Research Integrity

Ethos of Aberdeen University Press

We are an open access University press. That research should be open to all is central to our mission. We ensure the integrity of our publications via the procedures outlined below.

COPE

Submissions to the journal will undergo a thorough double-blind peer review process. This will normally involve review feedback being provided by at least two independent experts in the subject area.

Anti-Plagiarism

Papers will be checked with antiplagiarism software.

Corrections and Retractions

Aberdeen University Press recognises that on rare occasions corrections will be required to published text (eg: minor errors and typos that alter the meaning of the content), and this is normally done through publishing Corrigendum associated with the original publication. Aberdeen University Press works within the guidelines offered by our partner, Ubiquity Press. For further information see the Corrections and Retractions Policy. Other concerns regarding the research process or academic misconduct may require retractions or withdrawal. Any such concerns should be raised with the relevant journal editor or the administrator of Aberdeen University Press in the first instance, who will take the appropriate action in accordance with our policy on academic misconduct.

Appeals, Complaints and Misconduct

Appeals, complaints, or allegations of misconduct will be taken with utmost seriousness. If an allegation is made to a journal, it must also be passed on to the publisher, who will follow guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on how to address the nature of the problem. If the allegation concerns the publication of a book, it must be passed to the administrator of Aberdeen University Press. It will be considered by the Academic Advisory Board who will follow the COPE guidelines in making their decision.

Appeals to editorial decisions will be handled by the editor in chief if it concerns a journal, or by the Chair of the Academic Advisory Board in the case of books. They will audit the decision-making process to assess whether there are grounds for an appeal. Should the appeal be deemed valid, an additional review will be requested from an external peer reviewer enabling a new editorial decision to be made, based on the feedback received. Should an individual lodge a complaint against an editorial decision, the editorial process, or other actions by journal or board members, they should first approach the editor-in-chief of the journal or the administrator of Aberdeen University Press, explaining their complaint, and ask for a reasoned response. If this response is unsatisfactory the issue can be brought to the Academic Advisory Board of Aberdeen University Press for consideration.

Where misconduct is reported, Aberdeen University Press has an obligation to report the issue to the relevant individual’s institution, which may conduct its own investigation. Should the publication record need to be corrected, Aberdeen University Press’s correction policy will be followed. If the author is not affiliated to an institution the accusation should be brought to the Academic Advisory Board of Aberdeen University Press for consideration.

Open Licenses and Research Data

Aberdeen University Press journals content is released under a Creative Commons licence with preference given to the CC BY licence, the most liberal of the Creative Commons licences, unless otherwise agreed. Monographs and edited collections will be published under the CC BY-NC licence unless otherwise agreed.

Aberdeen University Press authors are encouraged to make the research data underpinning their research openly available. Open data enables reviewers and researchers to assess and evaluate research, and where required to test or replicate findings. Research data should be made available under an open licence. CC0 is recommended but will be agreed with the author.

Indexing and Archiving

Aberdeen University Press content is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a permanent point of access allowing citations to be tracked and measured. We will work with authors to identify other indexing services as appropriate to the publication.