current issue. Steps involved from date of receipt of research article till the publication of the article Authors are required to submit complete manuscripts without details of authors and their institutions along with a separate title page carries details of authors and their affiliation and the Author Agreement Form. The Editor/Manager of the Journal assigns a manuscript with the anonymous author to an editor from the editorial board for desk review. The Journal uses an open journal system for the Management of the journal. The editor of the journal also has the rights to the journal manager. The Editorial board member sent the article to the editor after desk review/ Initial screening. The Editor sent to review all those articles which successfully clear desk review and assign two reviewers including national/international reviewers to the article. The review receives a notification on his email and on Open Journal System. The Editor takes a decision on whether the article is fine for publication or not. If the article is fine for publication. The Editor further sent the article for Copy editing after receiving two positive reviews from the reviewers. Otherwise sent from revision. Copy editing involves further proofreading of the research articles and doing corrections in the formatting of article. Once the copyediting is done. The editor sent the article for Production and Publication. A Pdf of a research article is being attached to Open Journal System with the Abstract and Affiliation details of the Authors. Article processing and publication fee The Journal does not charge any fee for article submission, article process, and or online publication. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest Conflict of interest is a situation in which the process of research and publication may be corrupted or its results may be biased because of some other interests of its participants. It may concern any one or more of the participants in the research and publication process – the author, the reviewer, or the editor. Conflicts of interest may occur for financial (e.g. Employment opportunities, fees or other compensation arrangements, beneficial ownership of stock) or other reasons (e.g., personal relationships, the pursuit of academic career, intellectual passion, political involvement, etc.) that can reasonably be expected to influence motivations or results of actions of participants of the publication process. Conflicts of interest constitute a serious threat to the integrity and objectivity of both scientific research and publishing. Therefore, the best practice for authors, reviewers, and editors alike, is to avoid conflicts of interest situations whenever possible. All participants in the publication process who are in a situation of a conflict of interest must disclose this fact. Of special importance is that if the original research study reported in the manuscript or the preparation of the manuscript was supported by one or more grants, the title and number of the grant(s) and the name of the institution(s) that provided the grants or financial support to conduct, analyze or write-up the study, must be specified in the manuscript. Editors of JRSDS may use information disclosed in conflict-of-interest and financial-support statements as a basis for editorial decisions. The corresponding author must either notify the editor at the time of submission that there is no conflict of interest to declare, or fairly and effectively communicate all conflicts of interest, which will then be acknowledged in the published article. Correction and retraction of research articles The Editor of the Journal sent an email to the authors of the article for revision/correction proposed by Editorial board members and reviewers after the initial screening and the final review respectively. Contribution and consent of each author and any other information Authors are required to submit details of the contribution of each author on the title page that is uploaded separately and submit the consent of each author in the Author Agreement Form.