SMAR’s General Publication Principles set out the journal’s approach to scholarly publishing, the fundamental principles governing its evaluation and publication processes, the principles of editorial independence, its approach to revenue sources and commercial influences, and the practices applicable to authors who hold a formal role within the journal. These principles aim to ensure that manuscripts are evaluated and published through a transparent, impartial, and accountable editorial process in accordance with scientific and ethical standards.
1. General Publication Principles
SMAR conducts its scholarly publishing activities in accordance with the principles of research integrity, academic independence, transparency, impartiality, and accountability. The principal criteria applied in the evaluation of manuscripts submitted to the journal include scientific quality, originality, methodological adequacy, compliance with research ethics, contribution to the existing literature, and alignment with the journal’s Aim and Scope.
The submission of a manuscript to SMAR, its successful completion of the technical or editorial preliminary evaluation, or its progression to peer review does not imply or guarantee publication. The final publication decision is made on the basis of the journal’s publicly stated editorial procedures and the scientific and ethical evaluations relating to the manuscript.
SMAR’s editorial decisions are made independently of authors’ academic titles, institutional affiliations, nationalities, or personal or academic relationships with the journal. All manuscripts are subject to the same scientific, editorial, and ethical evaluation principles.
SMAR is an open-access journal. Published scholarly content is available online without any subscription or access fee. Detailed information regarding open access, copyright, licensing, and conditions of reuse is provided on the journal’s relevant policy pages.
2. Evaluation and Publication Process
Manuscripts submitted to the journal are initially subject to technical and editorial preliminary evaluation. Manuscripts that meet the technical requirements are assigned to the relevant Area Editor according to their subject matter and methodology. The Area Editor evaluates the manuscript in terms of its alignment with the journal’s Aim and Scope, clarity of the research problem, relationship with the literature, scientific originality, methodological appropriateness, and contribution to the existing body of knowledge.
Manuscripts considered suitable for peer review are evaluated under SMAR’s double-blind peer-review system by at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field and, wherever possible, from different institutions. Where there is a difference between reviewer opinions that may affect the outcome of the evaluation, the editor may reach a decision by taking the existing reviewer reports into consideration or, where deemed necessary, may refer the manuscript to a third reviewer.
Following completion of the peer-review process and any required revisions, the relevant editor makes the final decision by considering the entirety of the scientific and ethical evaluations generated throughout the process.
Manuscripts accepted for publication undergo language, formatting, typesetting, and pre-publication checks. The publication-ready version is provided to the author for final review. Following author approval, the publication preparation process is completed, a DOI is assigned to the article, and the manuscript is published in accordance with the journal’s publication schedule.
The submission, acceptance, and publication dates of each published scholarly article are clearly stated on the first page of the article. The institutional affiliations and ORCID iDs of the authors, together with the contact information of the corresponding author, are also provided on the first page.
SMAR does not guarantee a specific evaluation or publication timeframe. Evaluation and publication times may vary depending on the subject area of the manuscript, reviewer availability, the extent of required revisions, and any scientific or ethical assessments that may be necessary. Current average evaluation and publication times based on actual process data are published on the journal’s Statistics page and are regularly updated.
In the event of an unusual or significant delay in the evaluation process, the author is informed, to the extent possible, of the reason for the delay and the current status of the manuscript. Authors may request the withdrawal of their manuscripts while the evaluation process is ongoing, in accordance with the procedures and conditions publicly stated by the journal.
3. Editorial Independence, Revenue Sources, and Commercial Influences
SMAR’s scientific and editorial decisions are made independently of the financial interests of the journal or publisher, payments made by authors, fee waivers, and the financial or commercial interests of any third party. Editorial decisions concerning a manuscript are made in accordance with scientific and ethical evaluation criteria and the journal’s publicly stated Aim and Scope and editorial policies.
As part of SMAR’s publishing activities, authors are charged an Article Submission Fee in accordance with the journal’s Fee Policy. This fee is collected as part of the journal’s editorial processes. The amount of the fee, the stage at which payment is required, refund conditions, and any applicable fee waivers are clearly stated on the journal’s Fee Policy page.
Payment of the Article Submission Fee, or the granting of a fee waiver where applicable, does not in any way affect the technical or editorial preliminary evaluation of a manuscript, its assignment to an Area Editor, reviewer selection, scientific evaluation, or the final acceptance or rejection decision. Payment of the fee does not guarantee that the manuscript will proceed to peer review or be accepted for publication.
SMAR does not charge authors any publication fee other than the Article Submission Fee. Readers are not charged any subscription or access fee to access published content.
SMAR does not accept advertising and does not publish commercial advertisements on the journal website, within published articles, or in other scholarly content provided by the journal. SMAR does not receive revenue from advertising or sponsorship. Advertising, sponsorship, or other commercial relationships may not play any role in the journal’s editorial evaluation or publication decisions.
SMAR’s editorial decisions are made independently of the journal’s revenue model and of any financial or commercial interest.
4. Authorship by Editors, Editorial Board Members, and Reviewers
Editors, Editorial Board members, and reviewers serving SMAR may submit their scholarly manuscripts to the journal. Their role or relationship with the journal does not provide them with any preferential treatment in the evaluation of submitted manuscripts.
Where an editor or Editorial Board member is an author or co-author of a manuscript, that individual may not participate in any stage of the manuscript’s evaluation or decision-making process and may not obtain privileged access to editorial information concerning the manuscript by virtue of their role. The technical and editorial evaluation, peer-review process, and final decision concerning such a manuscript are handled by an independent editor who has no conflict of interest, in accordance with SMAR’s standard evaluation and peer-review principles.
Manuscripts authored or co-authored by individuals who serve as reviewers for the journal are subject to the same scientific, editorial, and ethical evaluation processes as all other submissions. Serving as a reviewer for the journal does not confer any preferential treatment during the evaluation process.
To safeguard editorial independence, author diversity, and publication integrity, the proportion of research articles in which at least one author is an SMAR editor, Editorial Board member, or reviewer may not exceed 25% of the total number of research articles published in any individual issue.