These policies apply to every journal published by RES Research Solutions and Publishers (Private) Limited. Where a journal states something additional, both apply.
All research articles published in our journals undergo external peer review. Reviews are double-anonymised: reviewers are not told the identities of the authors, and authors are not told the identities of the reviewers.
Each manuscript that passes the editor's initial assessment is sent to at least two independent reviewers who have no conflict of interest with the work or its authors. The handling editor takes the decision on the basis of the reviews; reviewers advise, they do not decide. Where reviewers disagree substantially, the editor may seek a further review.
Editorial and review decisions are made solely on the scientific quality, originality, clarity and ethical conduct of the work. Payment of any kind has no bearing on whether a manuscript is accepted, and we do not offer paid fast-tracking of review.
We do not accept reviewer recommendations from authors. Authors may ask that a named individual not review their manuscript where there is a genuine conflict — a direct competitor, or a personal dispute — by giving the reason in the covering letter; the handling editor decides whether to honour the request.
All our journals are fully open access. Every article is free to read, download and print from the moment of publication, with no subscription, registration or embargo period. We do not operate a hybrid model and we do not publish any content behind a paywall.
Authors retain copyright in their work. We do not require a transfer of copyright as a condition of publication.
Articles published from 1 October 2026 onwards, with the agreement of the relevant copyright holders, are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence permits sharing and adaptation for any purpose, including commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source, a link to the licence is included, and any changes are indicated. Adaptations do not have to use the same licence. Authors retain copyright and grant us a non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, and preserve the article.
The applicable licence is stated on each published article. Previously published articles retain their originally granted licences unless an additional licence is authorised by the relevant copyright holders. Further details, including the licensing transition, are provided in our Copyright and Licensing Policy.
Third-party material may be subject to separate terms, as indicated in its credit line. Authors are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions and identifying material excluded from the article’s licence. Applicable copyright exceptions and limitations remain unaffected.
Fuller detail is on our copyright and licensing page.
There is no charge to submit a manuscript, and no charge for a manuscript that is rejected. An article processing charge (APC) becomes payable only when an article is accepted, and covers editorial handling, production, DOI registration and hosting.
The APC for each journal is published on that journal's own site, in full and before submission. Authors are never asked for a fee that was not stated in advance.
We consider full or partial waivers for authors without access to research funding; a request for a waiver is made to the editorial office and is considered separately from the editorial decision, by people who take no part in it.
We follow the ICMJE criteria for authorship. Everyone listed as an author must have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, acquisition, analysis or interpretation of the work; have drafted or critically revised it; have approved the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for it.
Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be named in an acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors. We do not permit guest, gift or ghost authorship.
Any change to the author list after submission requires the written agreement of every author, including the one being added or removed, together with an explanation. Changes after publication are handled as a correction.
Research involving human participants must have been approved by an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board, and must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The approving body and the reference number must be stated in the manuscript.
Informed consent must have been obtained from participants, and authors must confirm this. Where an individual could be identified from text or images, written consent to publish is required.
Research involving animals must comply with the relevant national legislation and institutional requirements, and the approving body must be named. We encourage reporting in line with the ARRIVE guidelines.
Clinical trials should be registered in a publicly accessible registry before the first participant is enrolled, and the registration number stated.
Editors may ask for documentary evidence of approval or consent at any stage, and may decline a manuscript where it is not forthcoming.
Authors must declare any financial or non-financial interest that could reasonably be seen to influence the work — funding, employment, consultancy, patents, shareholdings, personal relationships or competing academic interests. A declaration is published with every article; where there is nothing to declare, the article says so.
Reviewers must decline an invitation where they have a conflict, including recent collaboration, shared institution, or a competing interest in the subject matter.
An editor with a conflict of interest in a submission takes no part in handling it, and the manuscript is reassigned. Where an editor is an author, the manuscript is handled entirely by another editor and the fact is recorded in the published article.
All submissions are screened with similarity-detection software before review. Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and redundant publication, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation and undisclosed duplicate submission are all treated as misconduct.
Allegations are investigated following the guidance and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We put the concern to the corresponding author and allow a reasonable opportunity to respond. Where a matter is not resolved, or the response raises further concern, we may contact the authors' institution.
Depending on the finding, the outcome may be rejection, a correction, an expression of concern, or retraction. We may decline to consider further submissions from authors found to have committed serious misconduct.
Concerns about a published article may be raised at support@respublishers.com and will be acknowledged.
The published version of record is permanent. Where something needs to change, we publish a separate, linked and citable notice rather than altering the original article silently.
We follow COPE's retraction guidelines, and we do not remove published articles except in the rare circumstances where they must be withdrawn for legal reasons or because they pose a serious risk.
Every research article must include a data availability statement saying where the data underlying the findings can be found, and on what conditions. We encourage deposit in a recognised public repository with a persistent identifier.
Where data cannot be shared — for example because of participant confidentiality or a legal restriction — the statement must say so and give the reason. Editors may ask to see data during review.
Large language models and other AI tools cannot be listed as authors: they cannot take responsibility for the work or be accountable for it.
Authors who have used an AI tool in preparing a manuscript — for drafting, language editing, data analysis or figure generation — must say so, naming the tool and describing how it was used. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of everything they submit, including anything produced with the help of such a tool.
Reviewers must not upload a manuscript under review, or any part of it, to a generative AI tool: doing so breaches the confidentiality of the submission.
Published articles are assigned a DOI through Crossref, and metadata is deposited with Crossref at publication so the record is discoverable and citable.
We are putting a long-term preservation arrangement in place so that published content remains available if this publisher should ever cease operations. We will name the service here once it is active, and we do not claim preservation we have not yet arranged.
Because articles are published open access under CC BY, authors may deposit any version of their article — submitted, accepted or published — in an institutional or subject repository, on a personal or departmental website, or on a preprint server, at any time and with no embargo. We ask only that the deposited copy cites the journal and links to the version of record by its DOI.
Posting a preprint before submission is permitted and is not treated as prior publication. Authors should disclose the preprint and its DOI at submission.
We do not accept advertising on our journal sites, and no sponsor, advertiser or commercial partner has any influence over editorial decisions. Should this change, advertising would be clearly marked as such and kept wholly separate from editorial content, and no advertiser would see content before publication.
Any direct marketing is limited to researchers whose published work falls within a journal's scope, is accurate, and offers an immediate way to unsubscribe.
Editorial decisions rest with the editors of each journal. The publisher sets policy and provides production, but takes no part in deciding whether an individual manuscript is accepted, and does not overturn an editorial decision on commercial grounds.
Staff providing author services are separate from the editorial process and have no role in decisions on any manuscript.
Who owns the publisher, where its income comes from, and how we handle people who hold a role in both the company and a journal are set out under ownership and governance.
An author who believes a decision was reached in error may appeal in writing to the editor-in-chief of the journal, setting out the grounds and responding point by point to the reviewers' comments. Appeals are considered once; where an appeal is upheld, the manuscript is returned for further review.
Complaints about editorial process, conduct or publication ethics should be sent to support@respublishers.com. We acknowledge complaints within ten working days and aim to give a substantive response within thirty. Complaints are handled by someone not involved in the matter complained of.
We follow the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and are working towards membership. We are not currently a COPE member, and a complainant who remains dissatisfied should say so in writing to the editor-in-chief, who will review the handling of the complaint personally.
