Scientific Steps Group (SSG) is the trading name of Scientific Steps International Publishing Services L.L.C., a limited liability company registered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. SSG owns and publishes the journals listed on this website and is responsible for their technical production, hosting, and long-term availability.
5.1 Contact details
Each journal page also lists the Editor-in-Chief and a dedicated journal email address.
5.2 Ownership of the journals
All SSG journals are owned by Scientific Steps International Publishing Services L.L.C. Where a journal is published in partnership with a learned society or professional body, the partner is named on the journal homepage, together with a description of its role. For example, the Middle Eastern Cancer and Oncology Journal (MECOJ) states its relationship with the Iraqi Society of Clinical Oncology on its homepage. A partnership does not transfer editorial decision-making away from the journal's editors.
5.3 Governance structure
SSG separates business responsibilities from editorial responsibilities:
- The publisher sets business policy, including fees, platform, production, indexing applications, and legal compliance. It also appoints Editors-in-Chief.
- Editors-in-Chief are responsible for the scholarly content of their journal. This includes accepting and rejecting manuscripts, appointing reviewers, and recommending board members.
- The editorial office handles administrative tasks: technical checks, correspondence, similarity screening, and publication scheduling. It has no authority over acceptance decisions.
5.4 Journal names and identity
Each SSG journal has a unique title and its own ISSN, registered with the ISSN International Centre. Journal titles, abbreviations, and visual identity are chosen so that they are not confused with any other journal or publisher.
5.5 Revenue sources
SSG has so far funded its journals itself. Its sources of income are:
- Article processing charges, where they apply (see Article Processing Charges)
- Conference organisation
- Author services such as language editing and statistics support
- Paid tools for researchers, such as the StepSphere workspace
These activities are kept fully separate from editorial decisions. Buying an SSG author service never affects whether a manuscript is accepted. Authors who use one are not given priority or any other advantage in peer review.
5.6 Publishing schedule
Each journal states its publication frequency on its homepage. For example, SCCEE and MECOJ are published quarterly. Issues are released by the last day of the quarter they cover. Accepted articles may be published online ahead of the issue as soon as production is complete. If an issue cannot be released on time, the journal will post a notice on its homepage giving the reason and the new date.
