About The Journal
The Geographical Society of Central Himalaya (GSCH) has come up with serving serve the need to focus on the developmental and environmental issues in the highly varied geographical regions of the Himalaya with particular attention on the Uttarakhand state. In order to engage the teachers, students, research scholars of Geography, and the associated disciplines towards exploring the unique character of landforms, environment, people and their culture that are so far unreported in the academic spheres, it seemed essential to conceptualize a print platform, as a ‘journal’ of the society entitled Geographical Society of Central Himalaya (GSCH). The Journal is committed to the causes of regional problems –potentialities of the Himalaya in particular and mountains (mountain or mountainous) regions in general. The GJCH is the official publication of the Geographical Society of Central Himalaya situated at 51, Nalapani Road, Dehradun -248001. It is registered under the society act and is a non- profit organization.
Publication Policy And Peer Review
Published annually, in December every year, GJCH brings out original, timely and innovative articles that advance knowledges (knowledge is sufficient) in all aspects of mountain geography. It publishes review papers, research articles, short communication book reviews, and abstracts of recently awarded doctoral theses in the fields of Geography. Emerging issues in the field of mountain environment are presented in maps along with a brief commentary.The journal adheres to unbiased peer-review process.The research articles are reviewed by an external and independent reviewer, and wherever necessary the editor seeks an additional opinion.Initially, all the proposals submitted for the consideration of publication in this journal are sent to the peer-review committee to check its conformity with the editorial policy of the journal and the quality and standards it maintains. Following this, the paper is sent to a reviewer, who would not be aware of the author/authors’ identity, since all the identifying information is removed from the document before sending it to the reviewer. Reviewers are asked to express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
The comments of the reviewers are placed before the editorial board to make a final decision on the manuscript. Thereafter, the decision is communicated to the author/s along with the reviewer report. In a situation, where the revision and resubmission are recommended by the reviewer, acceptance of the paper is subject to a satisfactory revision and the timely resubmission of the revised version of the manuscript of the paper.
Peer Review (Refereed) Committee
The GJCH is a peer-reviewed journal of national repute. It specifically emphasizes on the changing environment of the Himalaya whereon new findings are to be published regularly from 2021. The journal looks forward to the unique perspectives in the discipline of Geography absorbing in its purview issues on environment, natural hazards, agriculture, migration, environmental changes, tourism and heritage. The Journal aims for a strong inter-disciplinary perspective to include the best scholarship in the field. The Journal is published in hard copy as well as online depending on the availability of genuine contributions.
The papers received for publication have to pass through the pre-review committee. The contents of the paper must satisfy the primary objective of society. It must facilitate the understanding of the regional structure of the Himalaya by contributing genuine findings. After clearance from the pre-review committee the paper will be referred to the reviewer for routine evaluation, modification and improvements.
The members of the Peer Review (Refereed) committee are –
1. Prof. (Mrs.) Anita Rudola, Professor & Head, Department of Geography, H.N.B. Garhwal Central University, Pauri Campus. Phone: +91-9411507769 E-mail : [email protected]
2. Prof. (Mrs.) Anita Rudola, Professor & Head, Department of Geography, H.N.B. Garhwal Central University, Pauri Campus.
Phone: +91-9089904889
E-mail : [email protected],
[email protected]
3. Prof. Kamlesh Kumar, Professor(Ret.),51 Nala PaniRoad,Dehradun.
Phone: +91-9012100181 E-mail : [email protected]4. Dr.P.L.Tamta , Associate Professor (Ret.),Upper bazaar, Srinagar Garhwal.
Phone: +91-9451160837 E-mail : [email protected]Ethics Policy
Only original works that aren’t published elsewhere, in whole or in part, are to be acknowledged for publication in this Journal. Authors are required to provide a certificate to this effect at the time of submission for publication. The contributions are screened carefully to detect any bias. The conclusions drawn are expected to be based only on processed data.
In this context, the editors, the reviewers, the authors, and the publisher have important duties and responsibilities as noted below :
1. Editors : The editors have to ensure prompt handling of the review process, along with the evaluation of the manuscript only based on its intellectual content. It is ensured that the reviewers have suitable expertise in the relevant field, and make appropriate use of the publisher’s systems for any aberration, such as plagiarism.
2. Reviewers : The peer-review process helps the editors in making editorial decisions and the authors in improving the paper. As an essential component of formal scholarly communication, it is expected to maintain confidentiality, ethics, and standards of objectivity. Authors should expect the receive reviewers’ reports promptly, normally within two months.
3. Authors : Authors of the original research should present an accurate account of the work accomplished. An objective discussion on the data used is to be represented accurately in the paper. The data analysis should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Inaccurate statements are considered unethical behavior and are unacceptable. The authors are not expected to submit for consideration the publication of the same research work, which has been either submitted to other journals or has been published previously. Authorship should be limited to those making a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those making substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author must ensure that no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper, and that every author has seen and approved the final version of the paper for its submission for publication. If an author discovers a significant error in the published work, it is obligatory on his/her part to inform the editor to either correct it or retract the paper altogether. All sources of financial support for the conduct of the research and or preparation of the article should be acknowledged.
4. Publisher : In cases of established scientific misconduct, plagiarism, or fraudulent publication, the publisher, on the advice of the editorial board, shall take the appropriate action to clarify the situation, publish an erratum in the next issue of Journal.
Copyright And Licensing
In order to publish material, the original author’s (s)’ consent is required for the right to publish it in all formats. For all articles published in our journal, we require the author(s) to accept a ‘license to publish’. This license is normally requested after their article is accepted for publication. The author (who is either the copyright owner or who is authorized to sign on behalf of the copyright owner) grants to the GSCH the exclusive right and license to edit, adapt, translate, reproduce and publish the manuscript in all formats and by all means as per given Performa. The Journal thus acquires an exclusive license to publish and other practical rights to the manuscript, except the copyright. The copyright of the manuscript remains with the copyright owner. In the license to publish, the author provides the assurances that we need to publish the material, including assurances that the work is original to the author, that the work has not been published already and that permissions have been obtained if previously published material has been included (Copyright Transfer Agreement and Ethical Requirements for the Submitted Paper Attach Form
Check On Plagiarism
Plagiarism, which stands for imitating someone’s work without giving the original writer due credit, and most of the time the original owner of the content, is not aware of the fact that his or her work has been copied, has become a serious concern, especially with so many web pages created every day. The GSCH carries a check on plagiarism in submitted manuscripts with the help of the following Anti-Plagiarism platforms :
Instructions To Authors
Submission of Manuscripts : Manuscripts can be submitted through email as an attachment at [email protected] or as a hard copy to the editor, The Geographical Society of Central Himalaya,51 Nala Pani Road,Dehradun-24800,Uttarakhand,India. Manuscripts must be written on one side of 21 x 28 centimetres, paper in 1.5 spacing. The maximum length of a paper in double spacing is about 5000 words. Manuscript carry a cover page, listing the title of the paper, the full name(s) of the author(s), and their mailing address. The manuscript should be prepared in English using “MS Word”, “Times New Roman” font. The font size should be 12pt.
Title :The title should be followed by the author’s name designation, and the institutional affiliation to serve as suitable superscripts. An asterisk (*) must be placed after the corresponding authors name. The corresponding author has the responsibility to ensure that all the co-authors are aware and approve the contents of the submitted manuscript. The email id and mobile numbers of all authors are to be provided.
Abstract : Abstract should include research questions, data sources, research methodology, followed by major findings and conclusion in one paragraph. It should be single-spaced not exceeding 150 words.
Keywords : Author(s) is/are requested to give about 4-6 key words at the end of the abstract which refer to the main issues covered by the paper.
Introduction :The paper should include a brief introduction stating the purpose of the investigation. A review of similar works available in the literature is to be provided.
Materials and methods :This section must contain specific details about the materials studied, data sources and techniques of data analysis and mapping.
Discussion and results :Tables and figures should be designed to maximize the comprehension of the data. The interpreted results should be explained clearly in the discussion. Tables, graphs, maps and diagrams should be inserted into the main text at respective places to make the paper compression as these should appear when published and have appropriate numbers and titles with an explanatory heading. The photographs must be clear, presented on digital files. Digital files are necessary to facilitate quality reproduction.
Acknowledgement (if any) :At the end of the manuscript before the reference section, this section can be used to acknowledge the help of those who do not qualify for authorship. The funding or sponsoring sources, if any, must be mentioned.
Bibliographical References :Should be arranged in alphabetical order.In the reference list at the end of the paper, the author’s name, title, journal, volume, number and pages should be given. The title of the book or journal should be in italics. Follow APA style guide (latest edition) for referencing. Two examples are given below for reference : 1. For a research paper – NityaNand and Prasad, C. (1972) Alaknanda Tragedy: A Geomorphic Appraisal ,National Geographical Journal of India, Varanasi, Vol.(39) 206-12. 2. For a book – The name(s) of the author (s), Year of Publication, Title of Book, Place of Publication, and Publisher’s Name. e.g., Robinson,H.(1976). A Geography of Tourism, Macdonald and Evans,Landon.
Spellings :Follow Oxford Dictionary for spellings.
Footnotes :Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and typed on the page separate from the text. Illustrations in the form of maps and diagrams should be clear with strong black and white contrasts, numbered consecutively. The size must conform to the size of the Journal page (19 x 14.5 centimetres). Offprints of the paper are provided to the authors on demand at low cost, if ordered before publication. Authors will receive a free copy of the Journal in which their article appears.The Editor reserves the right to adjust the papers to the style of the Journal. Author/s alone are responsible for the views expressed in their paper and for obtaining permission from the concerned authority/person to copyright material if used. Please send manuscripts of the review papers, research articles, short communication, book reviews, and abstracts of doctoral dissertations as an email attachment at [email protected] or as a hard copy to : The Editor- Prof. Anita Rudola Co-Editor – Dr. Prem Lal Tamta Geographical Society of Central Himalaya 51 Nala Pani Road,Dehradun-248001 Uttarakhand,India Mob : +91-9012100181, +91-7455887067 E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]