About the Journal
General Specialization:
"Crossroads Journal" is a specialized scientific journal subject to peer review, concerned with studying and analyzing the phenomena of migration, displacement, asylum and irregular transit, from a multidisciplinary scientific perspective that combines the humanities, social, legal and political sciences, with the aim of monitoring and analyzing border and transit crises in their regional and international environment, and providing research insights that contribute to policy formulation and decision-making.
The Journal's Scientific Fields
The journal welcomes original research and studies falling within the following themes, which are not exhaustive and may be expanded upon by the editorial board as new sub-themes emerge:
1. International Migration Studies: its patterns, causes, trends, and economic and social impacts on countries of origin, transit, and destination.
2. Internal Displacement and Forced Migration: displacement resulting from armed conflicts, disasters, and climate change.
3. Asylum and International Protection: international and regional legal frameworks for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers.
4. Irregular Migration, Smuggling Networks, and Human Trafficking: field monitoring and criminal and social analysis.
5. Border Policies and Transit Management: national and regional policies for border management and control.
6. Legal and Human Rights Dimensions: international humanitarian law, human rights law, and relevant international conventions.
7. Security and Geopolitical Dimensions: the relationship between migration and regional and international security, and border geopolitical interactions. 8. Economic Dimensions: Remittances, the labor market, and the informal economy related to migration.
8. Social, cultural, and psychological dimensions: integration, identity, and the mental health of migrants and displaced persons.
9. Public Policies and Governance: Evaluating national and international policies related to migration and displacement management.
10. Media Studies: The representation of migration and displacement issues in media discourse and public opinion.
11. Research Methodologies and Field Documentation in Migration, Displacement, and Unsafe Transit Environments.
The journal places particular emphasis on Libya, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa, without restricting its geographical purview to these regions. Comparative studies and internationally focused research are equally encouraged.
Publication Fees Policy
The journal employs a clear and transparent Article Processing Fee (APC) policy to ensure fairness and sustainability:
· Fees: Researchers residing in Libya are required to pay an application processing fee of 250 Libyan Dinars (LYD) or US$200 for researchers residing outside Libya.
· Full Refund: The fee is fully refundable if the editorial board initially rejects the article before peer review (initial rejection), or if publication is canceled by an administrative decision of the journal.
· Non-Refund: The fee is non-refundable if the article is rejected based on reviewer reports after the peer review process has begun, if the researcher withdraws after submitting the article for review, or if it is rejected due to violations of publication ethics or plagiarism.
Ethical Note: No fees are accepted to guarantee acceptance or expedite the review process, in order to maintain the integrity of the scientific process and adherence to publication ethics.
Public and Transparent Publication Policies
The journal is committed to publishing all its editorial and ethical policies on its website to ensure transparency for researchers, readers, and academic institutions:
1. Editorial Policy
• Independence: The editorial board enjoys complete independence in making scientific decisions without any interference from the publisher or any external party.
• Acceptance Criteria: Editorial decisions are subject exclusively to standards of scientific quality, originality, and relevance to the journal's specialization.
• Direct Rejection: The editor-in-chief has the right to directly reject (preliminary rejection) any research that does not meet the formal requirements or falls outside the scope of the specialization, while notifying the researcher of the reasons.
• Handling Complaints: The editorial board is committed to resolving any complaint or objection from researchers within a period not exceeding 15 working days.
• Transparency of the Board: The names of the editorial board members and their brief academic biographies are published on the website and updated periodically.
2. Open Access Policy
• Immediate Access: The journal adopts a fully open and immediate access policy for all its content without any waiting period.
• Free Access: All published research is available to read, download, and print free of charge, without subscription or fees.
• Abstract and License: Research is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which allows reuse and quotation, provided the author is acknowledged. Commercial use is prohibited.
• Intellectual Property: Authors retain intellectual property rights to their work, while the journal is granted first (non-exclusive) copyright.
3. Peer Review Policy
The journal employs a double-blind peer review system by at least two reviewers. Authors have the right to submit scholarly objections, and the entire review process is documented. The editorial board maintains complete impartiality and does not influence the reviewers' decisions.
4. Copyright Policy
• The author(s) retain full copyright to their published work.
• The author grants the journal a non-exclusive first-publication and electronic distribution license. • The author may republish their work in institutional repositories or on personal websites, provided they cite the original publication and include a link to the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
• Upon final acceptance, the author must sign a "Publication License Transfer Agreement."
5. Authorship Policy
• Authorship Eligibility Criteria: The journal adheres to internationally recognized ethical standards (such as the COPE International Publication Ethics Committee guidelines), which stipulate that for a researcher to be considered an "author," all of the following conditions must be met:
ü Making a substantial scholarly contribution to the research idea, design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
ü Actively participating in the drafting or critical review of the research.
ü Providing final and explicit approval of the accepted version for publication.
ü Accepting full and public responsibility for the accuracy, validity, and reliability of the data and results.
• Guest/Honorary Authorship Prohibited: "Guest/Honorary Authorship" is prohibited for those who have not made a substantial scholarly contribution to the research.
• Author Order: The order of names is determined by mutual written agreement between the researchers prior to the submission of the research. The journal assumes no responsibility for any subsequent disputes.
• Correspondence Author: The term "Correspondence Author" is clearly used to designate the sole official channel of communication with the editorial board.
6. Self-Archiving Policy
• Rough Copy: Authors are permitted to archive their rough copy at any time and in any repository.
• Final Copy: The accepted copy can be archived in institutional or personal repositories immediately upon publication without any waiting period.
• Publisher's Final Copy (PDF): This copy can be archived provided the source and original DOI are cited.
• The journal encourages publication in national and international repositories such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and university repositories.
7. Anti-Plagiarism Policy
• Electronic Check: Scientific papers are subject to mandatory plagiarism detection using software such as Turnitin or iThenticate.
• Plagiarism Percentage: The maximum acceptable percentage is 20% overall, provided that the plagiarism from any single source does not exceed 4%.
• Exceeding the Percentage Percentage: The paper will be automatically rejected or returned to the author for revision at the discretion of the editorial board. • Post-Publication Procedures: If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the research will be retracted, and a statement explaining the reasons for the retraction will be published.
• Self-Plagiarism: The same rules apply to self-plagiarism and duplicate publication.
8. Conflict of Interest Policy
• Authors, reviewers, and editorial board members are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, personal, academic).
• Editorial board members are prohibited from participating in decision-making processes related to the research they are involved in.
• Reviewers with a supervisory, familial, or recent research partnership with the author may not be assigned to the review process.
• A conflict of interest disclosure form must be included with the required documents.
9. Sharing Policy
• Data Availability: Researchers are encouraged to make primary data available in trusted repositories or as appendices, while maintaining its confidentiality.
• Sensitive Data: In studies of a sensitive nature (such as data related to refugees and internally displaced persons), a detailed and systematic description of the data collection and processing methods is sufficient; primary data may not be published.
• Data Availability Statement: Researchers are required to include a data availability statement at the end of the article, outlining the data access requirements.
• The journal reserves the right to request supporting data for verification purposes during the review process.
10.Publication Ethics and Anti-Malpractice Policy
• The journal adheres to the principles issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):
• Ethical Consent: Informed consent is required for field studies involving migrants or refugees, and the approval of the Ethics Committee must be acknowledged.
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups: Particular attention is paid to research ethics involving children, women, and victims of human trafficking, and any data that could put them at risk is withheld.
• Malpractice: This includes data falsification, forgery, plagiarism, duplicate publication, and attribution to unauthorized authors.
• Investigation Committees: An internal investigation committee is formed to review any complaint, with the right of reply granted to the party reported.
• Corrective Actions: These actions range from publishing a correction and expressing concern to retracting the article. • Non-discrimination: Equality among researchers regardless of gender, race, religion, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
• Financial transparency: Disclosure of funding sources and financial support for research.
11.AI Use Policy
• No authorization: AI tools may not be awarded the title of "author" or "co-author." This title is reserved exclusively for individuals.
• Assistive use and disclosure: AI may be used for assistive tasks (such as improving wording and translation) provided that the name of the tool and its scope of use are explicitly disclosed in the research methodology or declarations.
• Scientific responsibility: Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy and validity of content generated by AI tools and for ensuring it is free from fictitious sources.
• No falsification: The use of AI to generate falsified data, results, or analyses is prohibited and constitutes scientific fraud.
• Review confidentiality: Reviewers and editorial boards are prohibited from uploading submitted research texts to public AI tools to protect confidentiality and intellectual property. • Editorial review: The journal may use specialized plagiarism detection tools or linguistic review tools as an aid to human review
