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About the Journal

SQULSJ is an Open Access international, peer-reviewed journal publishing high-quality, original research. Please see the journal's Aims & Scope for information about its focus and peer-review policy.
Open Access means you can publish your research so it is free to access online as soon as it is published, meaning anyone can read (and cite) your work.
Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English.

SQULSJ accepts the following types of articles: original papers, reviews, book reviews.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear and concise Arabic or English. Authors who are not fluent in idiomatic Arabic or English are encouraged to seek assistance with manuscript preparation before submission. Reviewers are not responsible for correcting grammatical errors, and deficiencies in this area may detract from the scientific content of the paper, potentially causing delays in acceptance or even rejection.

Types of Articles

The journal aims to publish four types of contributions: original articles, short communications, reviews, and mini-reviews.

1. Original articles: These are comprehensive research papers covering various scientific fields.
2. Commenting on a judicial ruling involves providing a summary of the case, analyzing the court's decision, and discussing its legal implications. The word count should be 3,000.3.
3. Review articles: Typically, these should be under 6,000 words, include an unstructured abstract, and feature up-to-date references. Meta-analyses are classified as reviews. Special emphasis will be placed on the educational value of review papers.

Before Submission

Please ensure that your manuscript adheres to the following criteria:

1. Your manuscript is original and has not been published or is not under review with another journal or conference proceedings.
2. The manuscript's English is acceptable, free from grammatical and spelling errors.
3. The manuscript should be formatted according to the specified template (Manuscript Template).
4. Your figures are of acceptable quality and are uploaded as separate files.
5. Your references are correctly formatted and numbered as they appear in the text. Please follow the specified reference style.
6. Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that align with the journal's aims and scope will be reviewed.
7. Manuscripts must adhere to the journal's guidelines outlined below.

Submissions that do not conform to these guidelines will be rejected or returned to the author before the peer review process.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Authors should submit their manuscripts to the editorial office as Word files (Word 2007 or higher) via the online Manuscript Tracking System. Manuscripts containing mathematical content can also be submitted in LaTeX.

The original manuscript should be formatted with double line spacing using Times New Roman font (10 pt) and should be fully justified on both the right and left margins. The text must be in a single-column format with justified margins. Use boldface, italics, subscripts, and superscripts where appropriate.

To avoid unnecessary errors, authors are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of their word processing software.

Use continuous line numbering throughout the text, and ensure all manuscript pages are numbered.

For equations, use the equation editor or MathType. Construct tables using the table function.

Employ the decimal system for headings with no more than three levels, such as 1., 2., 2.1, 2.1.1, etc.

Online Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted by one of the authors through the online Manuscript Tracking System (MTS) following the on-screen instructions. Only Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf) files can be submitted through the MTS, and there is no page limit. Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be accepted. The submitting author is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer review process. If, for any technical reason, submission through the MTS is not possible, the author can contact director of academic publication for support.

Initial evaluation

All submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editorial Office to ensure they are properly prepared and adhere to the journal's ethical policies. Each manuscript will be screened for potential plagiarism using iThenticate software. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s ethics policy or fail to meet its standards will be rejected before reaching the peer review stage. Incomplete manuscripts or those not formatted according to the guidelines will be returned to authors without scientific review. Following these initial checks, the Editorial Office will consult with the journal’s Editor-in-Chief to assess whether the manuscript fits the journal’s scope and is scientifically robust. Manuscripts lacking sufficient priority for publication will be promptly rejected. Please ensure your text is written in good English (American usage is accepted). The Editor reserves the right to reject a manuscript due to insufficient language quality, and such decisions will be verified by the Editor-in-Chief.

Submission Declaration and Verification

Submitting an article signifies that the work described has not been previously published (except as an abstract, a published lecture, or an academic thesis), is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that its publication has been approved by all authors and, implicitly or explicitly, by the responsible authorities where the work was conducted. Additionally, if accepted, the article will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or any other language, including electronically, without the written consent of the copyright holder. To ensure originality, all manuscripts submitted to SQULSJ are screened using Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate to detect any plagiarized content.

Article structure

The manuscript should be compiled in the following order:

1. Title page
2. Abstract, Keywords
3. Introduction
4. Material and methods (Experimental or Methodology or Patients and methods)
5. Results
6. Discussion (Results and discussion can be combined in one section)
7. Conclusion
8. Acknowledgment(s)
9. Conflicts of Interest
10. References
11. Arabic/English Abstract
12. Tables
13. Figures

Title page

The title page should include the following in English and Arabic:

1. Title: The title should be brief, concise, and descriptive, avoiding literature references, compound numbers, or non-standardized abbreviations. It should be centered, typed in Times New Roman, 14-point, boldface.
2. Authors and Affiliations: Include full given names, middle initials, and family names for complete identification. These should be centered beneath the title and typed in Times New Roman, 11-point, non-italic, boldface. Use superscript lowercase letters to indicate different affiliations, which should be as detailed as possible, including department, faculty/college, university, city with zip code or P.O. Box, and country. The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where most of their work was conducted. If an author has relocated, the current address may also be provided, though addresses will not be updated post-publication.
3. Corresponding Author: Indicate with an asterisk, and place contact details (telephone, fax, and email address) in a footnote. If available, include the 16-digit ORCID of the corresponding author. Additionally, provide the title, authors, and affiliations in Arabic in the same order as above on a separate page within the same file. Include a short running title (running head) with a maximum of 80 characters.

Abstract

The abstract should be self-contained, free of citations, and should not exceed 300 words. It should succinctly describe the purpose of the study, the methodology used in the investigation, the most significant results, and the main conclusions drawn from those results. Any nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be defined upon their first mention within the abstract. The abstract should be typed in Times New Roman, 9-point, non-italic, and non-boldface.

Keywords

Authors are requested to provide 4 to 6 keywords, separated by semicolons. These should be typed in Times New Roman, 10-point, non-italic, and non-boldface.

Introduction

This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. The author(s) should strive to define the significance of the work and the justification for its publication. Any background discussion should be brief and restricted to pertinent material.

Material and methods (Experimental or Methodology or Patients and methods)

This section should provide enough detail to allow all procedures to be replicated. It can be divided into subsections if multiple methods are described. Authors should strive for conciseness in their experimental descriptions. The experimental section must include all the necessary information to ensure reproducibility. Previously published methods should be cited with a reference, and only the relevant modifications need to be described. For chemicals, reagents, strains, etc., all vendor details, including company, city, and country, should be provided. For statistical analysis, please specify the appropriate test(s) used, along with the hypothesized p-value or significance level (e.g., 0.05).

Results and Discussion

The study results and discussion should be combined to present a clear and concise narrative. Results should be depicted in a logical sequence using text, tables, and illustrations, with tables and figures limited to essential data that enhance the understanding and interpretation of the study. The discussion should focus on exploring the significance of the results, rather than reiterating them. It should include the implications and limitations of the findings, place them in the context of other relevant work, and suggest directions for future research.

Conclusion(s)

The main conclusions of the study should be presented in a brief conclusion statement that highlights the study's goals and its significance. If applicable, introduce new hypotheses. Include recommendations when appropriate.

Acknowledgment(s)

All acknowledgments, if any, should be included at the very end of the manuscript, just before the references section. Individuals who contributed to the research or manuscript but are not listed as authors should be acknowledged, provided they have given their permission.

References

Text: References should be indicated by Arabic numerals in brackets, following the order of their appearance throughout the text, in accordance with the Vancouver style. For example, use [4] or [7-10, 13, 15]. While you can mention the actual authors' names in the text, the corresponding reference number(s) must always be included.

Figures

Figures and tables should not be submitted as separate files. If the article is accepted, authors will be asked to provide the source files for the figures. Each figure should be provided in a separate electronic file and cited in the manuscript in consecutive order. Figures should be in vector art formats (e.g., Illustrator, EPS, WMF, FreeHand, CorelDraw, PowerPoint, Excel) or bitmap formats (e.g., Photoshop, TIFF, GIF, JPEG). Bitmap images should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi unless a lower resolution is justified for scientific reasons. If a bitmap image includes labels, the image and labels should be embedded in separate layers. Figures should be referred to as Fig. 1, Figs. 2, 3-5, using Arabic numerals. Ensure that all tables, figures, and schemes are cited in numerical order within the text. Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).

Nomenclature and Units

All measurements and data should be presented in SI units where possible, or in other internationally accepted units in parentheses throughout the text. Illustrations and tables should use conventional units, with conversion factors provided in the legends or footnotes.

Statements & Declarations

The following statements must be included in your submitted manuscript under the heading 'Statements and Declarations.' This section should be placed after the References section. Please note that submissions lacking the required statements will be returned as incomplete.

Funding

Please describe any sources of funding that have supported the work. The statement should include details of any grants received, specifying the name of the funding agency and the grant number. Example statements:

• “This work was supported by [Funding Agency Name] (Grant numbers [xxxx] and [yyyy]). Author A.B. has received research support from Company A.”
• “The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.”

Competing Interests

Authors must declare all relevant interests that could be perceived as conflicts. They should explain why each interest may be considered a conflict. If no conflicts exist, authors should explicitly state this. The submitting authors are responsible for ensuring that all co-authors declare their interests.

Authors are required to disclose any financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication. Interests from the last three years, starting from when the research began and the work was prepared for submission, should be reported. Additionally, interests outside of this three-year period should be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work. Example statements:

• “Financial interests: Author A and B declare they have no financial interests. Author C has received speaker and consultant honoraria from Company M. Dr. C has received speaker honorarium and research funding from Company M and Company N. Author D has received travel support from Company O. Non-financial interests: Author D has served on advisory boards for Company M and Company N.” - “The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.”
• Please refer to the “Competing Interests” section below for more information on how to complete these sections.

Author Contributions

Authors are encouraged to include a statement specifying each author's contribution to the research and preparation of the manuscript. Example statement:

“All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by [full name], [full name], and [full name]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [full name], and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

Please refer to the “Authorship Principles” section below for more information on how to complete this section.

Data Availability

This journal encourages authors to include an optional data availability statement in their articles. Data Availability Statements should specify where data supporting the results reported in the article can be found, including, where applicable, hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study. These statements can also indicate whether data are available upon request from the authors or if no data are available, as appropriate. Example statements:

• “The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the [NAME] repository, [PERSISTENT LINK TO DATASETS].”
• “The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.”

Please refer to the “Research Data Policy and Data Availability” section below for more information on how to complete this section.

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by email to the corresponding author. These proofs should be used solely for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. To expedite the publication process and ensure accuracy, it is crucial that all corrections are sent back in a single communication within 48 hours. Proofreading is solely the responsibility of the authors. Please note that the publisher may proceed with the publication of the article if no response is received.

Revised manuscripts

Authors are required to submit the revised version of their manuscripts within one month of receiving the editorial decision. It is important to note that revision does not guarantee acceptance for publication, as the revised submissions may still undergo reevaluation. Authors must address each of the reviewers' comments by providing revisions and/or responses. If an author disagrees with a reviewer's comment or suggestion, a justification must be provided. Additionally, any changes made to the manuscript should be clearly highlighted in the revised version to ease the reevaluation process.

After acceptance

Once your article is accepted, it will be forwarded to the production team for typesetting. After the typesetting process is completed, you will receive the proofs for review.

Peer Review

All manuscripts undergo a peer review process and must meet the standards of academic excellence. If an editor approves a submission, it will be reviewed by peer reviewers in a double-blind manner, meaning the identities of both authors and reviewers will remain anonymous to each other. The editorial board makes the final decision on whether to accept or reject a manuscript, based on the reviewers' recommendations.

Our Research Integrity team may occasionally seek advice beyond the standard peer review process, especially for submissions with significant ethical, security, biosecurity, or societal implications. In such cases, we may consult external experts and the academic editor to determine the best course of action. This might include recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, involving additional editors in the assessment, or deciding not to continue with the submission.

Supplementary materials

Authors have the option to publish online supplementary files alongside their articles or book chapters. Each supplementary file should contain the article title, journal name, authors' names, affiliations, and the email address of the corresponding author. Please note that supplementary files will be published exactly as received from the authors, without any conversion, editing, or reformatting.

Article Publishing Charge

There are no Article Processing Charges (APC) for publishing in the journal for any submissions.