Focus and Scope

Probe - Soil Science is an openly accessible journal. The goal of this journal is to provide a platform for scientists and academicians all over the world to promote, share, and discuss various new issues and developments in different areas of soil science.
All manuscripts must be prepared in English and are subject to a rigorous and fair peer-review process. The journal publishes original papers including but not limited to the following fields:
Soil and Global Change
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Soil Chemistry
Soil Ecology
Soil Environment
Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition
Soil Geography
Soil Improvement Studies
Soil Microbiology
Soil Physics
Soil Remediation
Soil Resources and Use
Soil Science in Other Disciplines
Soil Survey and Evaluation
Soil Taxonomy
Soil Tillage

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Probe - Soil Science are undergone a stringent peer review process which aims to uphold the high quality of papers published in SS and ensure the truthful and accurate reporting of the research work.

Evaluation

The in-house editor takes initiative to assess the suitability of the original submission of the author on the basis of the editorial policy and relevant guidelines.

The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) decides the fitness of the article and whether the topic is within the field of SS.

The associate editors assign the accepted contributions in accordance to their area of expertise and select relevant reviewers from the editorial membership.

Reviewers are required to assess the full paper from the perspective of originality, methodology, demonstration of the results and presentation of the conclusion, contribution to the literature and research, as well as the suitable referencing of pertinent studies.

Post evaluation

After the post-evaluation made by the reviewers, the manuscripts are sent to the associate editors who makes one of the standard suggestions (Accept; Accept with minor revision; or Reject), and then passed to the EIC for final determination.

If EIC recommends minor revisions, a maximum of 7 days is given for the authors to resubmit the revised article.

If EIC recommends major revisions, a maximum of 14 days is given for the authors to resubmit the revised article.

The above steps are repeated before the paper is accepted for publication after post-evaluation.

Appeal

Authors with rejected submission are suggested to make an appeal in writing to reviewer@usp-pl.com in which specific reasons for the appeal and detailed response to the reviewers’ suggestions are included.

Open Access Policy

Open Access (OA) makes scholarly research permanently accessible online without restrictions, which can benefit all stakeholders in the scholarly publishing process, including researchers, funders, students, librarians, scholarly societies, publishers, and the public.

Dissemination

The freely available online work can be accessed and shared by anyone in the world. Researchers can even access OA literature outside university without encountering paywalls. Authors can benefit from the public availability of their research to others, which may increase the visibility and usage of their work. Many funding agencies encourage OA since the potential for increased visibility and discoverability promises a greater return on investment.

Cooperative Partners

New connections may be made and new partners may become possible, if researchers other than those you normally work with share access to your research. Thus, paving the way for spin-offs and new research opportunities.

Public Access and Engagement

OA means more opportunities for the community at large and potentially more public participation in research which can help research-dependent professionals outside of academia including health workers, faculty, and lawyers benefit from access to the latest discoveries.

Social Benefits

By publishing open access, a virtuous cycle of scholarly resources can foster social knowledge sharing and innovative creativity.

Editorial Policies

In order to make sure that the contributions submitted are in relevance to the style and principle of the journal, authors are obliged to read the “Author Guidelines” before submission.

All contributions submitted to Probe - Soil Science are contingent on a rigorous peer review. Aspects such as admissible English language, originality, novelty related to this journal are considered anterior to the peer review process.

All contributions submitted to Probe - Soil Science will not be made available to anyone except our individuals who take part in the publishing process of this manuscript.

It is kindly for you to know that works that has been published or in consideration for publication in other journals are nor accepted, if the data of your manuscript are presented in other platforms, please notify us. A submission checklist is needed to fill up to ensure the fulfillment of these criteria.

Authorship

List any person who has made a significant contribution to a journal article. They also share responsibility and accountability for the results of the published research, and for others who have participated in certain aspects to be listed or acknowledged as contributors in their study. They will handle all correspondence about the article and sign the publishing agreement on behalf of all the authors. They are responsible for ensuring that all the authors’ contact details are correct, and agree on the order that their names will appear in the article. The authors also will need to make sure that affiliations are correct, as explained in more detail below.

Changes of authorship

Authors should carefully check the list of authors and the order of authors before submitting a manuscript.

Any changes in the names of authors in the list of authors, such as additions, deletions, etc., can only be made before the manuscript is accepted for publication. The corresponding author should provide the editorial office with a written confirmation certificate of consent to the change, which should include the reasons for the change of the list of authors and all authors (including existing authors and authors to be added or deleted).

No changes in authorship are allowed without the approval of the editorial board.

Publication Frequency

The publication frequency of Probe - Soil Science is bi-annual.

Conflict of Interest

According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.”

For authors, upon submission, authors must list all conflicts of interest related to the work, such as sources of funding, sponsor’s role in work design, data collection, and analysis of results, and whether the authors serve on the journal’s editorial board.

For editors and reviewers, editors and reviewers must declare any possible conflicts of interest related to the manuscript, and when editorial board members publish in journals they serve, editorial boards must avoid the peer review process, allowing authors knowing that they sidestep the potential peer review process.

Editors and reviewers need to be replaced when the editor or reviewer who works in the same organization as one of the authors, is one of the authors of the work, is recused by the author, has a financial relationship with the author.

Erratum & Withdrawal Policy

Erratum

Errata are important errors made by the journal that affects the publication record or the scientific integrity of the paper, or the reputation of the authors or of the journal. If the authors detect any errors in the published articles, please contact the journal editors. An investigation of the errors in the papers will be made under the approvement and guidance of the editors.

Withdrawal Policy

Withdrawal of articles, especially one that has been processed for peer-review or is under peer-review, is strongly discouraged and only used when there are academic misconducts and ethical violations in research and publication. In this case, a panel will organize an investigation in which the authors are required to cooperate. If the allegations are proven to be true, the paper or articles will be marked for withdrawal.

If authors themselves decide to withdrawal their papers (before the publication), they must write to the editors of the publisher at reviewer@usp-pl.com, stating the reason(s) for withdrawal sound and clear. Once the withdrawal is approved, the submission will be removed from the journal’s online submission system, and a notification email will be sent to all authors.

USD 200 is charged for the withdrawal of papers, and it should be noted that the paid Article Processing Charge will not be refunded if your papers are withdrawn for academic misconducts and ethical violation.

Plagiarism Detection

Plagiarized articles are not allowed in any publication by Probe - Soil Science. Before submitting the manuscript, the authors should ensure that they have written original works. As a part of our commitment to protect the integrity of scholarly publications, we take the necessary steps in all aspects of publishing ethics. Submissions are checked for plagiarism via CrossCheck (powered by iThenticate). Overlapping and similar texts in the manuscripts submitted will be investigated promptly and may be considered as plagiarism. Papers detected with possible commitment of plagiarism will be rejected for submission.

Language

The language used in papers submitted to Probe - Soil Science should be English—either British English or American English. It is very convenient to be understood by scholars all over the world. Universe Scientific Publishing will provide professional language editing service for the authors whose first language is not English.

Code of Publishing Ethics

Universe Scientific Publishing follows the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.

Universe Scientific Publishing makes all reasonable efforts to investigate publication misconduct, including fabrication, falsification and plagiarism. If misconduct is suspected journal editors will act in accordance with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing as stipulated by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All submissions to Universe Scientific Publishing journals are subject to rigorous review. The Editors, authors or readers can forward their concerns to the journal if they find out that the description in a submitted article may constitute an academic fraud, research misconduct or publication malpractice. The concerns or complaints on the possible allegations submitted to the journal will be dealt with promptly and appropriately according to the procedure set out in the COPE flowchart on complaints. The complainant may direct all inquiries and correspondence to the Publisher at reviewer@usp-pl.com.

Copyright and License

All articles published by Universe Scientific Publishing are Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Under this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright for their content, and authors grant Universe Scientific Publishing a license to publish, copy, distribute, and convey the article.

Units of Measurement

Units of measurement should be presented simply and concisely using System International (SI) units.

Advertising Policy

Probe - Soil Science will consider advertising opportunities, as a means to provide value to our readers. Advertisements must comply with local policies without inducement or deception. All advertisements are subject to approval to the Publisher. For more inquiries, please send email to reviewer@usp-pl.com.

Preprint Policy

A preprint is a complete draft research paper made available in open access on a preprint web server before being certified by peer review and published by a journal. Publication of manuscripts in a peer-reviewed journal often takes weeks or months from the time of initial submission. Preprints allow authors to receive early feedback from their peers, which may help revise and prepare articles for submission. However, the revised manuscripts after or during peer-reviewed are not recommended to be post on the prepress server. The manuscript whose corresponding preprint version has been indexed (e.g. in MEDLINE or PubMed) will not be considered.

Article Process Charges (APCs)

Gold Open Access format is used for all journal publication. Article Processing Charges (APCs) are charged to authors publishing open access. And fees will come from the authors’ institution or other research funding agencies. All articles published in our journals are open access and freely available online. The journal does not require readers to purchase a subscription of any kind to view the online version of the journal. Our belief is to create a better academic environment with our authors and readers.

Waiver Policy

Journals offer APC waiver policy based to reduce the financial burden on authors or institutions from low-income countries. For information about our waiver policy for authors in financial need, please contact reviewer@usp-pl.com. By the way, the Publisher reserves the right to approve or reject a waiver application.

Disclaimer

Before submitting a manuscript, the authors should understand the publishing policies and strictly abide by the relevant laws, regulations and ethics. Authors are responsible for all contents in their article (s) including the accuracy of the content, statements, citing data, and so on. Facts and opinions in articles published on Universe Scientific Publishing are the personal statements of respective authors.

The journal and the publisher disclaim any liability of any errors or consequences arising from the use of the information contained in the journal. The journal and the publisher disclaim all responsibility for any injury to the person or property of any person caused by any idea or product mentioned in the article or in the advertisements to which it refers. In addition, once the reviewers are invited, it means that reviewers must maintain an objective attitude and be responsible for the fair review of the article. You must be aware of the review policy and proactively disclose any potential conflicts of interest. As an editor, you must avoid the manuscripts that you are involved in/as one of the authors, and take the initiative to leak potential interest disputes.

Indexing & Archiving

All articles published in this journal have been included by some world-class database: Google Scholar, National Library of Singapore.

Three article storage methods are encouraged:

1. Authors are encouraged to save self- final versions of their published articles in institutional repositories (such as those listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories) through self-archiving.

2. Portico will archive all articles published in the journal for long-term digital preservation.

3. The final PDF version published can be acquired on the website by authors.