Editorial Policy

Science Proceedings (Sci Proc) is a peer-reviewed, open-access multidisciplinary journal. Editorial decisions are based on academic contribution, scientific validity, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, clarity, reproducibility where applicable, and whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence. The journal applies the same editorial and peer-review standards to every submission regardless of author identity, affiliation, geography, or career stage.

Article Types

Research Articles - original studies presenting new data, analyses, models, methods, or validated findings.
Reviews and Systematic Reviews - critical syntheses of established or emerging areas.
Short Communications - concise but scientifically complete reports.
Methods and Technical Reports - validated methods, tools, software, protocols, instrumentation, or technical advances.
Research Highlights - concise scholarly summaries of important scientific developments.
Perspectives and Commentaries - evidence-based scholarly viewpoints on scientific questions, research practice, policy, or emerging directions.

Peer Review Process

All submissions are screened by the editorial office for scope, completeness, research integrity, ethical compliance, and basic methodological quality. Manuscripts that pass initial screening are assigned to an appropriate handling editor and are normally evaluated by at least two independent expert reviewers. Science Proceedings uses single-blind peer review: reviewer identities are kept confidential, while author identities are known to reviewers. Additional statistical, methodological, or subject-specific review may be obtained when needed. The handling editor considers the manuscript, reviewer reports, author responses, and journal policies and makes the editorial recommendation; the final publication decision rests with the responsible editor.

Reviewers are selected on the basis of relevant expertise and independence. Reviewers must disclose conflicts of interest, keep manuscripts confidential, and provide objective and constructive assessments. Authors may appeal an editorial decision through the procedure described below.

Editorial Independence, Fairness, and Conflicts

Editorial decisions are made on scholarly grounds and are independent of commercial considerations. Editors must not discriminate on the basis of nationality, institutional affiliation, geographic location, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, disability, political beliefs, or career stage. Editors must recuse themselves when a personal, professional, or financial relationship could reasonably affect impartiality. Manuscripts submitted by editors or editorial-board members are handled by an independent editor without involvement of the submitting editor in peer review or decision-making.

Publication Frequency and Publication Record

Science Proceedings uses one volume per calendar year and continuous publication within each active annual volume. Articles are published online after acceptance, production, metadata verification, and author proof approval. The online article record and final PDF display the actual publication date. The journal does not backdate newly published content or create retrospective issues to conceal interruptions in publication.

Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing

This is an open access journal, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

All research content is freely available online. Unless otherwise stated for a specific item, articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright and grant Science Proceedings the right of first publication. CC BY 4.0 permits sharing and adaptation, including commercial reuse, provided appropriate credit is given, a link to the license is provided, and changes are indicated.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Article Processing Charges and Advertising

Science Proceedings currently charges no article processing charge (APC) for standard publication. Any future fee or optional service charge will be disclosed clearly before submission and will not influence editorial decisions. The journal does not accept advertising that could influence editorial content, peer review, or publication decisions.

Archiving and Preservation

Science Proceedings is hosted on OJS/PKP infrastructure and is committed to long-term preservation of the scholarly record. The website should list only preservation services that are currently active and verified for the journal. Participation in PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, or other preservation services should be stated only after current enrollment or eligibility has been confirmed.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Science Proceedings is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and follows recognized principles of responsible research and scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The policies below apply to authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who made substantial scholarly contributions to the work, approved the submitted version, and agree to be accountable for their contributions. Guest, gift, and ghost authorship are not permitted. The journal encourages use of the CRediT taxonomy to describe individual contributions. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission. Requests to change authorship after submission must be explained and agreed to by all affected authors; the journal may request institutional confirmation when a dispute cannot be resolved.

Originality, Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Text Recycling

Submissions must be original and must not be simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. Relevant preprints, conference versions, closely related manuscripts, datasets, and prior publications must be disclosed and cited. Submissions may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Suspected plagiarism, redundant publication, inappropriate text recycling, or undisclosed overlap will be investigated before an editorial decision is made.

Research Misconduct, Data Falsification, and Image Integrity

Fabrication, falsification, selective alteration, and misleading manipulation of data or images are prohibited. Editors may request original data, uncropped images, laboratory records, code, or analysis files when concerns arise. Credible allegations are assessed confidentially and, where appropriate, the journal may contact authors, institutions, funders, or other responsible bodies and may publish a correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction.

Citation Integrity and Citation Manipulation

References must be relevant to the work and selected for scholarly reasons. Authors, reviewers, and editors must not request or add citations for the primary purpose of inflating citation counts for particular authors, journals, institutions, or other entities. Suspected coercive citation or citation manipulation will be investigated.

Competing Interests and Funding

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work or its evaluation. All funding sources and relevant sponsor roles must be disclosed. If no competing interests exist, authors should state this explicitly.

Data Sharing, Materials, Software, and Reproducibility

Research Articles must include a Data Availability Statement. Authors are expected to make the data, code, protocols, and materials needed to support the reported findings available whenever legally, ethically, and practically possible. Restrictions involving privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, licensed third-party data, national security, or other legitimate limitations must be explained.

Ethical Oversight: Human Participants and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants or identifiable human data must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements. The manuscript must identify the approving ethics committee or institutional review board when approval is required and describe informed-consent procedures. Identifying information should not be published unless scientifically necessary and appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.

Ethical Oversight: Animal Research

Animal research must comply with applicable institutional and national standards. The manuscript must identify the relevant approval body and approval or protocol number when available and should describe measures taken to minimize pain, distress, and unnecessary animal use.

Intellectual Property and Permissions

Authors retain copyright under the journal license policy but must respect third-party intellectual-property rights. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission when copyrighted material is reproduced outside the scope of an applicable license or legal exception. Copyright, license, and permission information must be stated accurately.

Confidentiality

Editors and reviewers must treat submitted manuscripts and associated files as confidential. Unpublished information may not be used for personal advantage or disclosed except as necessary for legitimate editorial handling. Authors should not upload confidential or personally identifiable information that is unnecessary for editorial evaluation.

Post-Publication Discussion

Science Proceedings welcomes evidence-based post-publication comments, corrections, and concerns submitted to the editorial office. Substantive concerns are assessed by the editor and, where appropriate, by independent experts or relevant institutions. The journal may link corrections, Expressions of Concern, retractions, or other notices to the affected article so that readers can follow the history of the scholarly record.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

A correction may be published when an error affects the record but does not invalidate the main conclusions. Retraction may be considered when findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, when substantial plagiarism or redundant publication is confirmed, when unethical research is documented, or when the published record is otherwise seriously misleading. An Expression of Concern may be issued while a potentially serious matter is under investigation. Notices remain linked to the original article and explain the reason for the action.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal a decision when they believe a material factual error, misunderstanding, conflict of interest, or procedural problem affected the outcome. Appeals must identify the specific issue and provide supporting evidence. Complaints about editorial conduct, peer review, conflicts of interest, or publication ethics are reviewed by an editor or publisher representative not directly involved in the matter whenever practicable. Decisions on appeals and complaints are documented and communicated to the complainant.

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Generative AI and AI-assisted tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, citations, confidentiality, and integrity of submitted content. Material use of generative AI in manuscript preparation, coding, analysis, image generation, or other research-related tasks must be disclosed when it could affect interpretation, provenance, or reproducibility. AI-generated or AI-altered research images or data must not be presented as genuine experimental observations. Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts to external AI systems in ways that compromise confidentiality or intellectual property.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Accept assignments only when appropriate expertise and sufficient time are available.
Disclose conflicts of interest and decline the review when impartiality could reasonably be questioned.
Treat manuscripts and review materials as confidential.
Provide objective, evidence-based, professional, and constructive comments.
Alert the editor to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, image manipulation, data concerns, or other integrity issues.

Editor Responsibilities

Protect the confidentiality and integrity of peer review.
Select qualified and independent reviewers.
Base decisions on scientific and editorial criteria rather than personal or commercial considerations.
Maintain editorial independence and manage conflicts of interest.
Respond to credible concerns and maintain the scholarly record through appropriate notices when needed.

Publisher Responsibilities

Smart Science & Technology LLC provides the journal platform, publication infrastructure, metadata support, preservation workflows, and administrative support. The publisher respects editorial independence and supports appropriate investigation and correction of publication-ethics concerns. Publisher and journal information on the website must be accurate, current, and clearly distinguished from promotional material.