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About the Journal

Discourse Studies Forum (DisFo) is an international peer-reviewed journal for the study of text and talk. Publishing outstanding work on the structures and strategies of written and spoken discourse, special attention is given to cross-disciplinary studies of text and talk in linguistics, anthropology, ethnomethodology, cognitive and social psychology, communication studies and law. 

Current Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2020): Discourse Studies Forum
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About MARS Publishers

The MARS Publishers, founded in 2018 and registered in 2021 by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), is the leading professional organisation for the study of social sciences and serves its members all over the world. With a range of programmes and services for individuals, departments, and institutions, MARS Publishers brings together researchers from all fields of inquiry, regions, and occupational endeavours within and outside academia to expand awareness and understanding of social science issues.

MARS Publication: Ethical Statement

DisFo hopes to be a member of the Higher Education Commission and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). MARS Publishing is responsible for enforcing a rigorous peer-review process, as well as strict ethical policies and standards, in order to ensure that high-quality scientific works are added to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification, inappropriate authorship credit, and the like do arise. MARS Publishing takes such publishing ethics issues very seriously, and our editors are trained to proceed in such cases with a "zero-tolerance" policy. To verify the originality of content submitted to our journals, we use Turnitin to check submissions against previous publications.

Peer Review Policy

The purpose of peer review is to ensure that only good science is published. It is an objective process at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out by all reputable scientific journals. Our referees play a vital role in maintaining high standards. DisFo and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below. 

Initial Manuscript Evaluation 

The editor first evaluates all manuscripts. It is rare, but it is possible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Manuscripts rejected at this stage are either insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or poor English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are normally passed on to at least two experts for review.

Types of Peer Review 

DisFo employs double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process.

How is the referee selected? 

Whenever possible, referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise, and our database is constantly being updated.  

Referee Reports

Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:

  • is original
  • is methodologically sound
  • follows appropriate ethical guidelines
  • has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions
  • correctly references previous relevant work.
  • Language correction is not part of the peer review process, but referees may, if so wish, suggest corrections to the manuscript. 

How long does the review process take? 

The time required for the review process is dependent on the response of the referees. Should the referee’s reports contradict one another or a report be unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. In rare cases in which it is extremely difficult to find a second referee to review the manuscript or when the one referee’s report has thoroughly convinced the Editor, decisions at this stage to accept, reject, or ask the author for a revision are made on the basis of only one referee’s report. The editor’s decision will be sent to the author with recommendations made by the referees, which usually include verbatim comments by the referees. Revised manuscripts might be returned to the initial referees, who may then request another revision of the manuscript.  

Final Report 

A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees, which may include verbatim comments by the referees. 

Editor’s Decision is final 

Referees give advice to the editor, who is in charge of making the final decision about whether or not to publish the article.

Becoming a referee for DisFo 

If you are not currently a referee for DisFo but would like to be considered as a referee, please contact the editor. The benefits of refereeing for DisFo include the opportunity to read, see, and evaluate the latest work in your research area at an early stage and to contribute to the overall integrity of scientific research and its published documentation. You may also be able to cite your work for DisFo as part of your professional development requirements for various professional societies and organisations.

Copy Right / Open Access

Articles published in DisFo will be open-access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MARS Publishing will insert the following note at the bottom of the first page of the published text:

Published by licensee MARS Publishers; copyright: the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).