- Focus and Scope
- Section Policies
- Peer Review Process
- Publication Frequency
- Open Access Policy
- History of the Journal
Focus and Scope
Aims and Scope
ZAHRA publishes open-access scholarly contributions concerning big data, data science, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, with attention to both methodological advances and applied research.
Journal aims
The journal provides a scholarly forum for research addressing current and emerging challenges in the collection, management, analysis, sharing, and interpretation of data. It welcomes studies that develop, assess, or apply computational methods to generate reliable and meaningful insights. The journal connects theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations relevant to researchers and practitioners.
Core subject areas
- Big data systems: data acquisition, ingestion, storage, retrieval, sharing, integration, data quality, and scalable data management.
- Data science and analytics: exploratory analysis, statistical learning, data mining, knowledge discovery, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and decision support.
- Artificial intelligence: machine learning, deep learning, intelligent algorithms, model development, optimization, evaluation, and AI-based applications.
- Data infrastructure: parallel and distributed processing, cloud computing platforms, distributed file systems, databases, and scalable storage architectures.
- Data representation: visualization, information retrieval, data interpretation, and communication of analytical findings.
Types of contributions
The journal considers original research articles, survey or review papers, and case studies aligned with its disciplinary scope. Original research should present a clear research question, appropriate methods, transparent results, and a defensible contribution. Survey papers should synthesize relevant literature critically, while case studies should explain their methodological and practical significance.
Interdisciplinary applications
Applications are welcome when the central scientific contribution remains relevant to big data, data science, data analytics, or artificial intelligence. Applied manuscripts should demonstrate how the chosen data and methods answer the stated research problem, rather than merely describing software implementation.
Evaluation of suitability
- Clearly identify the research objective, scientific or practical problem, and relationship to the journal scope.
- Describe datasets, methods, evaluation procedures, and limitations sufficiently for critical assessment.
- Distinguish the contribution from related research and support conclusions with evidence.
Section Policies
Articles
 Open Submissions |
Indexed |
Peer Reviewed |
Peer Review Process
Peer Review Process
ZAHRA currently describes its editorial evaluation as a double-blind peer-review process following an initial editor and section-editor screening.
Review model and reviewer assignment
The publicly displayed policy states that a manuscript passing the editor’s initial originality screening is sent to a section editor and then to at least one reviewer. ZAHRA describes this arrangement as double-blind peer review: the identities of authors and reviewers should be withheld from each other during review as far as the editorial system and files permit.
Step-by-step evaluation
| Stage | What happens | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Submission | Manuscript and metadata are submitted online. | Authors |
| 2. Preliminary screening | Scope, completeness, originality, and text similarity are considered. | Editor |
| 3. Section handling | The manuscript is assigned to the appropriate editorial section. | Section editor |
| 4. Scholarly review | Reviewer evaluates scientific contribution, methodology, evidence, presentation, and references. | Reviewer |
| 5. Editorial evaluation | Reports and any revision are assessed to determine the next action. | Editor / section editor |
| 6. Author response | If invited, authors revise the paper and provide a detailed response. | Authors |
| 7. Final outcome | The editor communicates the final editorial outcome. | Editor |
Review criteria
- Research relevance to the journal and clarity of the research problem.
- Originality or value of the methodological, empirical, or review contribution.
- Appropriateness of research design, data processing, experimental protocol, and metrics.
- Credibility of the reported findings and consistency between evidence and conclusions.
- Strength and accuracy of related literature, citation practices, and research-ethics compliance.
- Clarity of scientific writing, tables, figures, and reproducibility information.
Published review timelines
The existing editorial policy states that reviewer assessment is expected to take no more than three weeks and describes an overall acceptance decision period of approximately 3–8 weeks. These published timelines are indicative and may vary if substantial revision or further review is required.
Types of editorial decisions
- Accepted for publication.
- Revision requested.
- Resubmit for renewed review.
- Suggested submission to a different journal.
- Rejected.
Double-blind manuscript preparation
- Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and identifying contact information from the blinded manuscript file when requested.
- Review document properties and file metadata for identifying details.
- Use neutral self-citation language that does not disclose identity unnecessarily.
- Keep title page and other identifying files separate if the submission workflow requests them.
Publication Frequency
Publication Schedule
According to the journal’s public homepage, ZAHRA follows a twice-yearly publication schedule, with one issue planned for June and another for December.
Regular issue calendar
| Issue number | Publication month | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | June | First regular issue of the year |
| No. 2 | December | Second regular issue of the year |
Publication dates and verification
The schedule above states the intended publication calendar. The availability and final publication date of a particular volume or issue can only be confirmed from the issue record and the associated article pages in the public Archives.
Manuscript handling and issue assignment
Manuscripts undergo editorial screening and peer review before an acceptance decision. Acceptance should not be confused with immediate placement in a particular issue. Authors should contact the editorial office for issue planning and status questions rather than treating the journal frequency as a guaranteed acceptance deadline.
Publication record
The archive available at the time of this preparation displays volumes for 2022 and 2023. Publication continuity and records for any later periods require editorial verification. New issues must be published using the actual publication process and accurate dates.
Useful links
Open Access Policy
Open Access Policy
ZAHRA provides immediate open access to published content on the principle that making research freely available supports wider exchange and use of scholarly knowledge.
Access to published articles
Readers can access the journal’s published articles online without a subscription paywall. Immediate access facilitates scholarly reading, education, research discussion, and dissemination of published results.
Reading access and reuse rights are distinct
Open access permits reading the publication, but permissions for redistribution, adaptation, commercial reuse, and related activities are determined by the applicable copyright license. Users should examine the article’s displayed license and any accompanying copyright statement before reuse.
Author copyright and first publication
The current OJS Copyright Notice states that authors retain copyright, grant the journal the right of first publication, and license the work under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). It also permits separate non-exclusive dissemination agreements that acknowledge first publication in this journal.
Repository sharing
The OJS notice expressly permits and encourages authors to place their work on websites or institutional repositories, including before or during submission, consistent with proper acknowledgement and any applicable third-party rights.
Citation and attribution
- Identify the authors, original title, journal title, publication details, and persistent identifier when available.
- Include the correct Creative Commons license and indicate whether changes were made when required.
- Do not imply author or journal endorsement of a reuse or derivative work.