You can publish an open access article in this diamond partnership journal. Authors in this journal are not required to pay an article processing charge (APC)

Author guidelines

Before you start

For queries relating to the status of your paper pre decision, please contact the Editor or Journal Editorial Office. For queries post acceptance, please contact the Supplier Project Manager. These details can be found in the Editorial Team section.

Author responsibilities

Our goal is to provide you with a professional and courteous experience at each stage of the review and publication process. There are also some responsibilities that sit with you as the author. Our expectation is that you will:

  • Respond swiftly to any queries during the publication process.
  • Be accountable for all aspects of your work. This includes investigating and resolving any questions about accuracy or research integrity
  • Treat communications between you and the journal editor as confidential until an editorial decision has been made.
  • Read about our research ethics for authorship. These state that you must:
    • Include anyone who has made a substantial and meaningful contribution to the submission (anyone else involved in the paper should be listed in the acknowledgements).
    • Exclude anyone who hasn’t contributed to the paper, or who has chosen not to be associated with the research.
    • In accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools, Large Language Models cannot be credited with authorship as they are incapable of conceptualising a research design without human direction and cannot be accountable for the integrity, originality, and validity of the published work.
  • If your article involves human participants, you must ensure you have considered whether or not you require ethical approval for your research, and include this information as part of your submission. Find out more about informed consent.

Emerald’s Policy on AI Usage

Emerald’s overarching principles of AI usage:

1) Authors and peer reviewers are responsible and accountable for the accuracy and integrity of their work.&

2) AI tools and technology must be used responsibly and transparently.

3) AI tools and technology should not replace human involvement in the publication process but instead supplement it.

Copywriting (creating, drafting, or writing) any part of a submission using generative AI tools and technology to generate new material is not permitted.

Copy-editing (correcting, editing, formatting, modifying, or refining) all or part of an author’s own original existing work using generative AI tools and technology the content to improve its structure and the clarity of the language and grammar is permitted, ensuring users adhere to the following overarching principles.

Emerald’s full policy, including examples of use cases can be found on our Publishing Ethics page.

Research and publishing ethics

Our editors and employees work hard to ensure the content we publish is ethically sound. To help us achieve that goal, we closely follow the advice laid out in the guidelines and flowcharts on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) website.

We have also developed our research and publishing ethics guidelines. If you haven’t already read these, we urge you to do so – they will help you avoid the most common publishing ethics issues.

A few key points:

  • Any manuscript you submit to this journal should be original. That means it should not have been published before in its current, or similar, form. Exceptions to this rule are outlined in our pre-print and conference paper policies.  If any substantial element of your paper has been previously published, you need to declare this to the journal editor upon submission. Please note, the journal editor may use Crossref Similarity Check to check on the originality of submissions received. This service compares submissions against a database of 49 million works from 800 scholarly publishers.
  • Your work should not have been submitted elsewhere and should not be under consideration by any other publication.
  • If you have a conflict of interest, you must declare it upon submission; this allows the editor to decide how they would like to proceed. Read about conflict of interest in our research and publishing ethics guidelines.
  • By submitting your work to Emerald, you are guaranteeing that the work is not in infringement of any existing copyright.

Third party copyright permissions

Prior to article submission, you need to ensure you’ve applied for, and received, written permission to use any material in your manuscript that has been created by a third party. Please note, we are unable to publish any article that still has permissions pending. The rights we require are:

  • Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter.
  • Print and electronic rights.
  • Worldwide English-language rights.
  • To use the material for the life of the work. That means there should be no time restrictions on its re-use e.g. a one-year licence.

We are a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) and participate in the STM permissions guidelines, a reciprocal free exchange of material with other STM publishers.  In some cases, this may mean that you don’t need permission to re-use content. If so, please highlight this at the submission stage.

Please take a few moments to read our guide to publishing permissions to ensure you have met all the requirements, so that we can process your submission without delay.

Open access information

This is a sponsored open access journal, also referred to as diamond open access. Because it is published in partnership with an organisation, your article will be published open access, but you will not have to pay an APC (article processing charge) - publication is free. Your article will be published with a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence, which outlines how readers can reuse your work.

You can find out more about our open access routes and read our FAQs on our open research page. 

Find out about open

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

We are a signatory of the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines, a framework that supports the reproducibility of research through the adoption of transparent research practices. That means we encourage you to:

  • Cite and fully reference all data, program code, and other methods in your article.
  • Include persistent identifiers, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), in references for datasets and program codes. Persistent identifiers ensure future access to unique published digital objects, such as a piece of text or datasets. Persistent identifiers are assigned to datasets by digital archives, such as institutional repositories and partners in the Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS).
  • Follow appropriate international and national procedures with respect to data protection, rights to privacy and other ethical considerations, whenever you cite data. For further guidance please refer to our research and publishing ethics guidelines. For an example on how to cite datasets, please refer to the references section below.

Prepare your submission

Manuscript support services

We are pleased to partner with Editage, a platform that connects you with relevant experts in language support, translation, editing, visuals, consulting, and more. After you’ve agreed a fee, they will work with you to enhance your manuscript and get it submission-ready.

This is an optional service for authors who feel they need a little extra support. It does not guarantee your work will be accepted for review or publication.

Visit Editage

Manuscript requirements

Before you submit your manuscript, it’s important you read and follow the guidelines below. You will also find some useful tips in our structure your journal submission how-to guide.

Please prepare your manuscript before submission, using the following guidelines:

 

FormatArticle files should be provided in Microsoft Word format. LaTex files can be used if an accompanying PDF document is provided. PDF as a sole file type is not accepted, a PDF must be accompanied by the source file. Acceptable figure file types are listed further below.
Article LengthArticles should be a maximum of 6,000 words in length. This includes all text including references and appendices. Please allow 280 words for each figure or table.
Article TitleA concisely worded title should be provided.
Author details

The names of all contributing authors should be added to the ScholarOne submission; please list them in the order in which you’d like them to be published. Each contributing author will need their own ScholarOne author account, from which we will extract the following details:

  • Author email address (institutional preferred).
  • Author name. We will reproduce it exactly, so any middle names and/or initials they want featured must be included.
  • Author affiliation. This should be where they were based when the research for the paper was conducted.

In multi-authored papers, it’s important that ALL authors that have made a significant contribution to the paper are listed. Those who have provided support but have not contributed to the research should be featured in an acknowledgements section. You should never include people who have not contributed to the paper or who don’t want to be associated with the research. Read about our  research ethics for authorship.

Biographies and acknowledgementsIf you want to include these items, save them in a separate Microsoft Word document and upload the file with your submission. Where they are included, a brief professional biography of not more than 100 words should be supplied for each named author.
Structured Abstract

All submissions must include a structured abstract, following the format outlined below.

These four sub-headings and their accompanying explanations must always be included:

  • Purpose
  • Design/methodology/approach
  • Findings
  • Originality/Value

The following three sub-headings are optional and can be included, if applicable:

  • Research limitations/implications
  • Practical implications
  • Social implications

You can find some useful tips in our write an article abstract how-to guide.

The maximum length of your abstract should be 250 words in total, including keywords and article classification (see the sections below).

Keywords

Your submission should include up to 12 appropriate and short keywords that capture the principal topics of the paper. Our Creating an SEO-friendly manuscript how to guide contains some practical guidance on choosing search-engine friendly keywords.

Please note, while we will always try to use the keywords you’ve suggested, the in-house editorial team may replace some of them with matching terms to ensure consistency across publications and improve your article’s visibility.

Article Classification

Authors must categorize their paper as part of the ScholarOne submission process. The category which most closely describes their paper should be selected from the list below.

Research paper. This category covers papers which report on any type of research undertaken by the author(s). The research may involve the construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys, empirical, scientific or clinical research.

Viewpoint. Covers any paper where content is dependent on the author's opinion and interpretation. This includes journalistic and magazine-style pieces.

Technical paper. Describes and evaluates technical products, processes, or services.

Conceptual paper. Focuses on developing hypotheses and is usually discursive. Covers philosophical discussions and comparative studies of other authors’ work and thinking.
 

Case study. Describes actual interventions or experiences within organizations. It can be subjective and doesn’t generally report on research. Also covers a description of a legal case or a hypothetical case study used as a teaching exercise.


Literature review.  This category should only be used if the main purpose of the paper is to annotate and/or critique the literature in a particular field. It could be a selective bibliography providing advice on information sources, or the paper may aim to cover the main contributors to the development of a topic and explore their different views.
 

General review. Provides an overview or historical examination of some concept, technique or phenomenon. Papers are likely to be more descriptive or instructional (‘how to’ papers) than discursive.

HeadingsHeadings must be concise, with a clear indication of the required hierarchy. 

The preferred format is for first level headings to be in bold, and subsequent sub-headings to be in medium italics.
Notes/EndnotesNotes or Endnotes should be used only if absolutely necessary. They should be identified in the text by consecutive numbers enclosed in square brackets. These numbers should then be listed, and explained, at the end of the article.
Figures

All figures (charts, diagrams, line drawings, webpages/screenshots, and photographic images) should be submitted electronically. Both colour and black and white files are accepted.

There are a few other important points to note:

  • All figures should be supplied at the highest resolution/quality possible with numbers and text clearly legible.
  • Acceptable formats are .ai, .eps, .jpeg, .bmp, and .tif.
  • Electronic figures created in other applications should be supplied in their original formats and should also be either copied and pasted into a blank MS Word document, or submitted as a PDF file.
  • All figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and have clear captions.
  • All photographs should be numbered as Plate 1, 2, 3, etc. and have clear captions.
  • All figure/table captions should include the necessary credit line, acknowledgement, or attribution if you have been given permission to use the figure/table; if the figure/table is the property of the author(s), this should be acknowledged in the caption.
Tables

Tables should be typed and submitted in a separate file to the main body of the article. The position of each table should be clearly labelled in the main body of the article with corresponding labels clearly shown in the table file. Tables should be numbered consecutively in Roman numerals (e.g. I, II, etc.).

Give each table a brief title. Ensure that any superscripts or asterisks are shown next to the relevant items and have explanations displayed as footnotes to the table, figure or plate.

Supplementary Files

Where tables, figures, appendices, and other additional content are supplementary to the article but not critical to the reader’s understanding of it, you can choose to host these supplementary files alongside your article on Insight, Emerald’s content-hosting platform (this is Emerald's recommended option as we are able to ensure the data remain accessible), or on an alternative trusted online repository.

Emerald recommends authors that they use the following two trusted lists of repositories: https://commons.datacite.org/repositories and https://www.re3data.org to identify the most suitable repository. Any and all supplementary material must be present/provided with the initial submission.

If you choose to host your supplementary files on Insight, you must submit these as separate files alongside your article. Files should be clearly labelled in such a way that makes it clear they are supplementary; Emerald recommends that the file name is descriptive and that it follows the format 'Supplementary_material_appendix_1' or 'Supplementary tables'. All supplementary material must be mentioned at the appropriate moment in the main text of the article; there is no need to include the content of the file only the file name. A link to the supplementary material will be added to the article during production, and the material will be made available alongside the main text of the article at the point of EarlyCite publication.

Please note that Emerald will not make any changes to the material; it will not be copy-edited or typeset, and authors will not receive proofs of this content. Emerald therefore strongly recommends that you style all supplementary material ahead of acceptance of the article.
Emerald Insight can host the following file types and extensions:

  • Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
  • MS Word document (.doc, .docx)
  • MS Excel (.xls, xlsx)
  • MS PowerPoint (.pptx)
  • Image (.png, .jpeg, .gif)
  • Plain ASCII text (.txt)
  • PostScript (.ps)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf)

If you choose to use an alternative trusted online repository, you should ensure that the supplementary material is hosted on the repository ahead of submission, and then include a link only to the repository within the article. It is the responsibility of the submitting author to ensure that the material is free to access and that it remains permanently available. Where an alternative trusted online repository is used, the files hosted should always be presented as read-only; please be aware that such usage risks compromising your anonymity during the review process if the repository contains any information that may enable the reviewer to identify you; as such, we recommend that all links to alternative repositories are reviewed carefully prior to submission.

Please note that extensive supplementary material may be subject to peer review; this is at the discretion of the journal Editor and dependent on the content of the material (for example, whether including it would support the reviewer making a decision on the article during the peer review process).

ReferencesAll references in your manuscript must be in APA style and carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. This is very important in an electronic environment because it enables your readers to exploit the Reference Linking facility on the database and link back to the works you have cited through CrossRef.

You should cite publications in the text: (Adams, 2006) using the first named author's name or (Adams and Brown, 2006) citing both names of two, or (Adams et al., 2006), when there are three or more authors. At the end of the paper a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied:
For booksSurname, Initials (year), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication.

e.g. Harrow, R. (2005), No Place to Hide, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
For book chaptersSurname, Initials (year), "Chapter title", Editor's Surname, Initials, Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.

e.g. Calabrese, F.A. (2005), "The early pathways: theory to practice – a continuum", in Stankosky, M. (Ed.), Creating the Discipline of Knowledge Management, Elsevier, New York, NY, pp. 15-20.
For journalsSurname, Initials (year), "Title of article", Journal Name, volume issue, pages.

e.g. Capizzi, M.T. and Ferguson, R. (2005), "Loyalty trends for the twenty-first century", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 72-80.
For published 
conference proceedings
Surname, Initials (year of publication), "Title of paper", in Surname, Initials (Ed.), Title of published proceeding which may include place and date(s) held, Publisher, Place of publication, Page numbers.

e.g. Jakkilinki, R., Georgievski, M. and Sharda, N. (2007), "Connecting destinations with an ontology-based e-tourism planner", in Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007 proceedings of the international conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2007, Springer-Verlag, Vienna, pp. 12-32.
For unpublished 
conference proceedings
Surname, Initials (year), "Title of paper", paper presented at Name of Conference, date of conference, place of conference, available at: URL if freely available on the internet (accessed date).

e.g. Aumueller, D. (2005), "Semantic authoring and retrieval within a wiki", paper presented at the European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC), 29 May-1 June, Heraklion, Crete, available at: http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/file/aumueller05wiksar.pdf (accessed 20 February 2007).
For working papersSurname, Initials (year), "Title of article", working paper [number if available], Institution or organization, Place of organization, date.

e.g. Moizer, P. (2003), "How published academic research can inform policy decisions: the case of mandatory rotation of audit appointments", working paper, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, 28 March.
For encyclopedia entries 
(with no author or editor)
Title of Encyclopedia (year) "Title of entry", volume, edition, Title of Encyclopedia, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.

e.g. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926) "Psychology of culture contact", Vol. 1, 13th ed., Encyclopaedia Britannica, London and New York, NY, pp. 765-71.

(For authored entries please refer to book chapter guidelines above)
For newspaper 
articles (authored)
Surname, Initials (year), "Article title", Newspaper, date, pages.

e.g. Smith, A. (2008), "Money for old rope", Daily News, 21 January, pp. 1, 3-4.
For newspaper 
articles (non-authored)
Newspaper (year), "Article title", date, pages.

e.g. Daily News (2008), "Small change", 2 February, p. 7.
For archival or other unpublished sourcesSurname, Initials, (year), "Title of document", Unpublished Manuscript, collection name, inventory record, name of archive, location of archive.

e.g. Litman, S. (1902), "Mechanism & Technique of Commerce", Unpublished Manuscript, Simon Litman Papers, Record series 9/5/29 Box 3, University of Illinois Archives, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
For electronic sourcesIf available online, the full URL should be supplied at the end of the reference, as well as a date that the resource was accessed.

e.g. Castle, B. (2005), "Introduction to web services for remote portlets", available at: http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/ws-wsrp/ (accessed 12 November 2007).

Standalone URLs, i.e. without an author or date, should be included either within parentheses within the main text, or preferably set as a note (roman numeral within square brackets within text followed by the full URL address at the end of the paper).

Submit your manuscript

There are a number of key steps you should follow to ensure a smooth and trouble-free submission.

Double check your manuscript

Before submitting your work, it is your responsibility to check that the manuscript is complete, grammatically correct, and without spelling or typographical errors. A few other important points:

  • Give the journal aims and scope a final read. Is your manuscript definitely a good fit? If it isn’t, the editor may decline it without peer review.
  • Does your manuscript comply with our research and publishing ethics guidelines?
  • Have you cleared any necessary publishing permissions?
  • Have you followed all the formatting requirements laid out in these author guidelines?
  • Does the manuscript contain any information that might help the reviewer identify you? This could compromise the anonymous peer review process. A few tips:
    • If you need to refer to your own work, use wording such as ‘previous research has demonstrated’ not ‘our previous research has demonstrated’.
    • If you need to refer to your own, currently unpublished work, don’t include this work in the reference list.
    • Any acknowledgments or author biographies should be uploaded as separate files.
    • Carry out a final check to ensure that no author names appear anywhere in the manuscript. This includes in figures or captions.

You will find a helpful submission checklist on the website Think.Check.Submit.

The submission process

All manuscripts should be submitted through our editorial system by the corresponding author.

A separate author account is required for each journal you submit to. If this is your first time submitting to this journal, please choose the Create an account or Register now option in the editorial system. If you already have an Emerald login, you are welcome to reuse the existing username and password here.

Please note, the next time you log into the system, you will be asked for your username. This will be the email address you entered when you set up your account.

Don't forget to add your ORCiD ID during the submission process. It will be embedded in your published article, along with a link to the ORCiD registry allowing others to easily match you with your work.

Don’t have one yet? It only takes a few moments to register for a free ORCiD identifier.

Visit the ScholarOne support centre for further help and guidance.

What you can expect next

You will receive an automated email from the journal editor, confirming your successful submission. It will provide you with a manuscript number, which will be used in all future correspondence about your submission. If you have any reason to suspect the confirmation email you receive might be fraudulent, please contact our Rights team on [email protected]

Post submission

Review and decision process

Each submission is checked by the editor. At this stage, they may choose to decline or unsubmit your manuscript if it doesn’t fit the journal aims and scope, or they feel the language/manuscript quality is too low.

If they think it might be suitable for the publication, they will send it to at least two independent referees for double anonymous peer review.  Once these reviewers have provided their feedback, the editor may decide to accept your manuscript, request minor or major revisions, or decline your work.

While all journals work to different timescales, the goal is that the editor will inform you of their first decision within 60 days.

During this period, we will send you automated updates on the progress of your manuscript via our submission system, or you can log in to check on the current status of your paper.  Each time we contact you, we will quote the manuscript number you were given at the point of submission. If you receive an email that does not match these criteria, it could be fraudulent and we recommend you email [email protected].

If your submission is accepted

Copyright

All accepted authors are sent an email with a link to a licence form. This should be checked for accuracy, for example whether contact and affiliation details are up to date and your name is spelled correctly, and then returned to us electronically.

Proofing and typesetting

Once we have received your completed licence form, the article will pass directly into the production process. We will carry out editorial checks, copyediting, and typesetting and then return proofs to you (if you are the corresponding author) for your review. This is your opportunity to correct any typographical errors, grammatical errors or incorrect author details. We can’t accept requests to rewrite texts at this stage.

When the page proofs are finalised, the fully typeset and proofed version of record is published online. This is referred to as the EarlyCite version. While an EarlyCite article has yet to be assigned to a volume or issue, it does have a digital object identifier (DOI) and is fully citable. It will be compiled into an issue according to the journal’s issue schedule, with papers being added by chronological date of publication.

How to share your paper

Visit our author rights page to find out how you can reuse and share your work.

To find tips on increasing the visibility of your published paper, read about how to promote your work.

Correcting inaccuracies in your published paper

Sometimes errors are made during the research, writing and publishing processes. When these issues arise, we have the option of withdrawing the paper or introducing a correction notice. Find out more about our article withdrawal and correction policies.

Need to make a change to the author list? See our frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a submission fee
for the journal?

The only time we will ever ask you for money to publish in an Emerald journal is if you have chosen to publish via the gold open access route. You will be asked to pay an APC (article processing charge) once your paper has been accepted (unless it is a sponsored open access journal). 

Read about our APCs

At no other time will you be asked to contribute financially towards your article’s publication. If you haven’t chosen gold open access and you receive an email which appears to be from Emerald, asking you for payment to publish, please contact our Rights team on [email protected]

What is the role of Editorial Board?

The Editorial Board of SEAMJ plays a central and active role in the journal’s academic and operational activities. Members help shape the journal’s intellectual direction by advising on thematic priorities of upcoming issues and special issue proposals, recommending suitable reviewers, offering editorial guidance on submissions, and occasionally reviewing submissions when appropriate.  


Given their regional expertise, board members ensure the scholarly rigour and regional relevance of the journal. Their diverse institutional affiliations enable SEAMJ to maintain high academic standards while promoting regionally grounded, globally relevant discourse. The Board’s primary role is operational and academic, anchoring SEAMJ’s editorial integrity and facilitating dialogue across disciplines.

What is the role of International Editorial Advisory Board?

The International Editorial Advisory Board (IEAB) serves a strategic, consultative role. Its members are distinguished scholars and professionals from across the globe who bring broad international perspectives and thematic expertise relevant to multidisplinary fields in Southeast Asian affairs. The IEAB provide advisory input on long-term development, outreach, and international positioning of the journal. Members contribute by inspiring special issues, suggesting emerging research areas, recommending contributors to the journal, and occasionally participating in peer review. The EIC and the Board convene annually for strategic discussions. 


This board enhances SEAMJ’s credibility in international academic circles and supports the journal to expand visibility, partnerships, and readership. Members offer valuable perspectives on policy relevance, global impact, and cross-regional linkages, playing a critical role as the journal aspires to broaden its global outreach and impact.

How can I become
a reviewer for a journal?
Please contact the editor for the journal, with a copy of your CV. You will find their contact details on the editorial team tab on this page.
Who do I contact if I want to find out which volume and issue my accepted paper will appear in?Typically, papers are added to an issue according to their date of publication. If you would like to know in advance which issue your paper will appear in, please contact the content editor of the journal. You will find their contact details on the editorial team tab on this page. Once your paper has been published in an issue, you will be notified by email.
Who do I contact if I have
a query about my submission?
Please email the journal editor – you will find their contact details on the editorial team tab on this page. If you ever suspect an email you’ve received from Emerald might not be genuine, you are welcome to verify it with the content editor for the journal, whose contact details can be found on the editorial team tab on this page. Alternatively, you can email our Rights team.
Is my paper suitable
for the journal?
If you’ve read the aims and scope on the journal landing page and are still unsure whether your paper is suitable for the journal, please email the editor and include your paper's title and structured abstract. They will be able to advise on your manuscript’s suitability. You will find their contact details on the Editorial team tab on this page.
How do I make a change to the list of authors once the manuscript has been submitted?Authorship and the order in which the authors are listed on the paper should be agreed prior to submission. If you need to make any changes to the author information once the paper is under review or has been accepted, we will look into your request and closely follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) authorship guidelines. We will also require a statement from each author confirming their agreement.
Editorial team
  • Chief Editor

  • Deputy Chief Editors

  • Editorial Assistant

    • Natashya Binti Afdanizan
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
  • Associate Editors

    • Diotima Chattoraj
      James Cook University - Singapore
    • Grace Voon Sheong Chin
      Universiti Sains Malaysia - Malaysia
    • Rommel Curaming
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Noor Hasharina bte Pg. Haji Hassan
      Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (SHHBIDSS) - Brunei
    • Chester Keasberry
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Khun Eng Kuah
      National University of Singapore - Singapore
    • Hannah Ho Ming Yit
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Arafat Mohamad
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Md Mizanur Rahman
      Qatar University - Qatar
    • Salbrina Hj. Sharbawi
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
  • Editorial Board

    • Barbara Watson Andaya
      University of Hawaii at Manoa - United States
    • Maitrii Aung-Thwin
      National University of Singapore - Singapore
    • Shahjahan Bhuiyan
      The American University in Cairo - Egypt
    • Agnes Czajka
      Open University - United Kingdom
    • David Deterding
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Frank Dhont
      National Cheng Kung University - Taiwan
    • Noor Azam Haji-Othman
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • Kevin Hewison
      University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - United States
    • Iftekhar Iqbal
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • William J. Jones
      Mahidol University - Thailand
    • Laavanya Kathiravelu
      Nanyang Technological University - Singapore
    • Victor T. King
      Universiti Brunei Darussalam - Brunei
    • IIK Mansurnoor
      Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta - Indonesia
    • Chaiwat Meesanthan
      Thammasat University - Thailand
    • Abdillah Noh
      University of Nottingham - Malaysia
    • Ibrahim Sirkeci
      University of Salford - United Kingdom
    • Xuelin Zhou
      The University of Auckland - New Zealand
  • International Editorial Advisory Board

    • Mumtaz Alam
      Fiji National University - Fiji
    • Osman Bakar
      International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation - Malaysia
    • Ying-kit Chan
      National University of Singapore - Singapore
    • Jannatul Ferdous
      Comilla University - Bangladesh
    • Elżbieta M. Goździak
      Georgetown University - United States
    • Vedi Hadiz
      University of Melbourne - Australia
    • Md Shamsul Haque
      National University of Singapore (NUS) - Singapore
    • Sk. Tawfique M. Haque
      North South University - Bangladesh
    • Ahmed Shafiqul Huque
      McMaster University - Canada
    • Mustafa Izzuddin
      National University of Singapore - Singapore
    • Habibul Haque Khondker
      Zayed University - United Arab Emirates
    • Kyoko Kusakabe
      Asian Institute of Technology - Thailand
    • Melati Nungsari
      Asia School of Business - Malaysia
    • S. Irudaya Rajan
      International Institute for Migration & Development (IIMAD) - India
    • Dilip Ratha
      World Bank - United States
  • Publishing Services Manager

  • Journal Editorial Office (For queries related to pre-acceptance)

  • Supplier Project Manager (For queries related to post-acceptance)

Indexing & metrics

Citation metrics

Scopus Logo

2.4

CiteScore 2025

Scopus Logo

2.4

CiteScore 2025

Further information

CiteScore is a simple way of measuring the citation impact of sources, such as journals.

 

Calculating the CiteScore is based on the number of citations to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years.

 

For more information and methodology visit the Scopus definition

 

Scopus Logo

3.0

CiteScore Tracker 2026

(updated monthly)

Scopus Logo

3.0

CiteScore Tracker 2026

(updated monthly)

Further information

 CiteScore is a simple way of measuring the citation impact of sources, such as journals.

 

CiteScore Tracker is calculated in the same way as CiteScore, but for the current year rather than previous, complete years.

 

The CiteScore Tracker calculation is updated every month, as a current indication of a title's performance.

 

For more information and methodology visit the Scopus definition


Publication timeline

Time to first decision

106

days

Time to first decision

106

days

Further information

Time to first decision, expressed in days, the "first decision" occurs when the journal’s editorial team reviews the peer reviewers’ comments and recommendations. Based on this feedback, they decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript.

Data is taken from submissions between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025

Acceptance to publication

54

days

Acceptance to publication

54

days

Further information

Acceptance to publication, expressed in days, is the average time between when the journal’s editorial team decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript and the date of publication in the journal. 

 

Data is taken from the previous 12 months (Last updated July 2024)

Acceptance rate

37.7

%

Acceptance rate

37.7

%

Further information

The acceptance rate is a measurement of how many manuscripts a journal accepts for publication compared to the total number of manuscripts submitted expressed as a percentage %

Data is taken from submissions between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025.


Usage

Downloads

19631

Articles

Downloads

19631

Articles

Further information

This figure is the total amount of downloads for all articles published early cite in the last 12 months

 

(Last updated: April 2025)

This journal is included in the following abstract and indexing services: 

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  • EBSCO Discovery Service
  • Google Scholar
  • Summons (ProQuest)
  • Scopus
  • WorldCat

 

Reviewers

Reviewer information


Peer review process

This journal engages in a double-anonymous peer review process, which strives to match the expertise of a reviewer with the submitted manuscript. Reviews are completed with evidence of thoughtful engagement with the manuscript, provide constructive feedback, and add value to the overall knowledge and information presented in the manuscript.

Mission

The mission of the peer review process is to achieve excellence and rigour in scholarly publications and research.

Vision

Our vision is to give voice to professionals in the subject area who contribute unique and diverse scholarly perspectives to the field.

Values

The journal values diverse perspectives from the field and reviewers who provide critical, constructive, and respectful feedback to authors. Reviewers come from a variety of organizations, careers, and backgrounds from around the world.

Ethics

All invitations to review, abstracts, manuscripts, and reviews should be kept confidential. Reviewers must not share their review or information about the review process with anyone without the agreement of the editors and authors involved, even after publication. This also applies to other reviewers’ “comments to author” which are shared with you on decision.


Resources to guide you through the review process

Discover practical tips and guidance on all aspects of peer review in our reviewers' section. See how being a reviewer could benefit your career, and discover what's involved in shaping a review.

More reviewer information


Calls for papers & news

Calls for papers

Closes:
31 Aug 2026

Technological Innovation, Green Investment, and Economic Resilience in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

IntroductionSoutheast Asia stands at a critical juncture where rapid technological change and green investment are reshaping the region’s capacity to withstand economic shocks and navigate geopolitical uncertainties. This special issue ex...

Guest editor(s):
Dr. Sunetra Ghatak, Dr. Anindita Bhattacharjee
Technological Innovation, Green Investment, and Economic Resilience in Southeast Asia
Closes:
28 Feb 2026

Call for Papers: Themed Issue on Future Sustainability of Borneo

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

Call for PapersThemed Issue of Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal (SEAMJ)'Future Sustainability of Borneo'The Themed Issue aims to shed light on the future of Borneo, focussing on sustainability ...

Guest editor(s):
Rosnah Abdullah, Zairin Zain, Poline Bala
Call for Papers: Themed Issue on Future Sustainability of Borneo
Closes:
31 Mar 2026

Call for Papers – Communication and Languages in Asian-Pacific Regions: Connection, Collaboration, and Sustainability

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

Introduction:The Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Language Centre is honoured to host the APCA-ANPOR UBD 2025 Conference on 27–28 May 2025, themed “Communication and Languages in Asian-Pacific Regions: Connection, Collaboration, and Sus...

Guest editor(s):
Dr. Min Shen, Dr. Balazs Huszka , Dr. Hang Min
Call for Papers – Communication and Languages in Asian-Pacific Regions: Connection, Collaboration, and Sustainability
Closes:
31 Dec 2025

Call for Papers – Navigating Contemporary Vietnam: Identity, Mobility, and Representation

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

IntroductionVietnam stands at a crossroads of tradition and modernity, where global influences intersect with deep-rooted cultural practices, shaping the nation’s social, economic, and cultural landscapes. This special issue, “Contemporar...

Guest editor(s):
Associate Professor Liam C. Kelley , Assistant Professor Phung Ha Thanh
Call for Papers – Navigating Contemporary Vietnam: Identity, Mobility, and Representation
Closes:
15 Feb 2024

Call for Papers – Governing Complex Disasters in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

Call for Papers – Governing Complex Disasters in Southeast Asia Introduction Many Southeast Asian countries are known for their exposure to multiple and related hazards given their location along the typhoon belt and ‘Ring ...

Guest editor(s):
Maria Carinnes Alejandria, Rob Grace, Pamela Gloria Cajilig, Will Smith
Call for Papers – Governing Complex Disasters in Southeast Asia
Closes:
31 May 2024

Call for Papers – The Study of Tourism in Southeast Asia: Ongoing Trends and Future Directions

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

Introduction Southeast Asia represents a diverse region with different historical, political, and socioeconomic developments and a broad range of natural and cultural tourist attractions. As a result, Southeast Asia has embraced touris...

Guest editor(s):
Diotima Chattoraj, Shirley Chin Wei Lee
Call for Papers – The Study of Tourism in Southeast Asia: Ongoing Trends and Future Directions

News

Emerald Publishing partners with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Emerald Publishing is delighted to announce its partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam to publish the Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal (SEAMJ). The SEAMJ ...

03/04/2023
Emerald Publishing partners with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Literati awards

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal- Literati Award Winners 2025

We are pleased to announce our 2025 Literati Award winners.Outstanding PaperThe curious case of Faceboo...

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal- Literati Award Winners 2025

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal - Literati Award Winners 2024

We are pleased to announce our 2024 Literati Award winners. Outstanding Paper Digital Economy in Southeast Asia: challe...

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal - Literati Award Winners 2024

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal (SEAMJ) is the peer-reviewed publication of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Launched in 1999, the journal is open access and covers the spectrum of languages and cultures of contemporary Southeast Asian societies with high-quality theoretical, analytical, and empirical works.

While the regional focus of the journal is Southeast Asia and, therefore, most of the articles reflect and relate to this geographical region, articles may still be considered if the topics are of relevance and have significant implications for the region.

ISSN: 1819-5091
eISSN: 2948-0426

You can publish an open access article in this diamond partnership journal. Authors in this journal are not required to pay an article processing charge (APC)

Journal Owners

Aims and scope

When submitting a manuscript, authors will be taken to a service called Paperpal Preflight, an AI-driven tool that checks manuscripts against the journal's author guidelines. Authors are free to use or bypass this step and submit directly to ScholarOne.

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal (SEAMJ) publishes peer-reviewed research that delves into the languages and cultures of contemporary Southeast Asian societies. Submissions to the journal are expected to adhere to one or more of the following subject areas:

  • Language, culture, and society in the Malay world
  • Youth culture, politics, and social media
  • Digital development in the age of climate change
  • Sustainable urbanisation in Southeast Asia
  • Globalisation and security in Southeast Asia
  • Migration and sustainable development

We welcome quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, and we prioritize policy-relevant empirical research. Systematic reviews and submissions based on policy are also encouraged. We welcome book reviews.

Visit the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) site to access articles published before 2023.

Transparency statement for Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal

  1. Journal Ownership: Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal is published by Emerald Publishing on behalf of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
  2. Governing Body: The editorial team is appointed and managed by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. The journal is governed by the editorial team in collaboration with Emerald Publishing.
  3. Peer Review Process: The journal operates a double blind peer review model. All articles undergo an initial assessment by the journal editor. If they are considered suitable for consideration, articles will then be reviewed by a minimum of two external reviewers to assess suitability for publication. Final responsibility for editorial decisions rests with the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.
  4. Contact Information: Contact details for the editorial team can be found on the journal homepage here. Queries may also be directed to Emerald as follows: Serena Tsai - [email protected]
  5. Copyright: All articles in the journal are published Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0). This allows authors to retain copyright of their work whilst others can share, use and build upon this work created as long as appropriate attribution is given.
  6. Author Fees: The journal is published under a Diamond Open Access arrangement, in that all costs associated with publishing an Open Access article in the journal are funded by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. There is currently no Article Processing Charge to the author(s).
  7. Allegations of Misconduct: All journals published by Emerald are members of and subscribe to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In the event of any allegation of research or publication misconduct the publisher and editor will adhere to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines in dealing with such allegations.
  8. Conflicts of interest: Authors are asked to declare any financial or ethical conflicts of interest upon submitting their work to the journal. Difficult cases will be referred to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for advice.
  9. Frequency: The journal publishes three issues per annum. The first issue is released between May and June, the second between August and September, and the third between November and December.
  10. Access: All journal articles are published Open Access on Emerald Insight – http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/seamj under a CC BY 4.0 licence (please see point 5).
  11. Revenue sources: The journal is published under a Diamond Open Access arrangement, in that all costs associated with publishing an Open Access article in the journal are funded by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
  12. Advertising: The journal does not accept direct advertising.
  13. Archiving: Emerald provides perpetual access for all e-journal content by working with digital preservation schemes, including Portico, LOCKSS and CLOCKSS.
  14. Originality: Any manuscript you submit to this journal should be original. That means it should not have been published before in its current or similar form. Exceptions to this rule are outlined in our pre-print and conference paper policies. If any substantial element of your paper has been previously published, you need to declare this to the journal editor upon submission. Please note, the journal editor may use Crossref Similarity Check to check on the originality of submissions received. For further information on originality, please see our editorial policy & originality guidelines.
  15. Direct marketing: On occasion the journal will use direct marketing activities (primarily email campaigns) to raise awareness of the journal and to invite authors to submit articles. Marketing activities are conducted by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam unless otherwise agreed with Emerald.

This statement was prepared by Judy Yeh at Emerald Publishing on 3rd January 2023.