Phone: +91 62898 35475

ssjalancollege@yahoo.co.in

SETH SOORAJMULL JALAN GIRLS' COLLEGE

A Govt. - Aided General Degree College, Affiliated to The University of Calcutta

A Center for Academic Excellence since 1954

NAAC Accredited

8/9 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata 700073

Publisher

Seth Soorajmull Jalan Girls' College, Kolkata.

Submission Guidelines:

  1. Manuscripts must be typed in MS Word using Font Times New Roman, Size: 12 pts., 1.5 spaced with 1″ margin on all sides, and submitted in doc/docx format at confluence.ssjgc@gmail.com, with a CC to ssjalancollege@gmail.com
  2. In the subject line of the submission email, please mention the ‘Issue Number’ and ‘Month of Publication’ [e.g., ‘Submission for Issue 2 (December 2025)’].
  3. Authors are requested to include their Cover Letter in the body of the email. Please also provide your ORCiD ID to ensure accurate attribution of your work and to facilitate indexing and discovery across scholarly platforms.
  4. The word limit for a Research article is 3000-5000 words, inclusive of in-text citations and References. The word limit for book reviews is 1500-2000 words, for Case Studies: 2,000–4,000 words, and for Interviews: 1000-1500 words.
  5. Submission must include an abstract of the article of about 200 words, along with 4-5 Keywords and a short bio-note of 50 words.
  6. All manuscripts should strictly follow the latest APA Style of Citation. Incomplete or improper citation may lead to immediate rejection.
  7. Manuscripts should preferably be written in English. However, articles written in Bengali and/or Hindi will also be considered for the respective language and literature sections. For articles written in Bengali/Hindi, the Abstract of the Article must be in English, Additionally, an English translation of the title must be provided along with the original.
  8. The submission must be original and unpublished. Submission will imply that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
  9. The articles submitted must be plagiarism-free. The contributors are required to submit a plagiarism certificate (issued by a credible plagiarism detection software like Turnitin or Drillbit) along with their papers. If any article is found to be plagiarized after publication in the Journal, the article in question will be immediately removed, and the author will be held solely responsible for the consequences of academic malpractice. Contributors are also required to submit an AI content detection report along with their manuscript to ensure academic integrity.
  10. The contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material, including photographs, charts, and illustrations, for which they do not hold copyright.
  11. Confluence: Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences & Commerce is published biannually – in June and December. The last date of submission for the June issue is 30 April, and for the December issue, the last date is 31 October.
  12. The copyrights of the articles published in Confluence remain with the respective authors. The authors may republish their articles elsewhere with prior intimation to the Editor-in-Chief of Confluence, and the details of the original publication should be duly acknowledged.
  13. There is no article processing fee or any other fee for submission, publication, etc.
  14. The authors are required to submit a duly signed scanned copy of the following ‘Declaration cum Certificate of Originality’ along with their manuscripts:

 

DECLARATION CUM CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

(For Research Paper / Article/ Book Review/Case Study/Interview)

I/we, the undersigned, do hereby declare and certify that –

  1. the article/research paper/manuscript entitled ………………………………... is my/our original research work and has neither been published previously nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  2. no part of this work has been copied or taken from other sources without proper acknowledgment. The article/manuscript has undergone a plagiarism check and the similarity index is …………. , which is within the acceptable limit of 10%. Furthermore, I/we affirm that the article conforms to accepted international ethical standards for academic publishing.
  3. I/we accept full responsibility for the content of the submitted work. In the event that plagiarism or academic malpractice is detected even after publication, I/we shall be solely accountable for the consequences. I/We further understand that such an incident may result in blacklisting and notification to the concerned authorities, including the heads of institutions/universities or employers.
  4. I/we have obtained permission to reproduce third-party material, including photographs, charts, data, and illustrations for which I/we do not hold copyright, and the source(s) for the same has/have been duly acknowledged.
  5. I/we indemnify the editors and publishers of Confluence: Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences & Commerce against any legal claims or disputes arising from the content of the submitted manuscript, including but not limited to falsification, fabrication, defamatory content, copyright infringement, willful misstatement, or negligence regarding the declaration of originality.

Place:                                                                                                                        …………………………

Date:                                                                                                    Signature(s) of the Declarant/ Authors(s)
                                                                                                                                    Name(s) of Author(s):

Peer Review Policy:

Editorial Workflow:

  • All manuscripts submitted to Confluence for publication undergo an initial editorial review/screening to assess their adherence to the journal’s Submission Guidelines, aptness for the journal's scope, and quality standards.
  • Manuscripts passing this initial screen are then sent for peer review by independent experts in the field.
  • Editorial review/screening reserves the right to reject a manuscript without sending it for peer review if the manuscript is found to be lacking in originality and scholarly rigour, and/or submission guidelines are ignored.
  • The journal typically employs a single-blind peer review process, where the identities of both the author(s) and reviewer remain anonymous throughout the process to minimize potential bias. 
  • The reviewer evaluates the manuscript and sends his/her detailed Review Report with a recommendation regarding acceptance, rejection, or major/minor revision of the manuscript.
  • The Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board will then share the review report with the contributors and, if needed, initiate the revision process, providing a suitable timeline for revisions
  • Once the revised submission is received, the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board will reach out to the original reviewer for a second evaluation in cases where a major revision is recommended.
  • When the work is deemed fit for publication, the editorial team takes care of the copy editing, proofreading, and publication.

Peer Review Timeline:

The peer review process typically takes about 4–6 weeks from the final manuscript submission deadline. Once the Review Report is received, the author(s) are notified via email about the status of their submission, along with the reviewer’s comment(s) for revision, if recommended. After submitting an article to Confluence, authors are requested to allow up to 50 days for the final editorial decision regarding acceptance or rejection.

Withdrawal of article:

Author(s) cannot withdraw their articles once they have been published in Confluence. However, withdrawal of an article may be permitted during the peer-review process, that is, before the publication of an issue for which the said article has been submitted. To request withdrawal of an article during the review stage, an author must send an email to the Editor-in-Chief at confluence.ssjgc@gmail.com. All rights pertaining to individual published articles are retained by their respective authors. Any form of reproduction must be preceded by formal intimation to the Editor-in-Chief of Confluence, and the details of the original publication in Confluence should be duly acknowledged.

Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement

1. Fundamental Principles

Confluence: Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences & Commerce is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, and professionalism in publishing. The Journal adheres to the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expect all parties involved—authors, editors, peer reviewers and the publisher—to comply with these ethical guidelines and ensure that published work is original, truthful, properly attributed, and free from misconduct.

2. Duties and Responsibilities

a) Editors and Editorial Board

  • Editorial decision to accept or reject a manuscript is made based on the scholarly merit & originality of the manuscript and its relevance to the journal's scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, political beliefs or institutional affiliation.
  • The editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and may not disclose any information about a manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, or other editorial advisors.
  • Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without written consent from the author. Editors who have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors of the submitted manuscripts, companies, or institutions connected to the papers will recuse themselves from considering those manuscripts.
  • The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published, based on the reviews and editorial policies.
  • The editors must take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication malpractice to ensure the integrity of the published record. In cases of suspected misconduct, appropriate investigations will be conducted, and corrective actions taken as necessary.
  • The editors should handle appeals and complaints appropriately, and be prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, or retractions when needed.

b) Reviewer

  • Reviewers are expected to be objective, unbiased, and maintain the integrity of the single-blind peer review process.
  • Before accepting a review invitation, the reviewers will have to disclose if there is any conflict of interest and decline if a conflict exists.
  • The reviewers are required to treat the manuscripts in review confidentially prior to their publication, and refrain from sharing and/or using the information for personal gain or otherwise.
  • The reviewers are expected to complete the review process within the given timeline and send their comprehensive Review Report, clearly justifying their decision.
  • The reviewers are expected to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which may be found here.

c) Author

  • Authors are expected to read the journal’s Submission Guidelines and strictly adhere to them.
  • Authors must submit original work that has not been published before and is not under consideration elsewhere.
  • Authors should accept the editorial policies of the journal throughout, from submission to publication and after.
  • Authors are expected to revise their manuscripts in accordance with the editor’s comments, if any. If authors have concerns or objections regarding the peer-review process/suggested revision, they may contact the Editor-in-Chief directly, providing clear reasons and explanations.
  • At any stage of the peer-review process, the editorial board may request further changes or modifications to the manuscript. Authors are required to comply with such requests within the given timeline.
  • Authors are required to follow the latest version of APA style for all citations and references.
  • Authors/contributors should comply with international ethical standards for publication, including adherence to copyright and intellectual property regulations. They are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce third-party material, including photographs, charts, data, and illustrations for which they do not hold copyright, and the source(s) for the same should be duly acknowledged.
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy of data, methods, and analysis. If errors are discovered after publication, authors must notify the editor immediately and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.
  • Authors should disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might influence the research or its interpretation recorded in their manuscript.
  • When reporting research involving human subjects, animals, or sensitive data, appropriate ethical approvals and consent must be obtained and stated.

d) Publisher

  • The publisher ensures that the journal remains Open Access, and no fees are charged for submission, processing, publishing, or subscription.
  • The publisher supports ethical policies, provides resources for managing ethical issues, and preserves the long‑term integrity of the journal content.

3. Misconduct, Corrections, and Retraction

  • Suspected instances of misconduct — plagiarism, data fabrication/falsification, unethical research practices, duplicate submission/publication — will be investigated by the editorial board.
  • If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate actions will be taken, which may include rejection of papers, publication of errata/corrigenda, or full retraction of published work.
  • Authors should be prepared to provide raw data or other corroborating material, and cooperate with the editorial team in the event that questions arise regarding accuracy or validity.
  • When necessary, institutions or funding bodies may be informed.

4. Transparency & Conflict of Interest

  • All parties must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest. For authors, this includes funding sources, institutional affiliations, or personal relationships. For editors and reviewers, any conflict that could bias their decisions.
  • The journal discloses its policies (peer review, author guidelines, publication ethics, licensing) that are publicly accessible on the journal website.