Terms of use

These terms apply to the website operated by Sciendor, including the website of each of its journals and the editorial system through which manuscripts are submitted, reviewed and published. By using the website you accept these terms. Each journal’s own policies — on peer review, publication ethics, open access and charges — apply in addition to them, as do the publisher’s policies and the privacy and cookie policy.

Articles published in Sciendor journals are open access. Each is made available under the licence stated on the article page and in its PDF and metadata; your use of an article is governed by that licence. Under the Creative Commons licences used by our journals, you must give appropriate credit to the authors and the original publication.

The design of this website, the journals’ names and the Sciendor name and marks are not covered by article licences and may not be used in a way that suggests endorsement.

One Sciendor account gives access to every journal. You agree to provide accurate information when registering, to keep your password confidential, and to tell us promptly at [email protected] if you believe your account has been used without your permission. Accounts are personal and must not be shared.

Public registration creates an author account. Reviewer and editorial accounts are created by the journals’ editorial offices, and their access is limited to the journals they serve. We may suspend an account that is used in breach of these terms or of a journal’s ethics policy.

By submitting a manuscript to a Sciendor journal, the submitting author confirms that:

• the work is original, has not been published before, and is not under consideration elsewhere;
• all listed authors have approved the submission and agree to be listed, and every contributor is credited;
• the authors hold, or have obtained, the rights to include any third-party material, and the work does not infringe anyone’s rights;
• funding, competing interests and any required ethical approval and consent have been fully and accurately declared;
• if the article is accepted, it may be published open access under the journal’s licence, with its metadata shared with indexing services.

Editorial decisions are made by the journal’s editors in accordance with its published policies.

Manuscripts under review are confidential. Reviewers and editors may use them only for the purpose of evaluating the submission; they must not share, cite or otherwise use unpublished work, must not attempt to identify anonymised authors, and must declare any competing interest. Reviewer reports become part of the journal’s confidential editorial record.

You agree not to:

• attempt to gain access to accounts, manuscripts or data you are not authorised to see;
• interfere with the security or operation of the website, or probe it for vulnerabilities without permission;
• harvest content in a way that places an unreasonable load on the service — the open metadata interfaces described in our policies exist for that purpose;
• upload files containing malicious code, or material that is unlawful or infringes others’ rights.

Where a journal applies an article processing charge, the amount, applicable taxes, waivers and payment arrangements are set out on that journal’s own pages, and an invoice is issued only after acceptance. Publication of an accepted article proceeds once the charge has been settled or waived. Payment has no bearing on editorial decisions.

Articles express the views of their authors. While every article is peer reviewed, neither Sciendor nor the journals’ editors accept responsibility for the accuracy of the content or for any use made of it. The website is provided as it is; we aim to keep it available at all times but cannot guarantee uninterrupted access.

We may update these terms from time to time; the version published on this page applies. Questions about these terms may be sent to [email protected].