Ethics Statement and Practices

River Publishers are committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and as a publisher we take every possible measure against publication malpractice. Authors who submit articles to any of our journals, or proposals to one of our book series, are required to attest that their work is original and unpublished and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. In addition, authors confirm that their journal article and/or book proposal is their own; that it has not been plagiarized, and that they have disclosed actual or potential conflicts of interest with their work or partial benefits associated with it. We fairly and aggressively police this policy.

DUTIES OF EDITORS

• Final Decision on the Publication of Articles and/or Books
  The Editor (s) in Chief of journals published by River Publisher, and the Series Editors of book series published by River Publishers, are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published, or which book proposals get accepted for publication. In the case of journals, the Editor in Chief may be guided by the views of the journal's editorial board. The Editor in Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
• Review of Journal Articles
  The Editors in Chief of a journal also ensure that each manuscript undergoes at least 'blind' peer review by a minimum of two reviewers (we are working towards double blind for some of our Journals). Also, before the paper is even accepted for consideration, we use an industry tool to check for plagiarism and immediately reject any paper with a similarity score of more than 20%. Individual Journals can set lower similarity scores if they wish.
• Review of book proposal and Journal special issue proposals
  Book series editors are the initial quality control for book proposals - but the proposals also must be reviewed by at least one other reviewer. Further, we do random checks on the other listed editors or authors on such proposals to ensure that authors/editors are aware that they have been included on proposals.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest
  Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in his or her own research without the express written consent of the author. We refresh and update our reviewer's database and undertake periodic spot checks to ensued that all referees are acting with integrity.
• Fair play
  Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. Our move towards double blind reviewing is aimed to help ensure this.
• Confidentiality
  The Editor in Chief/editors and our editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

ETHICAL DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

• Confidentiality
  Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors must be kept confidential and be treated as privileged information.
• Standards of Objectivity
  Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. We aim to move all Journals to a double-blind reviewing system during 2022. At the moment all are blind reviews and some are double blind.
• Acknowledgement of Sources
  Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the Editors in Chief's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
• Conflict of Interest
  Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

• Reporting standards
  Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
• Data Access and Retention
  Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such, if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
• Originality and Plagiarism
  Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this must be appropriately cited or quoted.
• Multiple Publications, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
  An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
• Acknowledgement of Sources
  Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
• Authorship of the Paper
  Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
  All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
• Fundamental Errors in Published Works
  Should an author discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify us and cooperate with us to retract or correct the article.

DUTIES OF PUBLISHERS

• Fairness
  As publishers we aim to be completely transparent and fair in our dealings with all authors and editors we work with. If you feel as if you have been unfairly treated, then you should approach the leadership team immediately at journals@riverpublishers.com

River Publishers, Alsbjergvej 10, 9260 Gistrup, Denmark