Ethics and Malpractice Statement
For everyone involved in the publishing process, it is important to agree on certain guidelines regarding the ethics of research and academic publishing. On this page you will find general information on the responsibilities of all parties (journal editors, peer reviewers, authors and the publisher) involved in the publication of an academic journal.
What we expect is mutual trust, open communication and academic integrity. Amsterdam University Press endorses the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and consults their website in case of questions and problems. We encourage editors, authors and reviewers to do the same.
Duties of the journal editors
All journals have editorial boards or other governing bodies whose members are recognised experts in the relevant field; the full names and affiliations of the members are provided on the journal pages on the AUP website.
Openness
Each journal should be open to contributions from scholars outside their network. Manuscripts submitted for publication are considered on the basis of their content and quality, not on the basis of any identity marker of the author or whether the journal editors are already familiar with the author.
The contact information of the editorial office of each journal is made publicly available on the respective journal pages.
Integrity and confidentiality
Manuscripts are handled with appropriate care and are not distributed to anyone outside the editorial board (including its advisors) and (possible) peer-reviewers. In the case of single or double-blind peer review, the journal editors are expected to protect the anonymity of authors and reviewers.
When a manuscript is rejected, the editors cannot use its (unpublished) content for their own research. If they want to do so, they should consult the author in question first.
Disclosing conflicts of interest and misconduct
When editors suspect conflicts of interests, whether these be their own or the reviewer’s or author’s, they must make these known. In the case of foreseeable issues, they should obtain signed statements of conflicts of interest from all authors and reviewers before publication.
AUP requires all editors to take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred; in no event shall a journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct the publisher or editor shall deal with allegations appropriately and following, as much as possible, the guidelines for this as outlined by COPE.
Consent to publish
The editors of the journal are responsible for sending Consent-to-Publish forms to the authors and to make sure that these are signed before publishing.
Duties of peer reviewers
The peer-review process is coordinated by the journal editors (via the editor-in-chief or the editorial secretary) without the publisher’s involvement. The description of peer-review processes for each journal are published on the journal’s page on the AUP website.
Editorial boards should provide its peer-reviewers with clear instructions about the peer-review process and the requirements of the reports. In turn, peer-reviewers should contact the journal editors with any questions about the peer-review process.
The value of peer-review
All content of academic journals should be subjected to some form of peer-review. For academic articles, double-blind peer-review is encouraged.
Reviewers assist the journal editors in their decision to publish and assist the author by suggesting how their contributions may be improved. Where necessary, peer-reviewers should point out relevant published work that has not been cited by the author.
Integrity
If the reviewer believes they lack the relevant expertise to review an article, they should inform the journal editors.
Reviewers should judge only the content of an article and should not express unreasonable or personal criticisms.
Disclosing conflicts of interest and misconduct
Peer-reviewers must disclose suspected conflicts of interests, whether these be their own or the author’s or editor’s. Until the issue is resolved, they must refrain from reviewing the manuscript in question.
Peer-reviewers cannot use the content of reviewed articles in their own research without the consent of the author in question.
Duties of authors
Inform yourself
Manuscripts for articles, reviews or other contributions are generally sent to the editorial secretary of the journal in question. Contact details can be found on the webpages of the journals.
Prior to submission, the author should familiarise themselves with the journal in which they would like to publish and the journal’s guidelines for authors. Journal editors can immediately reject any contribution that fails to meet these guidelines.
Academic standards and integrity
Authors should present original work that meets the academic standards in their field. If an author uses the work of others, its source should be appropriately cited or quoted.
Anyone who has made significant contributions to the manuscript should be listed as authors. All co-authors are responsible for the manuscript and should have seen and approved the final version. Misrepresentation of authorship is not tolerated (for more information click here).
Simultaneous submissions of a manuscript to several journals is strongly discouraged and work should never be published in more than one journal.
Disclosing conflicts of interest and misconduct
The author should disclose any relevant affiliation and possible conflicts of interest that may have influenced the content of the contribution. All sources of financial support must be made known. When the author suspects a conflict of interest in the publication process on the side of the editors or publisher, they must notify the editors and/or publisher.
Communication
The author must keep the journal editors informed on the state of their contributions, the publication date and any significant errors or inaccuracies in the work that they plan on publishing or have already published.
Authors are obliged to participate in peer-review. The journal editors decide whether contributions are suitable for peer-review and publication. These decisions are non-negotiable.
Duties of the publisher
Providing information
The publisher will make sure that the information on the journal’s webpage is up-to-date and correct. On these pages, it will be clearly indicated when and how often a journal is published. The publisher will also make the names and affiliations of the journal editors publicly available.
The publisher will also provide information on Open Access and its policies regarding access.
Safeguarding independence
The publisher trusts the journal editors in the decisions that they make and generally do not involve themselves in the decision-making process regarding specific contributions. The publisher may engage in conversation with the editors on the scope, aims and long-term strategy of the journal.
AUP denounces (self-)censorship flowing from potential personal, professional, institutional, or governmental reprisals. As an international academic publisher, AUP is committed to disseminating knowledge to the widest possible audience and to serve the global academic community.
Meeting agreements
The publisher and the editorial board of each journal abide by the agreements made between them. Agreements may, of course, be periodically reviewed to reflect changed situations.
The publisher will make sure that each journal has an original and recognisable name. It will also take care of the journal’s lay-out, design and production, as well as its marketing.
If there is reason to believe that editors, reviewers or the publisher did not meet these guidelines, please contact the journal editors first and, when necessary, inform AUP via [email protected].
This statement can also be downloaded as PDF. Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement Journals