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Author Instructions

and formatting, conflicts of interest, background of authors, etc. Poorly-prepared manuscripts may be rejected at this stage.
If your manuscript does not meet one or more of these requirements, we will return it for further revisions.
9.1.2 Publishing ethics
All manuscripts submitted to Soft Science are screened using iThenticate powered by CrossCheck to identify any plagiarized
content. Your study must also meet all ethical requirements as outlined in our Editorial Policies. If the manuscript does not
pass any of these checks, we may return it to you for further revisions or decline to consider your study for publication.

9.2 Editorial assessment
Once your manuscript has passed the initial check, it will be assigned to an Assistant Editor, and then the Editor-in-Chief,
or an Editor in the case of a conflict of interest, will be notified of the submission and invited to check. The Editor-in-Chief,
or the Editor may reject manuscripts that they deem highly unlikely to pass peer review without further consultation. Once
your manuscript has passed the editorial assessment, the Editor-in-Chief will assign it to an Editor to organize peer-review.

9.3 Process
Soft Science operates a single-blind review process, which means that reviewers know the names of authors, but the names
of the reviewers are hidden from the authors. The scientific quality of the research described in the manuscript is assessed
by a minimum of three independent expert reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding
acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

9.4 Decisions
Your research will be judged on technical soundness only, not on its perceived impact as judged by Editors or referees.
There are three possible decisions: Accept (your study satisfies all publication criteria), Invitation to Revise (more work is
required to satisfy all criteria), and Reject (your study fails to satisfy key criteria and it is highly unlikely that further work
can address its shortcomings).
10. Contact Us
Journal Contact
Soft Science Editorial Office
Suite 1504, Plaza A, Xi’an National Digital Publishing Base, No. 996 Tiangu 7th Road, Gaoxin District, Xi’an 710077,
Shaanxi, China.

Whitney Xu
Managing Editor
editorialoffice@softscijournal.com

XII Soft Science