Journal Policies

The journal Herald of Journalism is published four times a year in an online (electronic) format according to the following schedule: the first issue is published by March 20, the second by June 20, the third by September 20, and the fourth by December 20 of the current year.

Herald of Journalism accepts for publication original scholarly articles in Kazakh, English, or Russian that have not been previously published by the author(s) and that fall within the thematic scope of the journal. All manuscripts must be prepared in strict accordance with the journal’s submission guidelines.

Manuscripts must be submitted to the editorial board by the corresponding author, designated from among the authors in the case of two or more co-authors, no later than two months prior to the publication of the forthcoming issue. Manuscripts with a length of no less than 3,000 words and no more than 7,000 words, excluding the title, author information, abstracts, keywords, and references, are accepted for consideration.

Submissions must be made via the journal’s electronic submission platform by the corresponding author, with complete and accurate information about all authors and their contributions. An author may publish in Herald of Journalism no more than once per calendar year, either individually or in co-authorship.

Authors are required to submit original manuscripts that have not been previously published in print, electronic, or other open-access sources. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, novelty, and validity of the research results. Manuscripts submitted to Herald of Journalism must not be under consideration by another journal during the review process or after publication.

All communication between the editorial office, corresponding authors, and reviewers is conducted through the journal’s electronic platform (OJS). In exceptional cases, communication may take place via e-mail.

The editorial board evaluates submitted manuscripts, organizes peer review, and makes a decision regarding acceptance or rejection within two months from the date of submission via the electronic platform.

Domestic authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication are required to pay a publication fee in accordance with the approved price list for scientific journals of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Proof of payment in PDF format must be submitted to the journal’s editorial office via e-mail.

Borrowing and Plagiarism

When assessing manuscripts for compliance with formal and technical requirements, the editorial board conducts plagiarism checks using licensed plagiarism detection systems provided through institutional or national subscriptions.

Only original manuscripts with an originality level of no less than 85 percent are forwarded for peer review. Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s formatting requirements or originality criteria are returned to the corresponding author for revision and resubmission via the electronic platform.

Authors must properly cite all sources used, including ideas, data, quotations, and statements of other researchers. Plagiarism constitutes a serious violation of academic ethics and is unacceptable in Herald of Journalism.

All participants in the publication process, including editors and members of the editorial board, adhere to internationally recognized standards of publication ethics and take reasonable measures to prevent unethical practices, including plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, and the dissemination of inaccurate information.

If a published article is found to contain confirmed violations of publication ethics, the editorial board reserves the right to retract the article from the issue and from the journal’s official website, clearly indicating the reason for retraction and publishing a corresponding notice.

Authors whose articles have been retracted due to violations of publication ethics may not submit manuscripts to Herald of Journalism or other scientific journals of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University for a period of three calendar years from the date the violation is confirmed.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts that meet the journal’s formal, formatting, and originality requirements are subject to mandatory peer review.

Any potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed by the author(s) in the cover letter to ensure an unbiased evaluation process.

Herald of Journalism applies a double-blind peer review process conducted by at least two independent reviewers holding relevant academic degrees and possessing expertise in the subject area of the manuscript.

The peer review process is confidential. Manuscripts are provided to reviewers without identifying information about the authors. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, reasoned, and constructive evaluations of the manuscript’s scientific quality, originality, relevance, and contribution to the field.

Reviewer comments are forwarded to the corresponding author without disclosure of reviewer identities. Authors are invited to respond to comments, revise the manuscript accordingly, and resubmit it via the electronic platform. Revised manuscripts may be subject to additional review.

Manuscripts that receive positive evaluations from two reviewers and approval from the executive editor are recommended for publication. In the case of conflicting reviews, the manuscript may be sent to an additional reviewer or a qualified member of the editorial board. Two negative reviews result in rejection.

Peer review materials are stored electronically for a period of three years. The maximum review period does not exceed two months.

Open Access Policy and Archiving

Herald of Journalism provides immediate open access to all published content through its official website, ensuring free and unrestricted access to research for the global scholarly community.

All articles are distributed free of charge under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Copyright and Licensing

Authors of articles published in Herald of Journalism grant the publisher the right of first publication and license their works under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). The copyright holder of the published work is Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Authorship is limited to those individuals who have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the conception and design of the study, the preparation of the manuscript, and the analysis and interpretation of the results. All authors share responsibility for the integrity and ethical standards of the published work in accordance with COPE principles and international publication ethics standards.

Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License, authors retain moral rights to their manuscripts while granting the public a non-exclusive right to access, read, download, copy, distribute, reproduce, and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s), the original publication in Herald of Journalism is properly cited, and any changes made are clearly indicated.

Any use of the published material for commercial purposes requires prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Authors may deposit and disseminate their published articles in institutional repositories, academic networks, personal websites, and other non-commercial platforms, provided that a full bibliographic reference to the original publication in Herald of Journalism is included.

Privacy Policy

Information about authors, including names, affiliations, contact details, academic degrees, and author identifiers in international databases, is published in the section “Information about the Authors.”

The editorial board does not disclose information about submitted manuscripts or reviewers to third parties prior to publication, except as required for the peer review process.