Diamond Scientific Publishing is committed to high ethical standards for our editorial processes. Providing an unbiased and principled platform for authors, editors, and reviewers is a priority for us. Diamond Scientific Publishing seeks to provide transparent policies as they relate to the peer review process from the submission to the actual publication of a manuscript.
Diamond Scientific Publishing is dedicated to providing an academic publishing opportunity that is vested in integrity, professional ethics, and transparent publishing practices. Therefore, Diamond Scientific Publishing supports and promotes the guidelines, statements, and values found within COPE. Any cases of academic or publishing misconduct on the part of authors, editors, reviewers, or staff will be evaluated and processed accordingly. It should be noted that Diamond Scientific Publishing is not committed to the COPE yet but we are following the COPE’s principles to join it soon.
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
The following are our Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. The Diamond Scientific Publishing policy or procedure that addresses specific principles is stated or linked below each principle:
- Peer review process: All of a journal’s content, apart from any editorial material that is clearly marked as such, shall be subjected to peer review. Peer review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers, expert in the field, who are not part of the journal’s editorial staff. This process, as well as any policies related to the journal’s peer review procedures, shall be clearly described on the journal’s website.
All manuscripts submitted to a Diamond Scientific Publishing journal are subject to double-blind peer review. Double-blind review is defined as a review process wherein both the authors and the reviewers are anonymous. Peer review is defined as the evaluation of academic research by other academics in the field. All Diamond Scientific Publishing reviewers are terminally degreed and published in the field(s) they review.
Each active Diamond Scientific Publishing journal has a review board consisting of terminally-degreed academics holding degrees in the subject area of the journal. Invited reviewers are also terminally degreed and published in the field. Invited reviewers will occasionally be called upon to review manuscripts as the need arises. Review-board members and invited reviewers serve voluntarily and may decline to review any manuscript if they do not believe themselves qualified.
Anyone interested in participating as an Diamond Scientific Publishing manuscript reviewer is requested to complete and submit the Diamond Scientific Publishing Reviewer Information Form. Individuals completing the form will be contacted after their qualifications are evaluated and verified.
When a manuscript is received for review in a Diamond Scientific Publishing journal the following procedure is followed:
The manuscript is logged into the Journal Registration Database.
Reviewers are not expected to be able to identify all instances of plagiarism. Consequently, all papers will be submitted to an online plagiarism detection website to verify authenticity. Papers between a 10% and 20% similarity level (excluding matches of 1% or less) will be reviewed and returned to the author for revision prior to peer review. Papers exceeding 20% similarity will be rejected without peer review.
For the purpose of manuscripts submitted to a Diamond Scientific Publishing journal for review, plagiarism is defined as the act of presenting the words, ideas, or images of another as your own whether deliberate or unintentional (APA). Plagiarism occurs when an author does not use adequate paraphrasing, paraphrases without citations, or fails to quote (quotation marks or block quoting) material directly copied from another source.
If the manuscript is determined to be original in accordance with the above it is then forwarded for editorial review by a staff member or the journal’s editor. This review is to ensure conformance with the Diamond Scientific Publishing Submission Guidelines.
Manuscripts with minor deviations from the submission guidelines are corrected. Manuscripts substantially non-conforming to the submission guidelines are returned to the submitting author for correction.
Author names, university affiliations, and contact information are removed from the review copy of the manuscript. Manuscripts are subsequently sent by a Diamond Scientific Publishing staff member or the journal’s editor to reviewers for blind-peer review. Peer reviewers are requested to login to their panel on OJS (Open Journal System) platform for the review process. Additional comments may be provided as needed. Reviewers are requested to type their comments in the related box on OJS.
Manuscripts may be accepted, returned for revision, or rejected. Authors are so notified.
If manuscripts are returned for revision, the author is provided specific instructions as to the revision requirements via email. Authors then have two weeks to complete the required revisions and return the manuscript. Revised manuscripts evaluated for compliance with the revision requirements.
If a manuscript is rejected, the author is notified and provided the reviewer’s comments specifying the reason(s) for rejection.
If a manuscript is accepted the author is notified.
- Governing Body: Journals shall have editorial boards or other governing bodies whose members are recognized experts in the subject areas included within the journal’s scope. The full names and affiliations of the journal’s editors shall be provided on the journal’s website.
Each active Diamond Scientific Publishing journal has a review board consisting of terminally-degreed academics holding degrees in the subject area of the journal. Invited reviewers are also terminally degreed and published in the field. Invited reviewers will occasionally be called upon to review manuscripts as the need arises. Review-board members and invited reviewers serve voluntarily and may decline to review any manuscript if they do not believe themselves qualified. All qualified Diamond Scientific Publishing authors are invited to participate as review-board members or invited reviewers. Other individuals interested in serving as review-board members or invited reviewers may also participate. Diamond Scientific Publishing authors and other individuals are required to complete the Diamond Scientific Publishing Reviewer Information Form. Information collected therein is used to verify reviewer qualifications.
- Editorial team/contact information: Journals shall provide the full names and affiliations of the journal’s editors on the journal’s website as well as contact information for the editorial office.
All active Diamond Scientific Publishing journals have assigned editors. The journal editor’s name and university affiliation are on the individual journal’s webpage along with a link to the editor’s curriculum vitae and the editor’s email address.
Diamond Scientific Publishing contact information is provided on the Contact us webpage as well as being posted at the bottom of every webpage (excluding individual manuscripts) on the Diamond Scientific Publishing website.
- Author fees: Any fees or charges that are required for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in the journal shall be clearly stated in a place that is easy for potential authors to find prior to submitting their manuscripts for review or explained to authors before they begin preparing their manuscript for submission.
All charges are clearly explained on the Open Access Academic Journals web page under the Article Processing Charge subject.
- Copyright: Copyright and licensing information shall be clearly described on the journal’s website, and licensing terms shall be indicated on all published articles, both HTML and PDFs.
The following copyright statement is included at the bottom of the title page of every journal manuscript:
Copyright statement: © The Author(s). (Current year) Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and redistribution in any medium, provided that the original author(s) and source are credited.
The complete copyright statement is published on the Diamond Scientific Publishing Copyright Policy webpage.
- Identification of and dealing with allegations of research misconduct: Publishers and editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In no case shall a journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal – the publisher or editor shall follow COPE’s guidelines (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations.
As part of the submission process, all Diamond Scientific Publishing authors certify that the submitted manuscript is their own original work that has not been previously published in whole or part in an academic journal or other copyrighted material. Authors certify that the submitted manuscript is not currently being reviewed for publication consideration by another journal or other copyrighted material. Author(s) agree to and accept all the terms and conditions published herein including the Publication Policy, the Research Misconduct Policy, and the Submission Guidelines.
All manuscripts received for review are submitted to an online plagiarism detection website to verify authenticity. See the Research Misconduct Policy for details.
- Ownership and management: Information about the ownership and/or management of a journal shall be clearly indicated on the journal’s website. Publishers shall not use organizational names that would mislead potential authors and editors about the nature of the journal’s owner.
Diamond Scientific Publishing is a privately-owned, for-profit publishing corporation incorporated and operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. Diamond Scientific Publishing is not affiliated with any other organization or university.
- Website: A journal’s website, including the text that it contains, shall demonstrate that care has been taken to ensure high ethical and professional standards.
The Diamond Scientific Publishing website is audited on a bi-annual basis, checking for nonfunctioning links, misspelling, grammatical errors and content accuracy. Additionally, Diamond Scientific Publishing authors and readers are encouraged to report any website errors or inaccuracies, which are promptly evaluated and corrected as needed.
- Name of journal: The Journal name shall be unique and not be one that is easily confused with another journal or that might mislead potential authors and readers about the Journal’s origin or association with other journals.
All Diamond Scientific Publishing journal names are checked for originality and uniqueness utilizing Google Scholar and Cabell’s Directory searches prior to initial publication. Diamond Scientific Publishing is not affiliated with any other organization or university. Affiliation indications (e.g., Cambridge journals, Oxford journals, etc.) are not used anywhere in Diamond Scientific Publishing websites or publications.
- Conflicts of interest: A journal shall have clear policies on handling potential conflicts of interest of editors, authors, and reviewers and the policies should be clearly stated.
Diamond Scientific Publishing is committed to high standards of academic publishing principles. Diamond Scientific Publishing requires all editors, authors, reviewers, and staff to disclose any potential conflicts of interest which might affect professional judgment as it relates to the editorial and peer review process of submitted manuscripts. For the purposes of this disclosure statement, a conflict of interest occurs when an editor, author, or reviewer has a beneficial or personal relationship with a third party which could bias or compromise his or her academic or professional objectivity. Editors, reviewers and authors are responsible for disclosing financial and other potential conflicts of interest that could potentially impact the submissions or reviews. Editors and Reviewers must complete the Conflict of Interest disclosure form. Authors must complete the form if they have a potential conflict of interest to disclose. See the Conflict of Interest Policy.
- Access: The way(s) in which the journal and individual articles are available to readers and whether there is associated subscription or pay per view fees shall be stated.
All Diamond Scientific Publishing journals are published online, open access. No subscription or charge is required to read or download Diamond Scientific Publishing published manuscripts. See the Diamond Scientific Publishing Publication Policy webpage.
- Revenue sources: Business models or revenue sources (e.g., author fees, subscriptions, advertising, reprints, institutional support, and organizational support) shall be clearly stated or otherwise evident on the journal’s website.
The following statement is displayed on the Publication Policy webpages:
Diamond Scientific Publishing is a privately-owned, for-profit publishing corporation incorporated and operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. All revenues are generated from author fees. See the Publication Charges webpage for the complete fee structure. Not all institutions recognize publications in for-profit or author-pays journals for tenure and promotion. Please check with your institution prior to submission.
Additionally, all charges are explained on the Publication Charges webpage.
- Advertising: Journals shall state their advertising policy if relevant, including what types of ads will be considered, who makes decisions regarding accepting ads and whether they are linked to content or reader behavior (online only) or are displayed at random.
Advertising is not accepted on the Diamond Scientific Publishing website or in Diamond Scientific Publishing publications.
- Publishing schedule: The periodicity at which a journal publishes shall be clearly indicated.
All manuscripts accepted for publication in a Diamond Scientific Publishing journal are published in the online journal after acceptance and receipt of the publication service charge. See the Publication Policy webpage.
- Archiving: A journal’s plan for electronic backup and preservation of access to the journal content (for example, access to main articles via CLOCKSS or Internet Archive) in the event a journal is no longer published shall be clearly indicated.
Diamond Scientific Publishing maintains all active and retired journals on the https://www.diamondopen.com/journals-list/ website journals page and Internet Archive. Links to all published manuscripts (excluding manuscripts removed from publication for cause) are accessible through the individual journals’ web pages. Retired journals are not removed from web publication.
Also, journals page on Internet Archive is accessible through its icon on each journal webpage.
- Direct marketing: Any direct marketing activities, including solicitation of manuscripts that are conducted on behalf of the journal, shall be appropriate, well targeted, and unobtrusive.
Diamond Scientific Publishing maintains a contact list of academics worldwide. The information contained in this contact list includes the academic’s First Name, Last Name, University, and Email Address. Individuals may add or remove themselves to/from the list using the Diamond Scientific Publishing Contact List form on the contact information webpage https://www.dpublication.com/contact-us/.
Individuals on the list may receive periodic emails announcing upcoming Diamond Scientific Publishing conferences, journal Call for Papers, retractions or corrections, and other notices of significance to Diamond Scientific Publishing stakeholders. At no time will Diamond Scientific Publishing sell, give, or otherwise distribute the information contained in the list to an outside individual or organization. At no time will Diamond Scientific Publishing contact individuals on the list for a third party or with information not specifically related to Diamond Scientific Publishing conferences and journals.
Editors or review-board members may contact a manuscript author with an invitation to submit for review if they identify a manuscript that appears suitable for a particular Diamond Scientific Publishing journal. At no time will the editor or review-board member imply that the paper has been pre-accepted. Editors or review-board members should include the following statement in all invitations to submit:
Diamond Scientific Publishing is a privately-owned, for-profit publishing corporation incorporated and operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. All revenues are generated from author fees. See the Publication Charges webpage for the complete fee structure. Not all institutions recognize publications in for-profit or author-pays journals for tenure and promotion. Please check with your institution prior to submission.