Standards
Research integrity
This page explains how submissions are assessed before publication and how concerns about published work are handled.
Assessment before publication
Every submission is screened, classified and assessed by an AI review panel against the published criteria. The assessment is recorded with the submission.
An acceptance is not issued automatically. It is held until a named editor has reviewed and signed it.
Automated checking of references against bibliographic records, text-overlap checking against published literature, and computational checking of mathematics are in development. We do not describe any paper as having passed these checks until they are in place.
How concerns are handled
Anyone may raise a concern about a published paper, with or without giving their name. A concern is assessed against the evidence, not the standing of the person who raises it.
Where a concern bears on the integrity of the work, the authors are asked to respond. Their response is recorded with the article.
If a concern is upheld, the journal issues a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction. The notice states what was found and, where it can be determined, where responsibility lies.
The handling of concerns is modelled on the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics, known as COPE.
Editorial independence
Assessment is kept separate from payment. Payment and waiver status are held in a separate system and are invisible to anyone assessing a paper.
No one who takes part in a decision is paid according to its outcome.
Accountability
An acceptance is signed by a named editor who is accountable for it.
Every other outcome is issued from the recorded assessment. The requirement or finding behind the outcome is named to the author.
No editor is named on this site until they have agreed in writing to hold the post.