Editors and Guest Editors Guide

Scientific Innovation Research Group (SIRG)

The Scientific Innovation Research Group (SIRG) is committed to maintaining high standards of editorial quality, academic integrity, transparency, fairness, and responsible scholarly publishing across all journals published by SIRG.

This guide outlines the principal responsibilities of Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors, and the SIRG Publisher.

All editors are expected to act professionally, independently, objectively, and in accordance with the journal's policies and applicable principles of publication ethics.

1. General Principles of Editorial Responsibility

Editors are entrusted with responsibility for maintaining the academic quality and integrity of the journal.

Editorial decisions must be based primarily on the scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, relevance, clarity, and contribution of the manuscript, together with the journal's aims and scope.

Editors must:

  • Act objectively, fairly, and professionally.

  • Maintain editorial independence.

  • Treat authors and reviewers with respect.

  • Protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

  • Avoid discrimination or bias.

  • Manage conflicts of interest appropriately.

  • Ensure that peer review is conducted fairly and responsibly.

  • Take appropriate action when ethical or research-integrity concerns arise.

  • Maintain accurate and transparent editorial records.

  • Support continuous improvement of the journal's academic quality.

Editors must not allow personal, institutional, commercial, political, or other non-scholarly considerations to influence editorial decisions.

2. Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) has overall academic and editorial responsibility for the journal.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for:

2.1 Editorial Decision-Making

The Editor-in-Chief:

  • Oversees the editorial evaluation of submitted manuscripts.

  • Makes final editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's policies.

  • May consult Associate Editors, Editorial Board Members, and peer reviewers when appropriate.

  • Ensures that editorial decisions are based on scholarly considerations.

  • Ensures that decisions are consistent with the journal's aims and scope.

The Editor-in-Chief must maintain independence from commercial or other external pressures.

2.2 Journal Scope and Quality

The Editor-in-Chief should:

  • Ensure that published content is consistent with the journal's aims and scope.

  • Promote high-quality and original research.

  • Monitor the overall academic direction of the journal.

  • Encourage appropriate submissions from the international research community.

  • Support continuous improvement of editorial and peer-review standards.

2.3 Editorial Integrity

The Editor-in-Chief must take appropriate action when concerns arise regarding:

  • Plagiarism;

  • Duplicate or redundant publication;

  • Fabrication or falsification of data;

  • Image manipulation;

  • Authorship disputes;

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;

  • Unethical research practices;

  • Peer-review manipulation; or

  • Other forms of publication misconduct.

Where necessary, the Editor-in-Chief should follow the journal's applicable publication-ethics procedures and consult the publisher.

3. Responsibilities of Associate Editors

Associate Editors support the Editor-in-Chief in managing the editorial and peer-review process.

Their responsibilities may include:

  • Conducting preliminary editorial assessment of manuscripts.

  • Assessing manuscript suitability for the journal.

  • Selecting appropriate reviewers.

  • Monitoring the peer-review process.

  • Evaluating reviewer reports.

  • Providing editorial recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief.

  • Communicating with authors and reviewers when required.

  • Identifying potential ethical or integrity concerns.

  • Ensuring that peer review is conducted fairly and within a reasonable timeframe.

Associate Editors must maintain confidentiality and disclose any conflicts of interest.

4. Responsibilities of Editorial Board Members

Editorial Board Members contribute to the academic development and quality of the journal.

Their responsibilities may include:

  • Advising the Editor-in-Chief on the academic direction of the journal.

  • Reviewing manuscripts when appropriately invited.

  • Recommending qualified reviewers.

  • Promoting high-quality scholarly contributions.

  • Supporting the journal's academic visibility and international reach.

  • Identifying emerging research areas relevant to the journal.

  • Supporting appropriate special issues and thematic initiatives.

  • Providing constructive recommendations for improving the journal.

Editorial Board membership does not provide authority to guarantee manuscript acceptance or publication.

Editorial Board Members must not interfere with the independent editorial decisions of the Editor-in-Chief or handling editors.

5. Responsibilities of Guest Editors

Guest Editors may be appointed to manage Special Issues, Thematic Issues, or other editorial initiatives approved by the journal.

Guest Editors are expected to:

  • Define and communicate the scientific theme of the Special Issue.

  • Encourage appropriate and high-quality submissions.

  • Ensure that submitted manuscripts are relevant to the approved theme.

  • Recommend qualified and independent reviewers.

  • Monitor the peer-review process.

  • Maintain confidentiality throughout the editorial process.

  • Identify and disclose conflicts of interest.

  • Ensure that manuscripts receive appropriate and independent peer review.

  • Make recommendations based on scholarly quality and relevance.

  • Work closely with the Editor-in-Chief and editorial office.

The Editor-in-Chief retains overall editorial responsibility and final authority for manuscripts published in the journal, including manuscripts handled by Guest Editors.

Guest Editors must not guarantee acceptance or publication to prospective authors.

6. Independence of Guest Editors

Guest Editors must maintain editorial independence and impartiality.

Guest Editors must not:

  • Guarantee acceptance of a manuscript.

  • Promise publication within a specific timeframe.

  • Favor manuscripts submitted by colleagues, collaborators, students, or affiliated researchers.

  • Influence reviewers to provide favorable recommendations.

  • Manipulate reviewer selection.

  • Require authors to cite unnecessary or irrelevant publications.

  • Use the Special Issue to promote personal, institutional, or commercial interests.

  • Override the journal's publication ethics or peer-review requirements.

All manuscripts must be evaluated according to the same fundamental editorial and ethical standards applied by the journal.

7. Peer-Review Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for ensuring that the peer-review process is:

  • Fair;

  • Appropriate;

  • Confidential;

  • Constructive;

  • Timely; and

  • Consistent with the journal's peer-review policy.

Editors should select reviewers who have appropriate subject expertise and are sufficiently independent of the authors.

Editors should avoid selecting reviewers with clear conflicts of interest.

Where appropriate, editors may invite additional reviewers when reviewer reports are inconsistent, insufficient, or inconclusive.

Reviewers' recommendations should inform editorial decisions but do not replace the editor's independent judgment.

8. Confidentiality

Editors, Guest Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

Information concerning a manuscript must not be disclosed to individuals who are not appropriately involved in the editorial process.

Confidential information includes, but is not limited to:

  • Manuscript content;

  • Author information;

  • Reviewer identities;

  • Reviewer reports;

  • Editorial correspondence;

  • Editorial decisions; and

  • Unpublished research findings.

Editors must not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal research, commercial purposes, or other unauthorized purposes.

9. Conflicts of Interest

Editors and Guest Editors must identify and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

A conflict may arise from:

  • Personal relationships;

  • Professional relationships;

  • Institutional affiliation;

  • Previous collaboration;

  • Financial interests;

  • Competitive relationships;

  • Supervisory relationships; or

  • Other circumstances that could reasonably affect editorial impartiality.

An editor should recuse themselves from handling a manuscript where a significant conflict of interest exists.

When appropriate, the manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor.

10. Editorial Decisions

Editorial decisions may include:

  • Reject without peer review;

  • Send for peer review;

  • Major revision;

  • Minor revision;

  • Accept; or

  • Other decisions permitted by the journal's editorial procedures.

Editors should communicate decisions clearly and professionally.

Where appropriate, editorial decisions should be supported by relevant reviewer comments or editorial reasoning.

Editors should not make decisions based solely on:

  • Author nationality;

  • Gender;

  • Ethnicity;

  • Religion;

  • Institutional affiliation;

  • Academic status;

  • Personal beliefs;

  • Political views; or

  • Other irrelevant personal characteristics.

11. Appeals and Complaints

Authors have the right to raise legitimate concerns regarding editorial procedures and decisions through the journal's applicable Appeals and Complaints Policy.

Editors should consider appeals objectively and without retaliation.

An appeal does not automatically result in reversal of an editorial decision.

Where appropriate, an appeal may be reviewed by another qualified editor or handled according to the journal's established appeals procedure.

Complaints involving publication ethics or research integrity should be handled according to the relevant SIRG policies.

12. Research Integrity and Publication Ethics

Editors have an important role in protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

When credible concerns are identified, editors should take appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

Possible actions may include:

  • Requesting clarification from authors;

  • Requesting supporting documentation;

  • Consulting reviewers or editorial advisers;

  • Initiating an appropriate investigation;

  • Issuing a correction;

  • Issuing an expression of concern; or

  • Retracting an article when justified.

Editorial action should be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the concern.

13. Citation Ethics

Editors must not manipulate citations.

Editors and Guest Editors must not require authors to cite:

  • The editor's own publications;

  • Publications from the journal;

  • Publications from particular researchers; or

  • Other sources

unless such citations are genuinely relevant and scientifically justified.

Citation recommendations must never be used to artificially increase citation counts, journal metrics, author metrics, or perceived journal impact.

14. Special Issues

Special Issues must comply with the same fundamental editorial and ethical standards as regular journal submissions.

Guest Editors may assist with:

  • Topic development;

  • Call for Papers;

  • Author outreach;

  • Reviewer recommendations;

  • Manuscript assessment; and

  • Coordination of the Special Issue.

However, Special Issue manuscripts remain subject to the journal's standard editorial and peer-review requirements.

The existence of a Special Issue does not lower the journal's standards for acceptance.

15. Editorial Independence and SIRG Membership

Membership in SIRG, institutional affiliation, participation in SIRG activities, or previous publication in an SIRG journal must not influence editorial decisions.

In particular:

Membership does not guarantee manuscript acceptance, publication, favorable peer review, expedited editorial processing, or preferential treatment.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of membership and other non-scholarly considerations.

16. No-APC Publishing Model

SIRG journals operate under a No Article Processing Charge (No APC) publishing model.

Authors are not required to pay APCs for:

  • Manuscript submission;

  • Peer review;

  • Acceptance; or

  • Publication.

Editorial decisions must remain completely independent of financial considerations.

Editors, Guest Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not request or imply that payment is required for acceptance or publication.

The absence of APCs does not reduce or alter the journal's standards for editorial evaluation, peer review, research integrity, or publication quality.

17. Relationship Between Editors and the SIRG Publisher

SIRG provides the publishing infrastructure, administrative support, technical services, and overall publishing framework for its journals.

The publisher may support journals through:

  • Editorial management systems;

  • Website and platform administration;

  • DOI and metadata management;

  • Digital preservation and archiving;

  • Technical support;

  • Production and publication support;

  • Communication and dissemination;

  • Indexing and metadata support;

  • Social media and promotional activities; and

  • General publishing administration.

However, SIRG does not make individual scholarly editorial decisions on behalf of the Editor-in-Chief or handling editors.

Editorial decisions concerning the scientific evaluation, peer review, acceptance, rejection, or revision of manuscripts remain the responsibility of the appropriate journal editorial team.

The publisher must not interfere with legitimate editorial decisions.

18. Communication with the Publisher

Editors should communicate with the SIRG Publisher regarding matters such as:

  • Technical issues;

  • Editorial platform support;

  • Production and publication processes;

  • Metadata;

  • DOI registration;

  • Archiving;

  • Website administration;

  • Indexing-related technical matters;

  • Journal development; and

  • Administrative or operational matters.

Matters concerning the scientific assessment and editorial decision-making of individual manuscripts should remain within the appropriate editorial structure of the journal.

19. Editorial Performance and Timeliness

Editors should make reasonable efforts to ensure that manuscripts are processed within an appropriate timeframe.

Editors should:

  • Monitor overdue reviews;

  • Follow up with reviewers when necessary;

  • Avoid unnecessary delays;

  • Communicate appropriately with authors;

  • Ensure that editorial decisions are made after sufficient evaluation; and

  • Maintain a balance between timely processing and rigorous peer review.

Speed must not be prioritized at the expense of editorial quality or research integrity.

20. Responsibilities Toward Authors

Editors should ensure that authors:

  • Receive clear editorial communication;

  • Are treated fairly and professionally;

  • Receive decisions based on established editorial criteria;

  • Are informed of relevant revisions required for publication;

  • Have access to applicable journal policies; and

  • Are able to raise legitimate concerns through established procedures.

Editors should avoid unnecessary requests that do not contribute meaningfully to the scientific quality of the manuscript.

21. Responsibilities Toward Reviewers

Editors should:

  • Select reviewers with appropriate expertise;

  • Avoid conflicts of interest;

  • Provide reviewers with sufficient information and guidance;

  • Protect reviewer confidentiality where applicable;

  • Monitor reviewer performance;

  • Avoid excessive reviewer workloads where possible; and

  • Provide professional and respectful communication.

Editors should not pressure reviewers to reach a predetermined recommendation.

22. Editorial Board Development

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board should periodically evaluate the composition and effectiveness of the editorial team.

Considerations may include:

  • Subject expertise;

  • Geographic diversity;

  • Institutional diversity;

  • Academic contribution;

  • Editorial engagement;

  • Responsiveness;

  • Research activity; and

  • Alignment with the journal's scope.

Editorial appointments should be based on appropriate academic and professional qualifications.

23. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Editors and Guest Editors must use artificial intelligence tools responsibly.

AI tools must not replace the editor's professional responsibility for editorial decisions.

Editors must:

  • Protect confidential manuscript information;

  • Avoid entering confidential or unpublished manuscript content into unauthorized AI systems;

  • Verify information generated by AI tools;

  • Maintain human oversight of editorial decisions; and

  • Follow the journal's applicable Generative AI Policy.

AI-generated recommendations must not be treated as a substitute for independent editorial judgment.

24. Removal or Resignation of Editors

An Editor, Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member, or Guest Editor may resign from their position by notifying the appropriate journal authority.

An editorial appointment may also be reviewed or terminated when there is evidence of:

  • Serious misconduct;

  • Repeated conflicts of interest;

  • Breach of confidentiality;

  • Peer-review manipulation;

  • Abuse of editorial authority;

  • Persistent failure to perform assigned responsibilities; or

  • Other conduct inconsistent with the journal's editorial and ethical standards.

Any such action should be handled fairly and, where appropriate, documented.

25. Continuous Improvement

Editors are encouraged to contribute to the continuous improvement of the journal by:

  • Monitoring developments in scholarly publishing;

  • Reviewing editorial workflows;

  • Improving reviewer engagement;

  • Encouraging high-quality submissions;

  • Strengthening research integrity practices;

  • Improving transparency;

  • Supporting appropriate indexing and discoverability; and

  • Engaging with the international scholarly community.

SIRG supports editors in improving the efficiency, quality, and visibility of its journals while preserving editorial independence.

26. Final Principle

All editors, Guest Editors, Editorial Board Members, reviewers, and SIRG publishing staff share responsibility for maintaining the integrity and credibility of the scholarly record.

The fundamental principle governing editorial work at SIRG is:

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, ethical standards, and the journal's aims and scope—not on financial, personal, institutional, or commercial considerations.

SIRG is committed to maintaining a publishing environment that is:

Fair • Independent • Transparent • Ethical • Rigorous • Inclusive

Publisher: Scientific Innovation Research Group (SIRG)
Policy: Editors and Guest Editors Guide
Publishing Model: Open Access — No APC
Effective Date: September 2026
Last Updated: September 2026