Introduction
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) are scholarly organizations that have collaborated to identify principles of transparency and best practice for scholarly publications. This is the fourth version of a work in progress (published September 15, 2022). We encourage its wide dissemination.
The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing should apply to all published content, including special issues and conference proceedings. Where practices deviate from the standards outlined, editors must transparently communicate the procedures that the journal follows.
These principles also acknowledge that publishers and editors are responsible for promoting accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all aspects of the publication. Editorial decisions should be based on scholarly merit. They should not be affected by the origins of the manuscript, including the nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion of the authors. Journals should ensure no policies create an exclusionary environment for anyone wanting to engage with the journal and should regularly assess their policies for inclusivity.
Translations (Português, Bengali, Prevod, Latin American Spanish [version 3.0])
1. Name of journal
The journal’s name should:
2. Website
Websites should be properly supported and maintained, with particular attention given to security aspects that help protect users from viruses and malware. As a minimum, websites should use https and not http, and all traffic should be redirected through https.
In addition to the requirements outlined below, the following items should be clearly displayed:
3. Publishing schedule
A journal’s publishing frequency should be clearly described, and the journal must keep to its publishing schedule unless there are exceptional circumstances.
4. Archiving
A journal's plan for electronic backup and long term digital preservation of the journal content, in the event that the journal and/or publisher stops operating, should be clearly indicated. Examples include PMC and those listed in the Keepers Registry.
5. Copyright
6. Licensing
If Creative Commons licenses are used, then the terms of that license should also link to the correct license on the Creative Commons website.
7. Publication ethics and related editorial policies
A journal should have policies on publication ethics (for example, COPE's Core Practice guidance). These should be visible on its website, and should refer to:
Editors and publishers are responsible for ensuring the integrity of the scholarly literature in their journals and should ensure they outline their policies and procedures for handling such issues when they arise. These issues include plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. Neither the journal’s policies nor the statements of its editors should encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. In the event that a journal's editors or publisher are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a submitted or published article in their journal, the editor or publisher should follow COPE's guidance (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations.
8. Peer review
Peer review is defined as obtaining advice on manuscripts from reviewers/experts in the manuscript’s subject area. Those individuals should not be part of the journal's editorial team. However, the specific elements of peer review may differ by journal and discipline, so the following should be clearly stated on the website:
If an article's peer review is an exception to the usual policy, the article should state what review it received.
Journals should not guarantee acceptance of initial manuscript submissions. Statements of peer review times should be supported by published timeframes on accepted papers. In the event of delays, authors should be informed of the reason for the delay and given the opportunity to withdraw their manuscript if they wish.
The date of publication should be published with all published research. Dates of submission and acceptance are preferred as well.
9. Access
If any of the online content is not freely accessible to everyone, the method of gaining access (for example, registration, subscription, or pay-per-view fees) should be clearly described. If offline versions (for example, print) are available, this should be clearly described along with any associated charges.
10. Ownership and management
11. Advisory body
Journals should have editorial boards or other advisory bodies whose members are recognised experts in the subject areas stated in the journal's aims and scope.
12. Editorial team/contact information
Journals should provide the full names and affiliations of their editors as well as contact information for the editorial office, including a full mailing address, on the journal’s website.
13. Author fees
If author fees are charged (such as article processing charges, page charges, editorial processing charges, language editing fees, colour charges, submission fees, membership fees, or other supplementary charges), then the fees should be clearly stated on the website.
If there are no such fees, this should be clearly stated.
14. Other revenue
Business models or revenue sources should be clearly stated on the journal's website.
Examples include author fees (see section 13), subscriptions, sponsorships and subsidies, advertising (see section 15), reprints, supplements, or special issues.
Business models or revenue sources (for example, reprint income, supplements, special issues, sponsorships) should not influence editorial decision making.
15. Advertising
Journals should state whether they accept advertising. If they do, they should state their advertising policy, including:
Advertisements should not be related in any way to editorial decision making and should be kept separate from the published content.
16. Direct marketing
Any direct marketing activities, including solicitation of manuscripts, that are conducted on behalf of the journal should be appropriate, well targeted, and unobtrusive. Information provided about the publisher or journal should be truthful and not misleading for readers or authors.
Transparência e melhores práticas Português - Revisado por Luciano Panepucci, após tradução automática via Documentos Google. Version 4.0, 2022
স্বচ্ছতা এবং সর্বোত্তম অনুশীলন Bengali - translated by Md. Shahajada Masud Anowarul Haque, Sr. Assistant Librarian at BRAC University. Version 4.0, 2022
Transparentnost i najbolja praksa Prevod: Pero Šipka and ceon.rs. Version 4.0, 2022
Principios de Transparencia y Mejores Prácticas en Publicaciones Académicas Latin American Spanish, Version 3.0, 2018
Version history
This is Version 4.0 of the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
Version 3.0 - January 2018
Version 2.0 - June 2015
Version 1.0 - December 2013