Vol. 4 (1) Jul. 2022
Article ID. JHSSR-0008-2022
FOREWORD
|
|
I would like to welcome you to Horizon Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research’s first issue of 2022. JHSSR is a peer-reviewed open-access and broad-scope journal that aims at bringing innovative research to both academics and practicing professionals. It is published rapidly by BP Services. The journal is independently owned, and runs on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of the world-wide social science community
Original articles of archival value covering research and development topics, which span all areas of humanities and social sciences, are published by this journal. In addition to new advances in traditional and more established areas of humanities and social sciences, we strive to include findings on both emerging and interdisciplinary issues.
This issue consists of fourteen articles including an editorial by our board member, Professor Jennifer Kim Lian Chan, and an invited paper by our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Brij Mohan. In addition, the issue has one opinion piece and two concept papers. The rest of the eight remaining articles are research papers written by authors from different countries, such as Canada, China, India, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sultanate of Oman, United States, and Vietnam. This remarkable statistic clearly shows that this journal is truly an international journal with diverse authorship as well as editorship. The articles in this issue span a wide range of topics, including issues of Religion Philosophy, Mental Health, Urban Geography, Education, Ethnographic studies, Social Anthropology, Translation studies, Management and Literature. One book review is also included in the present issue.
The purpose of the editorial note by Professor Jennifer Chan Kim Lian is to explore ways to move forward with tourism and hospitality research after COVID-19. It emphasizes in particular the necessary changes, the importance of the multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, and the relevance of theories of practice in new phenomena.
The invited paper by Professor Brij Mohan talks about Vedas and ancient spiritual-ontological world views which saints and sages passed on as “truths” to the next generations.
The third paper investigates Lal Qila from a Sikh History Perspective and India’s Imperative to Unite the Nation. The article makes several recommendations as to how India may address the unresolved grievances of Sikhs, as well as those of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and others embedded in their histories, thus ensuring a peaceful, secular, and democratic India.
The fourth piece is a concept paper that introduces a counseling approach. The approach is substantiated by research on wellness, mental health, counseling, and psychology. I believe this would create interest amongst readers because it takes into consideration the COVID pandemic and mental wellness. The approach is particularly robust in a time of high demand for online help-seeking. This paper is significant because it addresses a contemporary issue in mental health. It discusses the limitations of how the counseling field traditionally responds to help-seekers and offers new ideas and insights to shift the approach.
The fifth paper is significant because it focusses upon the latest Master Plan of Delhi. The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of urban geography, development studies, planning, and other related studies. The paper is the first attempt of its kind as this is a novel approach and is significant because it considers the practical aspect of urban planning. The readers would find this attempt to be interesting, innovative, scientific, and contemporary.
The sixth paper of this issue is significant because, it discusses the matter concerned to every human to know where the life comes from and if human was created by God or was evolved through a long process of evolution. The paper would be of interest to readers in the areas of “philosophy, science, and to the Sikhs and all other religions. It indicates that Sikhi (philosophy of Guru Nanak composed about 552 years ago) is somewhat comparable to science of today.
The seventh paper explores the needs of visually impaired students and educators during COVID-19 in terms of hardware and software. It has a significant contribution to the body of knowledge and society. This is the first research conducted in Malaysia during COVID-19 to reveal the challenges facing the visually impaired students and educators. This paper could be of interest to the policy makers related to visually impaired people and researchers who would like to investigate more in this area.
The eighth paper helps readers understand the current situation of using ethnographic field methods in social science research in Vietnam and presents some suggestions to solve the inadequacies, contributing to improving research quality and ethics in research.
The ninth paper is significant because it describes Ancestral Hall Plaques and Couplets under Psychosocial homeostasis (PSH). The paper would be of interest to readers in the areas of social anthropology.
The tenth paper reports on the moderating role of marital status on perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, perceived severity, and cues to action in curbing the spread of COVID-19 infections in Nigeria. The findings of the study also demonstrated that marital status did not have moderating effects on the relationships between self-efficacy, perceived severity, and cues to action in curbing the spread of COVID-19 infections, respectively. This study seems the first to ever examine the role of marital status on the perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, perceived severity, and cues to action in curbing the spread of COVID-19 infections.
The eleventh paper is significant as the study examines the influence of CIO and ethical climate on the level of ethics and integrity, and their relationship to organizational commitment. The paper will interest readers in the areas of management leadership related to ethics and integrity in the organization.
The twelfth paper investigates a completely new subject on Kafka on the Shore. This essay discusses that Kafka experiences the myth of Oedipus and the problem of Oedipus at two levels, first by killing his father and having sex with his mom, and punishing her in the real world of the unconscious. Secondly, by accepting the rule of the father, forgiving mom, forgetting past, and making a way for expressing and wishing what he wants, which is his way of thinking and behaving freely. The paper would be of interest to readers in the areas of psychology, philosophy, sociology, and also interdisciplinary studies.
The thirteenth paper tackles the issues of cultural and ideological aspects in the translation of English news into Arabic, and how these aspects could alter the intended original message during the translation activities. It deals with cultural and ideological aspects that might change the quality of the source text translated message. The paper would be of interest to readers in the areas of translation and discourse of political news.
The final paper of this issue is a book-review which involves working with different text types in English and Arabic: Translation in practice.
I believe this issue would be intriguing, thought-provoking and useful in reaching new milestones. I would be grateful if you recommend the journal to your peers and students to make this endeavor more meaningful.
I am glad to share with you that as of now JHSSR has received a total of about 850 articles from across the globe for intended publication in JHSSR, of which only 116 got accepted and published. Which also means an acceptance rate of only about 24%. The reasons for this high rejection rate are mainly the manuscript failing the technical screening, the manuscript not falling within the journal’s scope, weak hypothesis, poor methodology, and high Similarity Index.
Our Quality
All the papers published in this edition underwent the journal’s stringent double blind peer-review process involving a minimum of three reviewers comprising internal as well as external referees. This was to ensure that the quality of the papers justified the high ranking of the journal, which hopes to be one at par with one of the renowned and heavily-cited journals not only by authors and researchers in Malaysia and America but by those in other countries around the world as well.
While I hope this issue will have particular appeal to new readers across this region and beyond, I am confident that the articles published will raise interest among our regular readership of scholars and postgraduate students elsewhere, thanks to the relevance and diversity of contributions on a region whose future bears central importance to us all.
I would also like to express gratitude to all the contributing authors for their trust, patience, and timely revisions, who have made this issue possible, as well as the reviewers and editors for their professional contribution. Last but not least, the assistance of the journal’s editorial office in Texas, particularly Jessica Whitsitt, Lucy Fernandez, and Judy Meester—my adorable assistants, is greatly appreciated.
We continue to welcome article submissions in all fields of humanities and social sciences. Horizon JHSSR is currently accepting manuscripts for its concluding 2022 issue based on original qualitative or quantitative research that opens new areas of inquiry and investigation. Empirical articles should demonstrate high rigor and quality. Original research collects and analyzes data in systematic ways to present important new research that adds to and advances the debates within the journal’s fields. The editors hope that the authors publishing in this journal can support the noble cause of JHSSR in reaching its goals.
Let me conclude by saying that with the publication of this issue, we are now in the fourth year of publication and have completed three years of successful scholarly publication of Horizon JHSSR. Changing publishing norms and expectations have given rise to a new wave of publishing standards that we’ll be riding into 2023 and beyond. I am confident that the upcoming year will bring yet another challenging year of emerging scholarly articles.
Only time will tell what the next decade has in store, but one thing for sure is we will likely see greater innovation in all areas of scholarly publishing. If you are observing other scholarly publishing trends, please do share your thoughts with the Chief Executive Editor!