Manuscript Submission: Author Information
Submission: Original, unpublished papers which are not being considered for publication elsewhere can be submitted to Media Watch. If similar or related work has been published or submitted elsewhere, then the article must accompany a copy of the same with the submitted article. Articles should have a maximum length of 7,000 words (the word count limit excludes title, abstract, tables, figures, and references). All submitted articles must be written in English. Both British and American spellings are accepted, as long as one spelling is used consistently. Authors must include a statement about any conflict of interest before publication if any.
Authors must declare that the work submitted is their own and that they are the sole copyright owner. If required, the authors have to obtain the copyright owner’s permission for their work. Authors should submit the copyright declaration available in the journal website. Author(s) should include information about the research funding in the paper if applicable. Submitted articles shall always include the authors’ names and affiliations on the title page, but in the main text and article’s metadata there shall be no elements that disclose the authors’ identity. Citation of any of the authors’ published work must be done in the third person.
Structure of the Manuscript: Manuscripts shall have the following ordered elements: title, authors, affiliations, abstract (100 to 150 words), keywords (4 to 7, alphabetically ordered), text (introduction, literature review, methodology… conclusion), acknowledgements, conflicts of interests, notes, and references. Authors should process the submission in doc (text) files: Ms Word 2007-2016, Open Office Documents.
Reference Style: Articles shall be submitted using the APA reference style (6th edition) which includes both in‐text citations and a final references list. For every in‐text citation, there should be a full citation in the reference list and vice versa.
Tables and Figures: Tables and figures must be introduced in the main text, and not submitted separately. Tables and figures must be numbered and an explanatory title must be added. A caption for each table and figure must also be placed in the main text. Figures and tables should be supplied in a suitable size for printing. All kinds of visual images should be treated as ‘Figures’, and if possible, authors are requested to present the figures in hyperlinked state. Authors should note that they must get the permission from the original copyright holder for reproducing the visual images before submission. The journal management will not be responsible for any kind of copyright violation on the part of the authors. The Journal reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of tables and figures.
Correspondence: Editor/Managing Editor of the journal will contact the author/ authors with a decision as to whether the manuscript will be considered for publication in the journal. Authors of manuscripts accepted for consideration will be asked to confirm their agreement with the journal’s policies. For general editorial enquiries relating to Media Watch, including manuscript submission queries, and for enquiries relating to the Editorial Board, please contact the editor at editor@mediawatchjournal.in
Online Submission: The author should submit the manuscript through the online using the mail Id: editor@mediawatchjournal.in / mediawatchjournal@gmail.com. The author will receive an acknowledgment by email confirming the same.
First Check and Plagiarism: The Editorial Team of the journal will make a first assessment of the article submitted and check whether it fits the aims and scope of the journal. Manuscripts that do not comply with the instructions for authors may be returned to the authors. Please note that all submitted manuscripts are subject to checks using the iThenticate services, in order to detect instances of similarity. In case any article is found to have been plagiarized before/after publication, the Journal will consider appropriate legal action including barring the same author from submitting future manuscripts. The article will be retracted with intimation to the author in case of post publication detection of plagiarism.
Manuscript Review Process: The journal undertakes a double-blind peer-review process. After the initial screening at the editors desk, a decision is made, based on the reviewers’ advice, from among several possibilities: Accept, Accept after minor revision, Accept after major revision, Reject. Reviewers will be asked to complete their review within four weeks, but are allowed to extend the review period in exceptional cases. The Journal does not entertain system for fast or rapid review, nor do we encourage it. Authors should not send any query to the editor before the period of 60 days from the date of the submission of paper. However, after two months of submission, if no decision is taken, authors can ask the status of their paper to our editorial desk. In order to guarantee swiftness of the editorial process, each manuscript will only be allowed two rounds of review and revisions. In case of revisions, authors will be asked to revise/improve the manuscript and after re-submission, the same should be sent to the editor for taking the final decision. At this stage the editors will judge the suitability of the re-submitted manuscript and decide either for further revision or decline the submission altogether.
Copyediting & Proofreading: After the manuscript is accepted for publication, it will undergo a first stage of copy editing where the journal editor(s) will correct any grammatical or contextual errors and check that all necessary information regarding the manuscript and authors has been provided. The Editor’s office of the journal will develop the final version of the manuscript as per the style of the journal and the proof will be sent to the author for final proofreading before publication. Authors should carefully check the proofs for typographical or layout errors. The author is requested to highlight and explain any changes in the final proof, if necessary.
Publication: After the final proofread manuscript has been received and the last corrections have been performed the manuscript will be published. The manuscript will be published in the current issue of the journal, and the author will be promptly informed as soon as the article is available print/online. Media Watch journal reserves the right to reject a paper even after it has been accepted if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems with the content or with violations of our publishing ethics. Authors have a right to appeal editorial decisions regarding publication of their papers.
Online Publishing—Manuscript Handling Fee
Media Watch Journal is a self supporting establishment and does not receive funding from any institution/government. Recently the journal introduced open access publishing (Open Select) of some articles. The management of the open access articles is solely financed by the handling fees received from authors/contributors. The manuscript handling fees are required to meet operations expenses starting from internet services, webhosting to payment of salaries to its employees. The online publishing (of the open access articles) does not receive payment for subscription as the articles are freely accessible over the internet. Authors are required to pay a fair manuscript handling fee for the processing of their articles. However, there are no submission charges. Authors are required to make payment only after their manuscripts have been accepted for online publication. The publication fee is decided by the editorial committee of the journal on case to case basis. The committee may also grant waivers to some the authors, if they are eligible for a waiver.