Effective Date: August 2026
1. Purpose and Scope
Scientific Publications is committed to maintaining a transparent, rigorous, and independent editorial process for all journals published by the organization.
This Editorial Policy establishes the publisher-wide principles governing editorial management, manuscript handling, editorial independence, decision-making, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and the integrity of the scholarly publishing process. Individual journals published by Scientific Publications may maintain additional journal-specific editorial requirements where appropriate to their subject area.
2. Editorial Independence
Scientific Publications recognizes editorial independence as a fundamental principle of scholarly publishing.
Editorial decisions are based on the academic quality, originality, relevance, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, and suitability of a manuscript for the relevant journal.
Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:
- Article Processing Charges or other publication fees;
- commercial interests;
- advertising or sponsorship;
- personal relationships;
- authors’ nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.
Payment of a publication charge does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
3. Selection and Appointment of Editors
Editors are selected on the basis of their academic qualifications, subject expertise, research and publication experience, professional standing, and suitability for the scope of the relevant journal.
The publisher may consider an individual’s:
- academic and professional qualifications;
- research expertise;
- publication record;
- experience in scholarly or scientific publishing;
- knowledge of ethical and responsible publishing practices; and
- ability to perform editorial responsibilities objectively and professionally.
Editors are appointed according to the needs and scope of the relevant journal.
4. Editorial Responsibilities
Editors are expected to:
- assess manuscripts fairly and objectively;
- maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;
- ensure that manuscripts receive appropriate editorial and peer-review consideration;
- select appropriate reviewers where peer review is required;
- identify and appropriately manage conflicts of interest;
- protect the integrity of the scholarly record;
- make decisions based on scholarly and ethical considerations;
- maintain appropriate records of editorial decisions; and
- cooperate in the investigation and resolution of ethical or publication-related concerns.
Editors should not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional advantage.
5. Manuscript Evaluation and Editorial Decision-Making
Manuscripts are evaluated according to the requirements and scope of the relevant journal.
Depending on the journal and manuscript type, the editorial process may include an initial editorial assessment followed by external peer review.
An initial editorial assessment may consider:
- suitability for the journal’s scope;
- originality and scientific relevance;
- methodological quality;
- ethical requirements;
- completeness of the submission; and
- compliance with journal author guidelines.
Editorial decisions may include rejection, revision, reconsideration, or acceptance following the applicable journal procedures.
6. Peer Review
Scientific Publications supports appropriate peer review for scholarly manuscripts in accordance with the policy of the relevant journal.
Reviewers are selected based on relevant subject expertise and are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and timely assessments.
Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the relevant journal’s editorial team and are not determined solely by an individual reviewer.
The publisher’s separate Peer Review Policy provides additional details regarding the peer-review process.
7. Conflicts of Interest
Editors should disclose and appropriately manage actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.
An editor should not participate in an editorial decision where a conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, impartiality.
Where an editor, editorial board member, or person closely associated with the journal submits a manuscript to a journal published by Scientific Publications, the journal should implement appropriate safeguards to ensure independent editorial assessment and peer review.
8. Confidentiality
Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related information.
Manuscripts and associated materials should only be disclosed to individuals who are authorized to participate in the editorial or peer-review process.
Confidential information obtained through manuscript handling must not be used for purposes unrelated to the editorial process.
9. Research and Publication Ethics
Scientific Publications expects journals, authors, editors, and reviewers to follow responsible research and publication practices.
The publisher does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or other forms of research or publication misconduct.
Research involving human participants or animals must meet applicable ethical requirements and should include appropriate ethical approval and informed consent where required.
The publisher’s Publication Ethics Policy provides further information concerning research and publication ethics.
10. Editorial Records and Transparency
Scientific Publications encourages journals to maintain appropriate records of submissions, editorial decisions, peer-review activity, revisions, and publication history.
Information concerning editorial procedures should be made publicly available through the relevant journal’s website and policies wherever appropriate.
The publisher supports transparency in scholarly publishing in accordance with recognized principles of responsible publishing.
11. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
Scientific Publications recognizes that maintaining an accurate scholarly record is an essential responsibility of the publisher and its journals.
Where published information contains a significant error, correction may be issued.
Where an article is found to be unreliable because of serious error, research misconduct, ethical concerns, or other substantial circumstances, retraction may be considered.
Where there are substantial unresolved concerns about the reliability or integrity of a published work, an editorial expression of concern may be issued while the matter is investigated.
Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern should be clearly identified, linked to the affected publication where possible, and retained as part of the scholarly record.
12. Appeals and Complaints
Journals published by Scientific Publications should provide mechanisms for authors to raise legitimate concerns or appeal editorial decisions according to the relevant journal’s procedures.
Complaints concerning editorial misconduct, conflicts of interest, publication ethics, or procedural irregularities will be considered by the appropriate editorial or publisher representative.
Appeals and complaints should be handled objectively and without retaliation.
13. Commercial Influence and Advertising
Scientific Publications maintains separation between commercial activities and editorial decision-making.
Advertising, sponsorship, publication charges, and other commercial considerations must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or published.
Where applicable, advertising and sponsorship arrangements should be handled transparently and according to the relevant publisher and journal policies.
14. Publisher Responsibilities
Scientific Publications is responsible for supporting the integrity and continuity of the journals it publishes.
The publisher may provide administrative, technical, and operational support while respecting the editorial independence of each journal.
The publisher may intervene where necessary to address serious ethical, legal, or procedural concerns affecting the integrity of the publication record.
15. Journal-Specific Policies
Individual journals published by Scientific Publications may establish additional editorial policies and procedures according to their discipline, article types, and publishing requirements.
Where a journal-specific policy provides more detailed requirements, authors, editors, and reviewers should follow the applicable journal policy in addition to this publisher-wide Editorial Policy.
16. Policy Review
Scientific Publications may review and update this policy periodically to reflect changes in scholarly publishing practices, ethical standards, applicable requirements, and the needs of journals published by the organization.
The current version of this policy will be maintained on the Scientific Publications website.
Contact
Scientific Publications
Website: https://scientificpublications.org/
Last Updated: August 2026