Submission Policy
All the manuscripts must comply with the Policies and the Manuscript Formatting Guide of the Journal. The manuscripts must comply with the Aims & Scope of HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE (hereinafter referred to as the Journal). The manuscript submitted to the Journal must not be published or submitted for publication elsewhere (abstract only or full text; in printed or online version). The manuscript will also be not allowed to submit anywhere else until receiving a final decision from the Journal (rejected for publication). All manuscripts will be checked for plagiarism and research duplication. All documents should be fully cited, listed in the bibliography section. All in-text citations must be thoroughly and comprehensively listed in the reference section. If included in the manuscripts, the participants' information must have the person's consent exchanged or discussed. The author is responsible for the content of the article, as well as the use of documents, data, figures, etc. The authors must make all data available upon request to editors and peer reviewers at the time of submission to evaluate the manuscript.
When submitting the manuscript to our Journal, authors must carefully read the policies as follows:
AUTHOR'S POLICY
Authorship criteria
Authors listed on a published article in the Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science must fully satisfy all four ICMJE authorship criteria. Individuals who do not meet any one of these criteria are not eligible to be recognized as authors. Financial support, administrative assistance, or general supervision do not constitute authorship. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should only be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.
ICMJE Authorship Criteria
Criterion Detailed Description 1. Substantial Contribution Contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data. 2. Drafting or Critical Revision Drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content. 3. Final Approval Final approval of the version to be published. 4. Accountability Agreement to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the work. Roles of Authors
Articles submitted to the Journal must clearly specify the roles of all contributors, including the first author, the corresponding author, and the remaining co-authors. The order of authors listed in the manuscript must accurately reflect the level of contribution made by each author. The roles and authorship order in the manuscript are determined by the Journal as follows:
Author Roles and Order Listed in the Manuscript
Author Role Criteria First Author (Primary / Lead Author) - Leads conceptualization and study design.
- Performs core data collection and/or major analysis.
- Designs and guides the development of the initial manuscript draft.
- Coordinates contributions of co-authors.
- Ensures scientific integrity of key findings.
- Must meet all ICMJE authorship criteria.
Corresponding Author (Communication Lead) - Submits the manuscript to the journal.
- Handles all communications during peer review.
- Ensures all authors approve the final version.
- Manages authorship changes and disclosures.
- Serves as the responsible contact after publication.
- Ensures compliance with ethical and journal policies.
- Must also fully meet authorship criteria.
Co-authors (Contributing Authors) - Provide meaningful intellectual contribution.
- May conduct data collection, analysis, or write specific sections.
- Participate in manuscript revision and academic review.
- Must meet ICMJE authorship requirements.
- Contributions must be transparent and documented (CRediT).
The designation of the corresponding author is determined collectively by all authors and is their shared responsibility. The corresponding author is identified with an asterisk (*) placed immediately after the name in the manuscript. If the first author also serves as the corresponding author, the asterisked name appears in the first position; if the corresponding author is not the first author, the name is placed in the second position. The corresponding author's information-including full name, institutional affiliation (with city and country), and email address-must be consistent with the information provided in the Journal's submission system. Once the manuscript has successfully passed the initial editorial screening and entered the peer-review stage, no additions, deletions, or rearrangements of author names in the authorship list will be permitted.
All individuals listed as authors must declare their specific contributions to the manuscript in accordance with the following contribution criteria:
Author contribution criteria according to the CRediT taxonomy
CRediT Role Description Conceptualization Developing research questions, objectives; establishing the framework. Methodology Designing methods, models, procedures. Software Coding, building tools, computational work. Validation Verifying results, checking reproducibility. Formal Analysis Statistical analysis, modelling, data interpretation. Investigation Experiments, fieldwork, data collection. Resources Providing materials, equipment, datasets. Data Curation Managing, cleaning, structuring datasets. Writing - Original Draft Writing primary manuscript text. Writing - Review & Editing Revising, critical review, academic editing. Visualization Graphs, diagrams, illustrations. Supervision Oversight, leadership, mentoring the team. Project Administration Coordinating tasks, timeline management. Funding Acquisition Obtaining grants, financial support. Each author must clearly state their specific contribution in the submitted manuscript to ensure transparency and adherence to international publication ethics standards.
Copyright
The copyright of articles published by the Journal is governed by the Law on Intellectual Property of Vietnam (2022), the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property (2022), and the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
- The author(s) retain full copyright, including moral rights and property rights, over the preprint version of the manuscript. At this stage, the author(s) may request withdrawal of the manuscript or changes regarding content, authorship, or author order.
- Once the manuscript has been accepted (accepted manuscript) after the editor's desk review but prior to its formal publication, it is considered an incomplete, intermediate product. During this period, the author(s) are not permitted to withdraw the manuscript, nor to alter its content, number of authors, or authorship order. The Journal holds property rights over the accepted manuscript.
- A published journal article is defined as the version formally published in print and/or online by the Journal, assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and indexed in domestic and international databases in which the Journal participates. The published article incorporates the full added value contributed by the Journal, including submission, desk review, peer review, editorial processing, acceptance, and publication.
- The author(s) retain copyright over the published article, except for the property rights, which are held by the Journal. Author(s) are permitted to copy, store, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works based on the original article for lawful and non-commercial purposes, provided that proper and complete citation of the Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science is made, in compliance with the binding terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
This confirmation supersedes any agreement between the Journal and the author(s) concerning the acknowledgment of copyright and property rights for submitted manuscripts and published scientific articles.
AI use
The Journal promotes the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) as a supportive tool in the research process. AI holds significant potential in analyzing extensive datasets, information retrieval, and the development of predictive models. Author can see details at AI Use Policy for Authors.
SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES
Authors are strictly required to keep confidential all details of the editorial and peer review process on submitted manuscripts.
The Journal aims to deliver high-quality journals to our readers and the broader research community. To this end, we require that articles submitted to the Journal include statements and research results that demonstrate both scientific and practical contributions. The acceptance of an article is primarily contingent on the extent of its scientific and practical contributions.
For clarification, the Journal defines scientific and practical contributions in an article includes:
- The manuscript clearly identifies a research gap.
- The manuscript extends or refines existing theories.
- The manuscript proposes a new theoretical or analytical model.
- The manuscript introduces or improves research methods.
- The manuscript provides new datasets or empirical evidence.
- The manuscript presents statistically and practically significant findings.
- The manuscript offers policy/managerial/technological implications.
- The manuscript opens new directions for further research.
ORDERED ARTICLE
To fulfill specific research requirements of the scientific community, the Journal will instruct authors to compose articles in accordance with the journal's guidelines for delivering the most up-to-date and high-quality information within research scope. The following are the regulations applied to ordered articles by the journal:
- Ensuring Journal Exclusivity: Articles produced upon request must be original works that have not been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal. Additionally, these articles are typically outcomes of projects commissioned by the University. Authors are expected to complete ordered articles within the stipulated timeframe. Depending on each unique case, the Journal may have specific royalty policies for authors undertaking these commissioned articles.
- Adherence to Article Guidelines: Ordered articles must adhere to the article rules outlined in the author's guidelines, with a particular emphasis on article length, format, and structure.
- References and Citations: Authors are required to accurately cite reference sources following international APA citation rules. It is essential to comply with the citation format and style regulations specified by the Journal in its author guidelines.
- Language Requirements: Depending on the context, ordered articles may need to be written in a specific language, either English or Vietnamese.
- Novelty, Scientific, and Practical Contribution: Commissioned article research results are expected to make a novel and substantial contribution to the respective research field, while also delivering practical value, i.e., having a direct application and impact on everyday life, industry, or society.