The South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (SAMAJ) is a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal devoted to research on South Asia in the social sciences and humanities. It specializes in the publication of comparative thematic issues as well as free-standing research articles, review essays, and book reviews. Committed to disseminating rigorous scientific research to the widest possible audience, SAMAJ is entirely accessible online, free of charge. SAMAJ receives institutional support from the Centre d’Etudes Sud-Asiatiques et Himalayennes (CESAH) and the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS).

The SAMAJ “Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement” has been written in accordance with COPE general guidelines (http://publicationethics.org/).

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The SAMAJ Editorial Board is responsible for

• deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be peer reviewed and published. In making these decisions, it is guided by the policies of the journal (Information for Authors) and by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism;

• providing guidance to guest editors, authors and reviewers about the peer-review processes and more generally about the expectations of the journal;

• evaluating manuscripts on the basis of their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to the author(s)’ race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, or social class;

• ensuring a fair and unbiased double-blind peer review of the manuscripts and confidential treatment of all information related to the manuscripts, as well as the identities of the authors and the reviewers;

• ensuring that appropriate reviewers are selected;

• ensuring that unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript are not used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author;

• investigating all claims of plagiarism; submitted manuscripts may be checked for plagiarism using specialized software;

• taking reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints are presented concerning a submitted or published manuscript. In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editorial Board follows the COPE flowcharts, available at http://publicationethics.org/files/Full%20set%20of%20flowcharts.pdf;

• publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies whenever needed.

Responsibilities of the Advisory Board

The SAMAJ Advisory Board is responsible for

• identifying potential contributors for SAMAJ from among the members’ colleagues, doctoral students and members of their research networks and institutions;

• suggesting books to be reviewed (including books in other languages to be reviewed in English);

• proposing special issues, based on conferences, research teams in which they participate, or simply on the basis of research themes they find important;

• increasing the visibility of SAMAJ in their networks and institutions;

• contributing to the SAMAJ publishing and editing process, for instance by occasionally reviewing articles submitted to the journal.

Guest Editors’ Responsibilities

Guest editors are responsible for

• defining the subject matter and role of every article in a thematic issue;

• providing clear guidelines to authors regarding the topic and boundaries of their contributions and the overall design of the issue;

• establishing a timeline for draft paper submission, revision and final paper submission with the Editorial Board, and ensuring that all deadlines are met;

• writing the Introduction to the issue.

Authors’ Responsibilities

• Authors should present an accurate account of their research as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be presented accurately in the manuscript.

• Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not already been published elsewhere. Authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one publication at a time.

• Authors submitting their works to SAMAJ for publication as original articles confirm that the submitted works represent their own contributions and have not been copied or plagiarized in whole or in part from other works. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Authors must ensure that they have written original works and that any work or words of other authors, contributors or sources have been appropriately credited and referenced. SAMAJ assumes no responsibility for the contributors’ statements of fact or opinion.

• Necessary permission must be obtained by the authors for the reproduction of any illustration or other material already published. Authors should ensure they hold the copyright to whatever image, pictures, text or material they reproduce in their articles. SAMAJ will not be liable for any copyright breaches.

• Should an author discover a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors and cooperate with them in order to retract or correct the manuscript.

• Authors of an article published in SAMAJ must ask the permission of the Editorial Board before republishing it elsewhere, in which case reference should be made to SAMAJ.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

• Peer review assists the SAMAJ Editorial Board in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial dialogue with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.

• Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

• Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents: privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

• Reviewers must report to the SAMAJ Editorial Board if they are aware of copyright infringement or plagiarism on the author’s part.

• Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them to improve the paper.

• Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on content without regard to the authors’ race, age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class.

• Reviewers should not consider manuscripts with regard to which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Publisher’s Responsibilities

As publisher of SAMAJ, the Association pour la Recherche sur l’Asie du Sud (Loi 1901), based in Paris at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS),

• provides practical support to the SAMAJ Editorial Board so that they can follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journals;

• ensures the autonomy of editorial decisions;

• protects intellectual property and copyright;

• ensures that good practice is maintained to the standards defined above.