Article Type

Manuscript Types & Scientific Article Requirements

Article Types

Ilomata International Journal of Social Science prioritizes original research that demonstrates clear scientific novelty, methodological rigor, and a substantive contribution to sociology, political science, public policy, governance, development studies, anthropology, social change, community studies, gender and society, migration, inequality, digital society, and related social-science fields.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PRIORITY NOVELTY REQUIRED NON-RESEARCH TYPES LIMITED

The journal gives priority to original research articles. Review articles, social-science case studies, and short communications are accepted selectively when they are strongly aligned with the journal's Focus and Scope and provide clear theoretical, empirical, policy, institutional, cultural, political, developmental, or community-based contributions.

Core Scientific Requirements

Regardless of manuscript type, articles should demonstrate the following core elements:

✓ Clear social, political, cultural, or policy problem and significance ✓ Adequate state of the art
✓ Explicit research gap / novelty justification ✓ Clearly stated research objective
✓ Appropriate quantitative, qualitative, mixed, comparative, or policy method ✓ Findings, analysis, and conclusion supported by evidence
Editorial Priority: Manuscripts without a clear state of the art, research gap or justification of novelty, explicit research objective, and appropriate social-science methodology or analytical validation may receive lower editorial priority or be returned before peer review.
1 Original Research Article PRIMARY TYPE

Original Research Articles are the primary and preferred manuscript type. They must report original findings derived from a systematic research process and demonstrate a clear contribution to social theory, public policy, governance, development, political analysis, cultural studies, community studies, or contemporary social-science knowledge.

Required characteristics:

  • Relevant social, political, cultural, economic, institutional, community, or policy background and clearly defined research problem;
  • Adequate review of current scholarship, theoretical debates, social developments, or state of the art;
  • Explicit identification of the research gap;
  • Clear justification of novelty or scientific contribution;
  • Explicit research objective(s), research question(s), or hypotheses where appropriate;
  • Appropriate and sufficiently described quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, survey, ethnographic, case-study, comparative, historical, discourse-analysis, content-analysis, policy-analysis, or other relevant social-science method;
  • Clear description of participants, communities, institutions, populations, datasets, documents, sampling, instruments, fieldwork, variables, or analytical procedures where applicable;
  • Clear presentation of findings supported by appropriate statistical, qualitative, documentary, institutional, political, cultural, or community evidence;
  • Critical analysis and comparison with relevant social theories, political frameworks, policy models, cultural perspectives, or previous research; and
  • Conclusion that directly responds to the research objective and explains relevant theoretical, social, political, institutional, developmental, or policy implications.
Recommended Structure:
Introduction → Methods → Results / Findings → Discussion → Conclusion → Declarations → References
2 Review Article SELECTIVE

Review Articles are considered selectively and must provide a comprehensive, critical, and original synthesis of a clearly defined body of literature in sociology, political science, public policy, governance, development studies, anthropology, community studies, gender studies, migration, inequality, digital society, or related fields.

A high-quality review article should:

  • Present a clearly defined review question or analytical objective;
  • Explain the literature-search and selection approach;
  • Use adequate, relevant, and sufficiently current references;
  • Critically compare previous social theories, political frameworks, policy approaches, cultural perspectives, development models, and empirical findings;
  • Identify theoretical inconsistencies, methodological limitations, institutional problems, social inequalities, emerging trends, and research gaps;
  • Provide original analysis or synthesis by the authors; and
  • Develop a research agenda, conceptual framework, social model, policy synthesis, or substantive conclusion.
Not Acceptable: A literature review that only summarizes previous social-science studies, theories, policies, social phenomena, or publications without critical appraisal, synthesis, and an original scholarly contribution.
3 Social Science Case Study LIMITED

Social Science Case Studies are considered when the case provides significant social, political, institutional, cultural, community, developmental, or policy relevance and offers transferable insights for social-science theory or practice.

A Social Science Case Study must include:

✓ Clear social-science research objective ✓ Case-selection and contextual justification
✓ Appropriate qualitative, comparative, institutional, or policy approach ✓ Findings and substantive interpretation
✓ Comparison with relevant social-science literature or frameworks ✓ Clear theoretical, social, institutional, or policy contribution
Not Acceptable: Purely descriptive community profiles, social-program narratives, institutional descriptions, political-event summaries, or cultural observations without a clear research objective, systematic methodology, substantive analysis, and scholarly contribution.
4 Short Communication LIMITED

A Short Communication presents concise but important original findings, emerging social phenomena, preliminary community evidence, political or policy developments, institutional changes, migration patterns, inequality issues, digital-society trends, or timely social-science results relevant to the journal's scope.

Although shorter than a full Original Research Article, a Short Communication must still contain sufficient scientific and analytical substance and demonstrate a clear contribution to social-science knowledge or practice.

Minimum Scientific Elements:
Objective Method Findings Social / Policy Analysis Conclusion

Manuscript Type Priority

Manuscript Type Journal Priority Main Requirement
Original Research Article HIGH Original findings + state of the art + research gap + novelty + social-science analysis
Review Article SELECTIVE Comprehensive review + current references + critical synthesis + original interpretation
Social Science Case Study LIMITED Objective + case justification + social-science method + interpretation + scholarly contribution
Short Communication LIMITED Concise but complete evidence, social analysis, and theoretical or policy relevance

Manuscripts Not Considered

  • Purely descriptive social-science articles without substantive analysis;
  • Opinion or advocacy articles without a clear scholarly method and evidence base;
  • Literature summaries without critical synthesis;
  • Community, demographic, or regional profiles that only present descriptive statistics without a clear theoretical or analytical framework;
  • Social surveys that only report frequencies or percentages without adequate conceptual framing and substantive interpretation;
  • Qualitative studies that present interview quotations without transparent coding, thematic analysis, interpretation, and methodological rigor;
  • Public-policy articles that only describe programs, regulations, or government initiatives without systematic evaluation or policy analysis;
  • Political-event or governance narratives without a clear research question, analytical framework, and evidence-based interpretation;
  • Development or community-program reports without clearly defined objectives, evaluation methods, outcomes, and broader social implications;
  • Digital-society or social-media studies that only report platform activity, engagement metrics, or online trends without substantive social analysis;
  • Studies of inequality, gender, migration, or vulnerable groups that rely only on descriptive observations without adequate theoretical, empirical, or contextual analysis;
  • Conference abstracts submitted without substantial development;
  • Articles outside the journal's Focus and Scope;
  • Previously published manuscripts; and
  • Manuscripts simultaneously submitted to another publication.
Editorial Principle

The journal prioritizes original research that advances social-science theory, understanding of social and political phenomena, institutional analysis, community studies, development research, and evidence-based public policy. Non-original research formats are considered selectively and must demonstrate clear scientific objectives, methodological rigor, analytical depth, originality, meaningful theoretical or policy implications, and strong alignment with the journal's Focus and Scope.