Applies to all Science Catalogs publications.
Editorial independence
Editors decide what is published on scholarly merit alone. Commercial considerations, including the ability to pay an article publishing charge, never influence decisions. Staff who handle payments have no role in editorial decisions.
Scope and screening
Each journal publishes aims and scope on its home page. Every submission is screened for scope, completeness and text similarity before review. Manuscripts outside scope or with significant unattributed overlap are returned without review, usually within a week.
Peer review
Research content is peer reviewed by at least two independent experts. Most journals use double-anonymised review. See how peer review works.
Authorship and contributions
Authors must meet recognised authorship criteria: substantial contribution to the work, drafting or revising it critically, approving the final version and accepting accountability. Contributions are recorded using the CRediT taxonomy. Changes to the author list after submission require the written agreement of all authors.
Research and publication ethics
We follow the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
- Research involving people or animals requires ethics approval and, where relevant, informed consent.
- Plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabrication, falsification, image manipulation and citation manipulation are treated as misconduct.
- Concerns can be raised confidentially with the editorial office at any stage, including after publication.
Competing interests
Authors, reviewers and editors declare financial and non-financial interests. Editors and reviewers do not handle manuscripts from close collaborators, their own institution in the last three years, or anyone with whom they have a conflict.
Generative AI
AI tools cannot be authors. Authors disclose any use of generative AI beyond basic language editing and remain responsible for the content. Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts into public AI services.
Open access and licensing
Science Catalogs journals are open access. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) licence unless stated otherwise, and authors keep copyright.
Corrections, retractions and appeals
Errors are corrected through linked correction notices. Seriously flawed or unethical work is retracted with a published notice; the article stays online and is clearly marked. Authors may appeal a decision once, in writing, to the editor-in-chief.
Complaints
Send complaints about editorial processes to editorial@sciencecatalogs.com. We acknowledge complaints within five working days and respond in full within thirty.