Media Watch

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Media Watch

Media Watch is hosted on Sage Peer Review; a web based online submission and peer review system. Please read the Manuscript Submission guidelines below, and then visit https://peerreview.sagepub.com/mdw to login and submit your article online.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Media Watch will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process, you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper

2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research data

3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving

4. Preparing your manuscript

4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style

5. Submitting your manuscript

5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article

7. Further information

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Media Watch, please ensure you have read the Aims and Scope.

1.2 Article types

The Journal features both theoretical and empirical research articles, theoretical essays, and book reviews. In addition, the Journal engages in critical discussions of the key communication issues.

Media Watch only publishes original material written by the submitting author(s) and not published, forthcoming or submitted to other publications. Submitted articles will be checked with plagiarism software. Where an article is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or insufficient acknowledgement, or where the article's authorship is contested, we reserve the right to take appropriate action. Further, the authors will be responsible for any such violation.

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer-review policy

Media Watch adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties. A minimum of two external reviewers reviews each article.

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. For example, a student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student's dissertation or thesis.

If the named authors for a manuscript change at any point between submission and acceptance, an Authorship Change Form must be completed and digitally signed by all authors (including any added or removed) . An addition of an author is only permitted following feedback raised during peer review. Completed forms can be uploaded at Revision Submission stage or emailed to the Journal Editorial Office contact (listed on the journal’s manuscript submission guidelines). All requests will be moderated by the Editor and/or Sage staff.

Important: Changes to the author by-line by adding or deleting authors are NOT permitted following acceptance of a paper.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

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2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.3.1 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual's name, company and level of input―and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose the use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

Media Watch requires all authors to acknowledge their funding consistently under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgement text in the event of funding or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

Media Watch encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway

2.6 Research data

At Sage, we are committed to facilitating research openness, transparency, and reproducibility. Where relevant, the Journal encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and, where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage's partnership with the data repository Figshare.

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics'International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism
Media Watch and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect our authors' rights and always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication
If the material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor's Publishing Agreement. Sage's Journal Contributor's Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement. The author retains copyright in work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where a proprietor requires or prefers an assignment of copyright other than Sage. In this case, the author's copyright in work will be assigned to society. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Media Watch offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. However, LaTeX files are also accepted. A LaTex template is available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

The manuscript should be structured as follows:

• All articles should be typed on one side of the paper (preferably A4) and double-spaced throughout (not only the text but also displayed quotations, notes, references and any other matter). Manuscripts should be submitted in MS Word format.
• Contributors must provide their affiliations and complete postal address and E-mail address with their manuscript. If there are two or more authors, the corresponding author's name and address details must be specified clearly.
• All articles must be accompanied by an abstract of 150–200 words and five to six keywords.
• Endnotes should be used instead of footnotes and should be numbered serially using standard figures (e.g., 1, 2, 3). The notes should be linked to the note cues within the text. Notes should contain more than a citation of work. Use notes to elaborate on an issue already made in the main text.
• The spellings used should be British (UK), with 's' variant, e.g., globalisation instead of globalisation, labour instead of labour.
• Use single quotes throughout—double quotes to be used within double-quotes. Spellings of words in quotations should not be changed. Quotations of 45 words or more should be separated from the text and indented with one space with a line space above and below.
• The use of italics and diacritics should be minimised but consistent. For non-English and uncommon words and phrases, use italics throughout the text. The meaning of non-English words should be given in parenthesis just after the word is used for the first time.
• Use capitals sparingly and double-check the logical application of any distinctions you wish to make between specific and general use.
• Abbreviations are spelt out at the first occurrence. After that, common ones (US, GDP, BBC) need not be spelt out.
• Spell numbers from one to nine, ten and above to remain in figures. However, only figures (3 km; 9%) for exact measurements. Use thousands and millions, not lakhs and crores.
• Give specific dates in the form 22 November 1980. When referring to a century, use words, e.g., 'twentieth century, and when referring to a decade, use numbers, e.g., '1980s'.
• Ibid should not be used.
• Number ranges should not be truncated, for example, 2017–2018.
• Tables and figures are to be indicated by numbers separately (see Table 1), not by placement (see Table below). Short and crisp titles and headings in tables and figures are preferred. Present each table and figure on a separate sheet of paper, gathering them together at the end of the article.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage's Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding Sage costs after receiving your accepted article.

4.3 Supplemental material

This Journal can host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the fulltext of the article. For more information, please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files

4.4 Reference style

Media Watch adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Media Watch is hosted on Sage Track Sage, a web-based online submission and peer review system. Visit https://peerreview.sagepub.com/mdw to login and submit your article online.

Authors will be provided with a copyright form once the contribution is accepted for publication. The submission will be considered final only after the filled-in and signed copyright form is received. If there are two or more authors, the corresponding author needs to sign the copyright form.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

We encourage all authors and co-authors to link their ORCIDs to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. We collect ORCID IDs during the manuscript submission process and your ORCID ID then becomes part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears in your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage, please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information, including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway

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6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed about your article's progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via e-mail, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details, are correct and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online before being included in a journal, significantly reducing the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

The publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Media Watch editorial office as follows:

E-mail: editor@mediawatchjournal.in