Publication ethics

Our commitment

Franz Steiner Verlag is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical publishing. All parties involved in publication – authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher – must adhere to clear principles of honesty, fairness, and responsibility. These guidelines set out expectations for behaviour and procedures to ensure that the scholarly record is trustworthy and transparent.

Principles guiding our work

Our publishing activity is shaped by a small set of fundamental principles that guide all decisions and interactions within the editorial and publishing process:

Integrity: honesty and accuracy in research and writing.
Originality: submission of only original work, free from plagiarism or manipulation.
Transparency: full disclosure of methods, data, and potential conflicts of interest.
Fairness: respect for diversity of authors, ideas, and approaches.
Accountability: shared responsibility for maintaining trust in the scholarly record.

These principles are not intended as legal obligations but as expressions of a shared academic ethos.

Responsibilities in the publication process

Authors

The authors should ensure that submitted work is original and has not been published elsewhere in any language. An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Copying from published or unpublished works without acknowledging the source is considered plagiarism and constitutes unethical and unacceptable behaviour.
Authorship is limited to persons who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the submitted work. The corresponding author assures that all appropriate co-authors and no inaccurate co-authors have been credited in the work and that all co-authors are aware of the final version of the work, have approved it, and agree to its submission for publication.
The use of AI-generated content is permitted exclusively for the creation of drafts and the phrasing of texts, provided that no confidential or copyright-protected content is used in AI applications; this includes, in particular, the manuscript (including drafts and final versions). The author is personally responsible for the content of the final text as well as its accuracy and quality.

Editors and reviewers

The editor or the editorial board of a journal or book series is responsible for deciding on the admission and publication of submitted contributions.
Their decision is based on the recommendation of the reviewers. Any selected reviewer who does not consider themself qualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, or knows that an immediate review will be impossible, should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.
The guidelines of the journal or book series serve as reference. The editor or the editorial board must comply with the legal provisions regarding defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism in their respective jurisdiction at the time of submission.
The editor agrees to provide timely reviews to the authors. The editor may also assist the author in improving the quality of the work through editorial communication with them.
Reviews are to be conducted objectively and neutrally. Personal criticism of the contributor is inappropriate. The reviewers should formulate their assessments clearly and based on arguments.
Under all circumstances, the editor or the editorial board will ensure that manuscripts are reviewed on the grounds of their intellectual value, notwithstanding the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political views of the author.
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the author.
A reviewer should inform the editor or the editorial board if there is a considerable similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and another published work known to them.
Submitted manuscripts are to be treated as confidential documents.
The editor, reviewers and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Information or ideas to be obtained exclusively through peer review must be handled confidentially and must not be used for personal profit. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
Reviewers shall not evaluate manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, be it a competitive, collaborative or any other type of relationship or connection with the contributor of the respective work and/or companies or institutions associated with it.

Publisher

The publisher ensures that ethical and professional standards are applied throughout the publication process. This includes: Providing editors and reviewers with clear ethical policies and procedures, investigating claims of research or publication misconduct, publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies when necessary and ensuring the availability and integrity of the published record.

Handling of suspected misconduct

Scientific misconduct includes all actions that violate the principles of good scientific practice. Possible types of scientific misconduct include plagiarism, manipulation of citations, false information on authorship, peer review manipulation, falsification or fabrication of data.
If scientific misconduct is suspected, the editors of the affected journal or the publisher should be contacted immediately.
In cases of suspected or confirmed scientific misconduct, the publisher, in close cooperation with the editors, will take all necessary steps to investigate the matter and address the article in question. Possible actions may be the issuing of an erratum or the full retraction of the affected publication.

Transparency and ongoing dialogue

These guidelines are publicly available on the publisher’s website and reviewed regularly to ensure alignment with international standards and best practices.
Questions, concerns, or reports of potential ethical violations can be directed to:
jklemm@steiner-verlag.de