Editorial Team

About the Journal

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (RS) categorized the Journal of Social Sciences as a scientific journal (M53). The Journal of Social Sciences is an open-access interdisciplinary journal that has been published once a year since 2009. The Journal is dedicated to research in all relevant fields of social sciences, and above all to the study of economics, finance, management, marketing, accounting, auditing, international relations, sociology, philosophy, business informatics, culture, political science and law. The journal has its own printed and electronic edition, and is intended for members of the academic community, researchers, practitioners, decision makers, problem solvers, students, as well as the general public. The Journal especially encourages foreign authors, students and young researchers to publish their articles and scientific achievements. Only original manuscripts that have not been previously published somewhere else and that have not been submitted to the editorial board of another scientific or professional journal may be submitted to the Journal. In that sense, it is strictly forbidden to publish the same article, parts of it or identical research results in more than one journal. All submitted articles are subject to the procedure of double-blind peer-review, while the Journal publishes only those manuscripts that received a positive evaluation in the review process. Authors are expected to submit only their original manuscripts which must not be plagiarism or auto plagiarism and which must not contain false or falsified information. In addition, each published article must contain a list of references used, as well as (if any) information on the institution that financially supported and/or participated in the research conducted with the aim of declaring the absence of conflict of interest.

Review policy of the Journal

Articles submitted to the Journal of Social Sciences are subject to double-blind peer-review process. The aim of the Journal's editorial policy is reflected in the continuous improvement of the quality, credibility and scientific relevance of published papers. The review process is based on a professional, impartial, up-to-date and timely assessment of the submitted articles` scientific and professional value and contribution. The aim of the review process is to help the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal in making a final decision on accepting or rejecting the submitted paper, as well as to improve the quality of submitted articles through the process of active interaction and cooperation with authors. Manuscripts are sent for review process only after the initial assessment of the Editor-in-Chief on their suitability regarding their form, content and thematic scope. The Editorial Board of the Journal takes special care about that the initial assessment does not last longer than necessary. The review process is twofold anonymous, which means that the identity of the author and the reviewer remains unknown during the entire article reviewing process. Each manuscript is subject to review by at least two reviewers, while the reviewers act independently of each other and their identity remains unknown. Reviewers must not come from the institution to which the authors of the articles belong, and they must have not been their co-authors in the recent past. In addition, possible suggestions of reviewers by the authors and co-authors of the submitted papers will not be taken into account. The Editor-in-Chief guarantees that before sending the manuscript to the reviewer, all identification data on the authors will be omitted, such as their name and surname, affiliation, contact information and the like. The deadline for completing the review is 15 days from the date of receipt of the manuscript. The selection of reviewers is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, while the reviewers have to be experts who are competent in the scientific field to which the manuscript is devoted.

The review process itself consists of sending a review sheet to the reviewer that contains a series of relevant questions to be answered in order to determine the final decision about the manuscript. At the very end of the review template, the reviewers state their impressions and suggestions for improving the quality of the submitted manuscripts. During the review process, the Editor-in-Chief may request the author to submit additional information such as calculations performed, data tables, outputs of statistical computer programs, etc., if necessary to decide on the final status of the submitted manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief and reviewers are obliged to keep the submitted data confidential and must not use it for personal gain. In case of serious and well-founded objections to the outcome of the review procedure, the Editor-in-Chief checks the objectivity, expertise, as well as the academic and scientific relevance of the review obtained. If there is any doubt about the objectivity and quality of the review itself, the Editor-in-Chief will seek the opinion of another reviewer.

Once a manuscript is submitted to the Journal's Editorial Board, it goes through an initial review process that includes its preliminary screening by the Journal's Editor-in-Chief. At this stage, the Editor-in-Chief opts for one of the following options related to the fate of the submitted manuscripts:

  1. Return of the manuscript without review: if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the submitted manuscript does not meet the defined thematic scope of the Journal or does not meet its defined expectations, standards and criteria, the Editor-in-Chief may return it to the authors without initiating a review process. At this stage, the article can also be rejected if there are too many spelling, grammatical and syntactic errors, with a request for professional editing, proofreading and correction of the manuscript. If the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal determines that the submitted manuscript does not correspond to its thematic areas, he/she may suggest to the author to send it to another journal.
  2. Submission of the manuscript for review process: if after the initial screening process the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the scope, requirements and standards of the Journal, he/she submits it for reviewing process. Reviewers return the peer-reviewed manuscripts to the Editor with appropriate comments and recommendations. Although the opinions and recommendations of the reviewers are extremely important and valuable for the Journal`s Editorial Board, the final decision on the manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief itself.

Depending on the comments, opinions, evaluation and credibility of the submitted reviews, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal makes one of the following decisions related to the status of the manuscript:

  1. Acceptance of the manuscript in its current form: this means that the Journal will publish the original form of the manuscript, as well as that there is no need for making additional changes and corrections in the manuscript text.
  2. Acceptance with minor revisions, i.e. conditional acceptance of the article: In this case, the manuscript requires minor changes, in accordance with the reviewer's recommendations, with the aim of being accepted for publication.
  3. Acceptance with major revisions: implies a decision on the publication of the manuscript after major revision made, as well as substantial and significant improvements to the text of the manuscript. In this case, the authors will be asked to submit a revised version of the manuscript text together with a response to the reviewer's comments.
  4. Correction of the manuscript and its re-submission: this phase involves a need for significant revision of the manuscript text in accordance with the essential and crucial comments of the reviewer and Editor, as well as re-submission of the article to the Journal`s Editorial Board.
  5. Rejection of the manuscript: In this case, the article will not be published in the Journal. In this instance, the Journal`s Editor-in Chief will also not reconsider such a manuscript for publishing, even if the authors would make major changes to it.

Author`s responsibility

The authors guarantee that the submitted manuscript represents their original opus, it has not been taken over from another author, that it has not been published before, and that they do not consider publishing it in another journal. Concurrently submission of the same or the parts of a given manuscript is a serious violation of ethical standards that automatically excludes it from further consideration. Authors are solely responsible for the content of their submissions. By submitting their manuscripts to the Journal, the authors guarantee that the submitted manuscript does not contain unfounded and illegal claims, as well as that it does not violate the rights of third parties. By submitting their manuscripts, the authors guarantee that only those persons listed in the manuscript are individuals who have significantly contributed to the content and structure of the article.

The authors bear full responsibility for the content, authenticity, correctness and scientific ground of their manuscripts. The authors are obliged to list all the persons who significantly contributed to the structure and content of their manuscript. Assuming that a given scientific or professional article emerged as a result of engagement in some research project, the authors are obliged to state its name and code, as well as the institution that founds it. If a certain manuscript under the same or similar title was presented at a scientific conference orally, it is also necessary to state that information in the footnote of the first page of the manuscript. If third parties or institutions also participated in important aspects of the preparation, drafting and working on the manuscript, their contribution should be stated in the Acknowledgments section. The authors are also obliged to state whether they are in financial or any other conflict of interest, which could affect their research results and conclusions.

Authors are required to cite correctly all sources that have significantly influenced their research and the content of the manuscript. Parts of the manuscript, including text, figures, equations and tables taken verbatim from other documents, must be quoted adequately (e.g. “text...”), including citing the page number from the original document. Full references of each citation in the text must be uniformly given in a separate section (Literature or References), in accordance with the recommended citation style of the Journal. The References section should include all those sources that have been quoted and that have really been used in the preparation of the manuscript.

By submitting the manuscript to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Social Sciences, the authors undertake the commitment to respect the editorial policy of the Journal. Authors also guarantee that after publication in the Journal of Social Sciences, the manuscript will not be published in some other journal or publication, in any language without the consent of the holder of rights. Scientific or professional paper that has already been published in some other journal cannot be reprinted in the Journal of Social Sciences. Authors are required to adhere to ethical standards relating to their scientific research contribution. The publisher does not bear any responsibility in case of any claims for indemnity based on unfounded and illegal claims, as well as other violations of the rights contained in the manuscript.

Responsibility of the Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief of the Journal makes the final decision on accepting and publishing the submitted papers. The Editor makes decisions solely based on the reviewer's opinion and the scientific value of the submitted manuscript. The decision-making process must be free of racial, gender, religious, ethnic and political prejudices, while members of the Editorial Board must also not be in conflict of interest regarding the manuscript under consideration. Members of the Editorial Board who believe that they could be involved in such a conflict do not participate in the deciding about the status of a certain manuscript.

When making the final decision on acceptance of papers, the Journal`s Editorial Board will be guided by legal regulations and laws related to plagiarism, violation of copyright and ethical standards, defamation, as well as all other acts of damaging the reputation of third parties. Manuscripts and accompanying data are kept confidential, while the information contained in them may not be used for personal purposes without the written permission of the author. The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are obliged to take all measures to ensure the anonymity of authors and reviewers before, during and after the review process.

Responsibility of reviewers

Reviewers are obliged to submit to the Editor-in-Chief an assessment of the scientific value of the enclosed manuscript objectively, qualifiedly, impartially and within the set deadlines. The reviewer takes special care of the actual scientific contribution, originality and authenticity of the manuscript, while his/her views must be clear enough and supported by reasonable argumentation. Reviewers evaluate the submitted manuscripts in relation to the compliance of the content with the thematic concept of the Journal, significance, usefulness and topicality of the presented content, adequacy of applied methods, presentation style, text equipment and scientific value of presented information and conclusions. The review process itself includes giving assessments of individual dimensions of the manuscript, general assessment and concluding recommendations. The reviewer can accept for review only those articles that belong to the areas for which he/she is considered competent. Reviewers must not accept for review process those papers beyond the field of their full competence and expertise. Reviewers should warn the Editor-in-Chief of any reasonable suspicion or knowledge of possible violations of ethical standards by the authors. Reviewers may recommend citing some other relevant sources of literature, but will not require citation of articles published in the Journal of Social Sciences, as well as of their own articles, except in justified cases.

Reviewers must not be in conflict of interest with the authors or funders of their research and projects, while if there is one the reviewer is obliged to inform the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal about these facts. Reviewers are also required to warn the Editor-in-Chief if they have reasonable suspicion or knowledge of possible violations of ethical and authorial standards by the authors, while they are also expected to recognize those references not cited in the manuscript. The goal of the review process is unequivocally aimed at improving the quality of submitted articles. Manuscripts and related data submitted for review process have the treatment of confidential documents, while reviewers may not use them for their research without the written permission of the author.

Editorial Board

Publisher

Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade

For the Publisher

Jovan Veselinović, Ph.D., Rector of Alfa BK University

Editor-in-Chief

Lidija Madžar, Ph.D., Associate Proffessor (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade)

Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Marko Kihler, MA (Secretary-General of Alfa BK University)

Members of the Journal` s Council 

  • Andrei Vernikov, Ph.D. (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia),
  • Jovan Babić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia),
  • James H. Birx, Ph.D. (Canasius Coledge New York, USA),
  • Vukašin Pavlović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia),
  • Slobodan Nešković, Ph.D. (St. Cyril and St. Methodius University, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and Ukrainian Technologies Academy in Kiev, Ukraine),
  • Phillipe Schmitter, Ph.D. (European University Institute, Florence, Italy),
  • Ljubomir Madžar, Ph.D. (Institute for Strategic Studies and Development “Petar Karić“, Belgrade and the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia) and
  • Radojko Lukić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia).

Members of the Journal` s Editorial Board

  • Jovan Veselinović, Ph.D. (Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Maja Ćuk, Ph.D. (Faculty of Foreign Languages, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Valentina Budinčić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Foreign Languages, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Milica Simić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Marijana Joksimović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Jozefina Beke-Trivunac, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Aleksandar Prnjat, Ph.D. (Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Drago Cvijanović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Dragana Vojteški Kljenak, D. (College of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship, Belgrade),
  • Aleksandra Perović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Sport Management, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Larisa Jovanović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Donatella Della Porta, Ph.D. (European University Institute, Florence, Italy),
  • Dejan Sekulić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Mirko Blagojević, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Vladan Đorđević, Ph.D. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade),
  • Jonel Subić, Ph.D. (Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade),
  • Predrag J. Marković, Ph.D. (Institute of Contemporary History, Belgrade),
  • Pavle Milenković, Ph.D. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad),
  • Vladimir Milisavljević, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Vojin Rakić, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Mirjana Radović-Marković, Ph.D. (Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Petar Veselinović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Economics, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Marta Bazler-Madžar, Ph.D. (Scientific Society of Economists of Serbia, Belgrade),
  • Pero Petrović, Ph.D. (Intitute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade),
  • Marijana Vidas-Bubanja, Ph.D. (Belgrade Academy of Business and Art Vocational Studies, Belgrade),
  • Mehmed Murić, Ph.D. (European Centre for Peace and Development, United Nations University for Peace),
  • Dejan Sekulić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Andrijana Kos Kavran, Ph.D. (The Polytechnic of Međimurje in Čakovec, Republic of Croatia),
  • Marina Gregorić, Ph.D. (University North, Koprivnica, Republic of Croatia),
  • Antoaneta Vassileva, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Lidija Madžar, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Stanimir Đukić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Drinka Peković, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade) and
  • Suzana Balaban, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade).

Technical Secretary of the Journal

  • Vladimir Šašo, MA

Proofreading for the Serbian Language

  • Proofreading team of Alfa BK University

Proofreading for the English Language

  • Branka Kovačević, MA

List of Journal Reviewers:

  • Marijana Joksimović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Aleksandar Prnjat, Ph.D. (Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Nemanja Pažin, Ph.D. (Faculty of Management in Sport, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Aleksandra Perović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Sport Management, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Jozefina Beke-Trivunac, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Ljubomir Madžar, Ph.D (Institute for Strategic Studies and Development “Petar Karić“, Belgrade and the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia),
  • Slobodan Nešković, Ph.D. (St. Cyril and St. Methodius University, Veliko Trnovo, Bulgaria and Ukrainian Technologies Academy in Kiev, Ukraine),
  • Dražen Jovanović, Ph.D. (Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Mirko Blagojević, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Vladan Đorđević, Ph.D. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade),
  • Marijana Vidas-Bubanja, Ph.D. (Belgrade Academy of Business and Art Vocational Studies, Belgrade),
  • Larisa Jovanović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Jonel Subić, Ph.D. (Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade),
  • Boris Kuzman, Ph.D. (Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade),
  • Predrag J. Marković, Ph.D. (Institute of Contemporary History, Belgrade),
  • Marta Bazler-Madžar, Ph.D. (Scientific Society of Economists of Serbia, Belgrade),
  • Pero Petrović, Ph.D. (Intitute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade),
  • Pavle Milenković, Ph.D. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad),
  • Vladimir Milisavljević, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Mehmed Murić, Ph.D. (European Centre for Peace and Development, United Nations University for Peace),
  • Vojin Rakić, Ph.D. (Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Mirjana Radović-Marković, Ph.D. (Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade),
  • Antoaneta Vassileva, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Petar Veselinović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Economics, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Milena Jakšić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Economics, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Lidija Madžar, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Saša Perišić, Ph.D. (Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade),
  • Dragana Bešlić Obradović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Ivana Bešlić Rupić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Drago Cvijanović, Ph.D. (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Dejan Sekulić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac),
  • Stanimir Đukić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Suzana Balaban, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Drinka Peković, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Andrijana Kos Kavran, Ph.D. (The Polytechnic of Međimurje in Čakovec, Republic of Croatia),
  • Marina Gregorić, Ph.D. (University North, Koprivnica, Republic of Croatia),
  • Donatella Della Porta, Ph.D. (European University Institute, Florence, Italy),
  • Dragana Vojteški Kljenak, Ph.D. (College of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship, Belgrade),
  • Milan Brkljač, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade),
  • Radojko Lukić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia),
  • Marko Milošević, Ph. D. (College for Service Business, Sokolac, Eastern Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina),
  • Andrei Vernikov, Ph.D. (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) and
  • Milica Simić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing, Alfa BK University, Belgrade).

Copyright

Authors retain the copyright of the published articles, while granting the publisher the non-exclusive right to their first publication, to be cited as their first publisher in case of further use of the articles, as well as to distribute the articles in all forms and media.

Licencing

The published articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). It is allowed to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to revise, transform, change and build upon it for any purpose, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), a link to the license is provided and it is indicated if changes were made. Users are required to provide full bibliographic description of the original publication (authors, article title, journal title, volume, issue, pages). In online publishing regime, users are also required to link the content (by HTML link) with both the original article published in Journal of Social Sciences and the license used.

Authors can enter into separate additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the paper published in the Journal (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this Journal.

Self-archiving Policy

Authors are permitted to deposit the published version of their manuscript in an institutional or thematic repository, subject-based repository, to publish it on personal websites (including scientific social network profiles, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.) and/or on departmental website at any time after publication. In that case, the authors are obliged to provide a full bibliographic information about the article published in the Journal of Social Sciences  (authors, title of the paper, name of the journal, volume, issue, pages), while HTML links must be provided to the article's website location and the license used.

Disclaimer

The views and conclusions contained in the published papers express only the views of their authors, and not necessarily of the Editorial Board or the Editorial Staff of the Journal. The authors take legal and moral responsibility for the claims, ideas and conclusions presented in their articles. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible if there should be any claims for compensation.