Open Access Policy
We follow the Gold Open Access way in journal publishing. Authors publish in IDEAS SPREAD journals that provide immediate open access to all of their articles on the publisher’s website.
The Open Access Publishing refers to the free availability of peer-reviewed papers on the worldwide internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full manuscripts. However, you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.), and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
The Open Access Policy grants IDEAS SPREAD Publishing the right to license articles for free use. Alternatively, the authors (or their institution or funding agency) pay a publication fee to finance the operation of the journals.
Submission Policy
All manuscripts should be written in English and prepared according to the Author Guide.
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the authorities responsible where the work was carried out. However, we accept submissions that have previously appeared on preprint servers (for example: arXiv, bioRxiv, Nature Precedings, Philica, Social Science Research Network, and Vixra); have previously been presented at conferences; or have previously appeared in other “non-journal” venues (for example: blogs or posters). Authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint with the journal reference (including DOI) and a link to the published articles on the appropriate journal website upon publication.
Any manuscripts out of the journal’s scope or containing plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, are rejected. All submissions will be checked by iThenticate before being sent to reviewers.
Peer-Reviewed Policy
All IDEAS SPREAD journals adopt double-blind peer review. Authors who at submission remain anonymous to the referees throughout the consideration process. The authors are responsible for anonymizing their manuscript accordingly.
All contributions submitted to IDEAS SPREAD journals that are selected for peer review are sent to at least one, but usually two or more, independent reviewers, selected by the editors. Authors are welcome to suggest suitable independent reviewers and may also request that the journal excludes one or two individuals or laboratories. The journal sympathetically considers such requests and usually honours them, but the editor’s decision on the choice of referees is final.
Editors, authors and reviewers are required to keep confidential all details of the editorial and peer review process on submitted manuscripts. Unless otherwise declared as a part of open peer review, the peer review process is confidential and conducted anonymously; identities of reviewers are not released. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality of manuscripts. If a reviewer wishes to seek advice from colleagues while assessing a manuscript, the reviewer must consult with the editor and should ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that the names of any such colleagues are provided to the journal with the final report. Regardless of whether a submitted manuscript is eventually published, correspondence with the journal, referees’ reports and other confidential material must not be published, disclosed or otherwise publicised without prior written consent. Reviewers should be aware that it is our policy to keep their names confidential and that we do our utmost to ensure this confidentiality. We cannot, however, guarantee to maintain this confidentiality in the face of a successful legal action to disclose identity.
IDEAS SPREAD reserves the right to contact funders, regulatory bodies, journals and the authors’ institutions in cases of suspected research or publishing misconduct.
Copyright Policy
Copyrights of all articles published in IDEAS SPREAD journals are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work.
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license.
Authors have the rights to reuse, republish, archive, and distribute their own articles after publication, and undertake to permit others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon this work non-commercially provided the original work is properly cited. The full guidance that applies to the CC-BY license can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Deposit Policy / Archiving Policy
We follow Sherpa/Romeo‘s green archiving policy. Both pre-print and post-print or publisher’s version/PDF can be archived, without restrictions.
Advertising Policy
Our advertising policy is consistent with the principles mentioned in the Recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals which issued by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
- All IDEAS SPREAD’s journals have the right to refuse any advertisement that, in its sole discretion, is incompatible with its mission or inconsistent with the values of publisher as a whole, and to stop accepting any advertisement previously accepted. Ads are subject to review by the editor and others at the IDEAS SPREAD’s journals.
- Advertising for the following categories is prohibited:
- Alcohol
- Tobacco
- Weapons, firearms, ammunition
- Fireworks
- Gambling and lottery
- Pornography or related themes
- Political and religious advertisements
- Advertisements that claim to have a “miracle” cure or method
- Advertisements that make unsubstantiated health claims for the products advertised
- Advertisements directed at children
- Advertisements new to IDEAS SPREAD’s journals may require pre-approval before they can appear.
- Advertisers may be required to submit supporting documentation to substantiate claims. For products not regulated by the FDA or other government agency, technical and/or scientific documentation may be required.
- Ads for products not approved by the FDA that make any kind of health claims must carry the following disclaimer: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
- Advertisements, advertising icons and advertiser logos must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content and may require special labeling to distinguish them as such.
- In IDEAS SPREAD’s journals professional (physician-directed) publications and web sites, the intentional placement of advertising adjacent to articles discussing the company or product that is the subject of the ad is prohibited.
- Advertisements may not imply endorsement by the IDEAS SPREAD’s journals or its publications/web sites except as may be provided for under a separate agreement—in which case advertising must be pre-approved to ensure adherence to the letter and spirit of that separate agreement.
- The full rules for any market research or promotion associated with an advertisement must be displayed in the ad or available via a prominent link.
- The following online advertising formats are prohibited:
- Pop-ups and floating ads.
- Advertisements that collect personally identifiable information from visitors without their knowledge or permission.
- Ads that extend across or down the page without the visitor having clicked or rolled-over the ad.
- Ads that send visitors to another site without the visitor having clicked the ad.
IDEAS SPREAD’s journals published advertising policies are not exhaustive and are subject to change at any time without notice.
Errata, Corrections, Retractions and Expression of Concern Policy
Errata
IDEAS SPREAD does not differentiate between errors that originate in the publication process and those that result from errors of scientific logic or methodology, because journal editors do not make this distinction consistently or clearly. Corrections, corrigenda, addenda, and partial retractions (such as for a single graph, statement, table or image) for previously published articles are all uniformly considered by IDEAS SPREAD to be errata.
Errata may be published to correct or add text or information that appears anywhere within an earlier published article. Errata must appear on a numbered page in an issue of the journal that published the original article. For online journals or online-only content, the erratum must be readily discernable in the table of contents of a subsequent issue and must be associated with identifiable pagination or elocation.
Corrections
IDEAS SPREAD correct a previously published article by republishing the article in its entirety, often to rectify an editorial or printing error in the original article.
Before issue release: prior to issue release, corrections on minor issues are directly made to the original, published version of the article on the journal’s website. If the changes may influence the result or conclusions, the academic editors will evaluate the changes. It may be necessary to issue a Correction or Retraction (see below).
After issue release: Any changes after publication that affect the scientific interpretation (e.g., data in a figure change, conclusions change, whole paragraph added, correct a species name or equation, or add missing details about a method, etc) of a paper made to a paper are announced using a Correction. This is as separate publication that links to the original paper (which is updated). A note will also be added to the Article Versions Notes and to the abstract page, which tells the readers that an updated version was uploaded. The previous version of the paper remains accessible via the article abstract page.
Retractions and Retraction Notices
Journals may retract or withdraw articles based on information from their authors, academic or institutional sponsor, editor or publisher, because of pervasive error or unsubstantiated or irreproducible data. IDEAS SPREAD does not differentiate between articles that are retracted because of honest error and those that are retracted because of scientific misconduct or plagiarism.
Retraction notices must clearly state that the article in question is being retracted or withdrawn in whole by an author of the retracted paper or author’s legal counsel; by the head of the department, dean, or director of the laboratory where the paper was produced; or by the journal editor.
Retraction notices must appear on a numbered page in an issue of the journal that published the retracted article. The retraction notice must be readily discernable in the table of contents of a subsequent issue and must be associated with identifiable pagination or elocation.
Expression of Concern
For complex, inconclusive, or prolonged situations an Expression of Concern may be published. If investigations into alleged or suspected research misconduct have not yet been completed or prove to be inconclusive, an editor or journal may wish to publish an Expression of Concern, detailing the points of concern and what actions, if any, are in progress. Very rarely used.