Editorial Independence and Peer Review Policy
Editorial Independence
European Publisher values freedom in scientific and academic practice and guarantees editors a platform where they can make independent editorial decisions free from undue pressures from any parties.
European Publisher adheres to the precepts of editorial independence as set out in COPE’s Core Practices on managing scholarly publications.
For sponsored publications, sponsors are expected to be neutral and not exert undue influence over the editorial board members. Sponsors will also not be involved in any of the processes involving editorial and policy decision making. The name of the sponsor, its role and responsibilities will be disclosed in all published content under the sponsor’s auspices.
Peer Review Policy
All submissions for possible publication in European Publisher journals and book series are subjected to a peer review process.
Peer Review
The peer review process operates as a part of our commitment to quality for all published work. The peer review process helps to validate and enhance the quality of the submissions. At European Publisher, the peer review process is seen as the cornerstone of reliable, renowned and responsible scientific publications.
Peer Review Types
European Publisher journals and book series follow either single or double-blind review process. Each journal and book series may differ in their peer review processes, and detailed information on peer review procedures can be found in each journal's/book series’ Code of Ethics page.
Single-blind peer review process: In this review type, the reviewers’ identities are concealed from the authors throughout the review process, while the authors’ identities are known to the reviewers.
Double-blind peer review process: In this review type, both the reviewers’ and authors’ identities are concealed from each other throughout the review process.
Peer Reviewer Selection
All reviewers must possess the appropriate qualifications, adequate experience and knowledge in their field of practice and have recent publication experience. Potential reviewers cannot be co-authors or collaborators from the same institution/s as the author/s.
Peer Review Process
All manuscripts submitted to European Publisher Journals are checked for plagiarism, overall content and language accuracy. If manuscripts are found to be suitable at this stage, they are sent to two reviewers. The papers can, at this stage, be deemed fit for publication without corrections; fit for publication with minor corrections; or rejected for publication without an offer to resubmit. Those papers that fall into the second category i.e. fit for publication with minor corrections are returned to the corresponding author for revision based on the reviewers’ comments and a stipulated timeline to return the paper. The revised papers are then checked by the editors for adherence to the reviewers’ comments before being accepted for publication. Those papers whose revisions do not satisfy the editors are returned to the corresponding author for the second and final round of revision. If the revisions are still not acceptable at this stage, the paper is rejected with no further offer to revise the paper.
Editors are expected to consider the outcome of the peer-review process but need not always adhere to the peer review report and/or the reviewers’ comments while making their final decision. Once the revisions have been deemed acceptable by the editors, the paper is sent to the production team to be processed for publication.
Editorial Responsibilities/Jurisdiction
- To abide by the regulations and guidelines for editors stipulated in the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors
- To ensure submissions have not been previously published.
- To ensure that publications do not contain any copied/copyrighted material from published or copyrighted work.
- To ensure submitted papers are free of fabrication and/or falsification.
- To remove any inaccurate, false, misleading, obscene, scandalous, or unlawful text or graphic, with due feedback to the author/s concerned.
- To publish as and when needed, clarifications (errata), corrections, retractions, or apologies. For action on retractions of articles, the EJSBS Editors conform to the guidelines in the Committee for Publication Ethics COPE (2019). Author/s are advised to familiarize themselves with these guidelines at https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction-guidelines.pdf
- The Editors are not responsible for the ideas, opinions, perspectives, conclusions, implications and recommendations expressed by the author/s in the papers.
Proceedings’ manuscripts undergo a peer review process by the organising/programme committee of the conference and external reviewers -as and when needed- selected by committee. Detailed information about organizing/programme committee and reviewers can be found in the Frontmatter of each Proceedings.
Peer Reviewer Guidance
Peer reviewers should adhere to the principles outlined in COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
Transparency in Peer Review
In adhering to the new trends and practises in scholarly publishing, we are working to implement a transparent and robust peer review process for all our publications in order to invest the process with more accountability.
Peer Reviewer Recognition
European Publisher is well aware of the invaluable contribution of peer reviewers throughout the review process and highly appreciative of their time, insights and expertise. To recognize the vital role played by peer reviewers, a Recognition Certificate will be awarded to the reviewers after the successful completion of the review process.