Publishing Code of Ethics

At Rivyr Open Access (RIVYR OA), editors play a vital role in maintaining the academic integrity, quality, and credibility of the journals we host. These general guidelines are designed to support editors in managing fair, ethical, and efficient editorial workflows across all subject areas. Journals hosted on Rivyr OA may supplement these with their own subject-specific editorial policies.

1. Editorial Independence

Editors have full authority over the editorial content of their journal, including decisions on article acceptance or rejection. All decisions should be made without influence from external parties, including publishers or sponsors.

2. Peer Review Management

Editors are responsible for implementing and overseeing a transparent and rigorous peer review process.

Key expectations include:

Ensuring timely and constructive reviews.

Avoiding conflicts of interest by selecting impartial reviewers.

Maintaining double-blind or single-blind review procedures based on the journal’s policy.

3. Ethical Oversight

Editors must uphold the highest ethical standards in publishing. This includes:

Identifying and addressing issues of plagiarism, data fabrication, or image manipulation.

Cooperating with investigations into research or publication misconduct.

Retractions or corrections when necessary, in line with COPE guidelines.

4. Conflicts of Interest

Editors should disclose any conflicts of interest that might affect editorial decisions and must avoid handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

5. Author and Reviewer Communication

Editors must ensure:

Clear communication with authors throughout the editorial process.

Confidential handling of submitted manuscripts and reviewer identities.

Respectful and professional feedback at all times.

6. Journal-Specific Policies

While these guidelines apply across Rivyr OA, each journal may have its own:

Aims and scope

Peer review model

Submission and formatting requirements

Open access and licensing terms

Editors are expected to enforce and align with their journal’s specific editorial policies, which are accessible on each journal’s individual webpage.

7. Use of Rivyr Tools

Editors are encouraged to utilize tools available within the Rivyr Publishing Suite, including:

Submission tracking

Reviewer assignments

Research integrity checks (e.g., plagiarism detection, retraction alerts)

Analytics and performance dashboards

Training and technical support are available through MindCrafted Analytics as part of your onboarding.