Al-Khalil Journal for Social Sciences is University of Nizwa quarterly peer-reviewed Journal for Social Sciences.

Al-Khalil bin Ahmed AlFrahidi Center for Arabic Studies and Humanities KAFCASH is the sole body in charge of publishing al-Kahli Journal.

Objectives of the Journal:

• • • Encouraging academics, researchers and students of higher studies to conduct and publish research.
    • Providing a platform for publishing of academic research papers for researchers, academics and students from research institutions and universities within and outside Oman.
    • Providing a platform for researchers, academics and students within and outside Oman to keep themselves updated with academic, refereed and high quality research.

The Journal publishes for all researchers/authors from within the University of Nizwa and outside.

Areas of Publishing and their Sections in the Journal:

1- New and groundbreaking research papers by researchers from all over the world, including the research papers of M.A. and Ph.D. research projects.

2- Book reviews: The journal publishes constructive and corrective book reviews of recent publications within the thematic scope of the Journal.

3- Review of University level M.A. and Ph.D. thesis, which are considered to be new scientific addition to knowledge, however, the subject must be within the thematic scope of the Journal.

4- Reports of scientific gatherings, like conference, seminars, exhibitions related to the thematic scope of the Journal

Language of the Journal: Arabic is the language of the journal, however the research articles in both Arabic and English are published.

Publishing of the Journal and its Issues: The journal is published biannually, during April and November, however. Special issues featuring coverage of conferences/seminars organized by the al-Khalil Center can be published at any time.

Publication Type:  The Journal publishes electronically at its own website (https://portal.unizwa.edu.om/alkhalil/ashs/). A hardcopy of can be publish as required and as decided by the management.

Publishing Law: The journal falls under the purview of publishing laws of Sultanate of Oman as well as the regulations of the University of Nizwa in this regard.

Regulatory Council of the Journal:  The regulatory council of the Journal comprises of the following:

• Chancellor of the University
• The Vice Chancellor for Higher Studies, Research and External Liaison
• The Director of al-Khalil Center for Arabic Studies and Humanities

Functions of the Regulatory Council:

• Identification of the general framework for the Journal.
• Follow-up functioning of the Journal through reports presented by the Director of the al-Khalil Center.
• Approval of the recommendations and suggestions submitted by the Director of the al-Khalil Center.

Supervision of the Journal:

The Director of the al-Khalil Center is the supervisor of the al-Khalil Journal.

Duties of the Supervisor:

• Implementation of the University of Nizwa vision, mission and objectives pertaining to scientific journals related to al-Khalil Journal and of the al-Khali Center’s own vision, mission and objectives.
• General supervision of the Journal.
• Development of the Journal and enhancing its status among the refereed academic journals, getting it registered in the indexed international academic journals and listed in the international scientific networks and databases.
• Submission of reports to the Regulatory Council about functioning of the Journal.
• Submission of recommendations and suggestions to the Regulatory Council about advancement of the Journal.
• Submission of recommendations to the Regulatory Council for appointment of the Chief Editor and members of the Editorial Board.
• Follow-up of the Chief Editors’ work.
• Staying abreast about the articles accepted for publishing, rejected articles and the reasons thereof.
• Fulfills the duties of the Chief Editor if not able to fulfill those duties for reasons accepted by the work regulations of the University of Nizwa.

The Chief Editor:

• • • The journal has a Chief Editor
    • The Chief Editor belongs to the academic faculty of the University whose academic specialization would be in one of the areas of al-Khalil Journal, and would have published studies, research and books in his/her own area of specialization. He/She would be an active member of his/her own working department, with contribution to social service, an urge to manage the Editorial Board of the Journal, and dedication of time and effort to fulfill his/her duties with a strong team spirit.
    • The Regulatory Council of the Journal shall approve the appointment of the Chief Editor ratified through an order issued by the Chancellor of the University. The appointment shall be valid for a two years’ term renewable for a further term/s.
    • The workload of the Chief Editor shall be considered as part of his workload at his working department, calculated as equal to three (3) workload hours of his/her duties at the department.

Duties of the Chief Editor:

• • • Contributing to development of the Journal and enhancement of its status among the refereed scientific journals, getting it registered in the indexed international scientific journals and listed in the international scientific networks and databases.
    • Submitting reports to the Director of the al-Khalil Center – as supervisor of the Journal – about the process of publishing the research articles, publication of the Journal’s issues, challenges faced by the journal, manner of overcoming those challenges, and presentation of recommendations for the Journal’s development and enhancement of its scientific level and format.
    • Submitting recommendations and suggestions to the Director of the al-Khalil Center about formation of the Editorial Council and selection of referees.
    • Receiving the research articles and following up on their fulfillment of requirements in coordination with the Editorial Coordinator.
    • Calling for meetings of the Editorial Board, preparing for their sessions, preparing the minutes thereof, and following up on the implementation of decisions.
    • Following up on editing of the articles accepted for publications and supervision of their actual publishing.
    • Corresponding with the referees, following up on the articles dispatched to them, and completing all the related procedures.
    • Communicating between the Journal and the researchers.
    • Following up on the electronic version of the Journal, ascertaining about its efficient functioning, and finding solutions to the problems whenever required.

The Editorial Director:

• The journal has an Editorial Director
• The Editor Director belongs to the academic faculty of the University whose academic specialization would be in one of the areas of al-Khalil Journal, and would have published studies, research and books in his own area of specialization. He/She would be an active member of his/her own working department, with contribution to social service, an urge to manage the Editorial Board of the Journal, and dedication of time and effort to fulfill his duties with a strong team spirit.
• The Editorial Director will be from the Editorial Board of the journal.
• The Regulatory Council of the Journal shall approve the appointment of the Editorial Director ratified through an order issued by the Chancellor of the University. The appointment shall be valid for a two years’ term renewable for a further term/s.
• The workload of the Chief Editor shall be considered as part of his workload at his working department, calculated as equal to three (3) workload hours of his duties at the department.

Duties of the Editorial Director:

• Assisting the Chief Editor in fulfilling the duties related to editorial work of the Journal.
• Functioning in lieu of the Chief Editor if not able to fulfill the duties for reasons permitted under the working system of the University.
• Contributing to development of the Journal and enhancement of its status among the refereed scientific journals, getting it registered in the indexed international scientific journals and listed in the international scientific networks and databases.
• Following up on functioning of the journal’s website / portal, ensuring its efficient functioning, and finding solutions to the problems as and when required.
• Contributing to the duties mentioned under Duties of the Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board:

• The journal has an Editorial Board.
• A member of the Editorial Board belongs to the academic faculty of the University whose academic specialization would be in one of the areas of al-Khalil Journal, and would have published studies, research and books in his/her own area of specialization. He/She would be an active member of his own working department, with contributions to social service, an urge to manage the Editorial Board of the Journal, and dedication of time and effort to fulfill the duties with a strong team spirit.
• The Chief Editor shall prepare a proposal to the Director of the al-Khalil Center suggesting names of the members of the Editorial Board for each pivot.
• The Regulatory Council of the Journal shall approve nominations of the members ratified through an order issued by the Chancellor of the University. Their appointments shall be valid for a two years’ term renewable for a further term/s.
• If required, assistance may be sought from members of the faculty of various colleges of the University by their joining the Editorial Board against each pivot.
• The workload of a member of the Editor Board shall be considered as part of his workload at his working department, calculated as equal to two (2) workload hours of his duties at the department.

Duties of the Editorial Board:

• The Editorial Board shall bear the responsibility for publishing the research articles in the area overseen by the Board.
• Ascertain hat the research article submitted for publishing had not been plagiarized and that it had not already been published elsewhere. If plagiarized or published earlier, the Board reserves the right to reject it immediately.
• Ascertain that the submitted research articles are subjected to strict reviewing process ensuring that integrity of the publishing process is on par with the standards of peer reviewed international research journals.
• Maintain confidentiality of the personal data of the researchers, especially prior to publishing and through the process of review.
• Initial evaluation study of the research articles submitted for publishing and defining their worthiness of being published or rejected (using the specified digital form designed for this purpose and available at the Journal’s website). The decision of the Editorial Board must be based on the majority vote of the Editorial Board. In case of a draw vote, the opinion of the Chief Editor’s side will prevail.
• Suggest two main reviewers to whom the job of reviewing the submitted research articles will be assigned. A third reviewer must be kept as a backup reviewer, just in case one of the main reviewers is not able to review for whatsoever reasons or in case one of the main reviewers is not in favor of publishing the research article.
• Examine the remarks presented by the reviewer/s to ascertain their objectivity, impartiality and fairness before providing feedback to the researcher.
• Confirm that the researcher has amended the research in accordance with the remarks provided by the reviewers and that he complied with them.
• Ultimately approve the research for publishing by issuing a decision to that effect. The decision must be based on the majority vote of the Editorial Board. In case of a draw vote, the opinion of the Chief Editor’s side will prevail (using the specified digital form designed for this purpose and available at the Journal’s website.)
• Contribute to dealing with complaints and appeals related to ethics of research – like fraud, plagiarism and recycling – that might be raised against such researches published by the Journal.
• Contribute to progress of the Journal, to enhancement of its status, and to the mechanism of reaching out to the researchers and the concerned.

Consultative Committee:

The Journal has its Consultative Committee comprising of the faculty members, researchers and publishers from within the Sultanate of Oman and from outside to positively contribute to advancement of the journal and its quality.

The Reviewers and Arbitration:

Research articles submitted for publishing in al-Khalil Journal, are subjected to fair arbitration with the sublime aim of identifying the well prepared research articles with valuable research content for readers across the globe.

• The referees belong to the academic faculty within the University and outside, however the academic specialization of a referee is the same as to which he has been chosen to judge on behalf of the Journal. The referee must have published research, studies and books in his/her own field of specialization and that he/she is interested in cooperating with the Journal in judging research articles.
• A research paper is sent to two referees. In case of contradiction between their decisions, the research is sent to a third referee whose decision is considered the final and decisive.
• Each referee is paid an amount of 20 Omani Rials or its equivalent of 60 US $s for judging a research article, besides a certificate of appreciation for having worked for al-Khalil Journal for refereeing of research articles.

Editorial Coordinator:

The journal has an editorial coordinator. The editorial coordinator must be an employee of the University of Nizwa and conversant with the process of academic publishing.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Coordinator:

• Work with the Chief Editor and Editorial Director in the process of receiving the research articles, to follow up on completion of the relevant requirements, and to correspond with the researchers and the referees.
• Attend meetings of the Editorial Board and document the minutes and implement its decisions.
• Follow up on editing of the research articles accepted for publishing for being published.
• Submit the research articles accepted for publishing to the Language Editor and to follow up the process.
• Communicate with the Journal’s Public Relations coordinator regarding their common tasks.
• Follow up on functioning of the website of the journal and to ensure its effective functioning and to find suitable solutions whenever required.

Coordinator of Public Relations:

The journal has a coordinator of Public Relations. Coordinator of Public Relations must be an administrative staff at al-Khalil Center.

Responsibilities of the Coordinator of Public Relations:

• Complete the jobs of administrative nature for the Journal in coordination with the Director of al-Khalil Center – as supervisor of the journal -, the Chief Editor and the Editorial Coordinator.
• Coordinate with the Marketing and Media Department regarding design and technical / artistic production of the Journal.
• Coordination with Colleges and Departments of the University regarding publishing and marketing of the Journal, and regarding official and electronic services for the Journal.
• Perform the functions of Editorial coordinator, if required.
• Follow up on functioning of the website of the Journal and ensure its effective functioning and find suitable solutions whenever required.

Language Editor:

• The journal has a Language Editor. The language editor of the Journal is either a fulltime employee of the University or a collaborator with specialization in Arabic/English language, with experience in editing of academic texts and keenness to cooperate with al-Khalil Journal.

Responsibilities of Language Editor:

• Language editing of the research articles accepted for publishing ensuring that the language is proficient and these are suitable for publishing from the aspects of numbering and style.

Electronic System of the Journal:

Center for Information Systems (CIS), University of Nizwa, is the concerned authority responsible for maintaining the Journal’s website, which includes the following:

• Setting up the electronic system for the journals and developing it as required in line with the technical and technological developments.
• Hosting the system on the University’s servers under the supervision of CIS.
• Provide technical support to users of the system, editorial boards, researchers and visitors.
• Preparation of easily available user manual to guide the users.

Design and Technical Production of the Journal:

The responsibility of design and technical production of the Journal lies on concerned staff of the Marketing and Media Department of the University.

Responsibilities of the Designer and Technical Producer:

• To design the internal content pages of the Journals and participate in developing the visual identity of the Journal in coordination with Director of al-Khali Center and Chief Editor of the Journal.
• Internal and external marketing of the Journal.

Publishing Fees:

• A researcher must pay 60 Omani Rials or its equivalent of 150 US$ against publishing of his/her research paper in al-Khali Journal towards fees due to be paid to the reviewers and for electronic publishing. The publication fees must be paid through the Journal e-system before the manuscript is forwarded for external reviewing.