Information

Open Access mean that readers can access published material for free, without paying a subscription charge. Sciences Force articles are freely available immediately after publication. This means that researchers, students, and interested lay people from anywhere in the world have rapid access to the latest research through Sciences Force journals. All Sciences Force content is distributed under a Creative Commons open access license.

For authors, open access means a potentially wider circle of readers for their research papers, with some research suggesting that open access papers are more highly cited.

More than 13 journal titles are currently published by Sciences Force and available online in open access format at https://sciencesforce.com/. Sciences Force continuously launches new journals in response to academic developments, and to be able to serve additional research communities and their needs.

Sciences Force LLC is headquartered in 393 Piaget Ave PMB 110 Clifton, New Jersey 07011, United States. The in-house staff consists of Managing Editors, Assistant Editors, Production Editors, English Editors, Copyeditors, Data Specialists, Software Engineers and Administrative Specialists. Except for most English Editors, all are employed by Sciences Force and its subsidiaries and work at the Sciences Force offices. Our collaborating editors on our Editorial Boards are typically employed at academic institutions or corporate research facilities located all over the world. The contact with the in-house editorial staff is mainly by e-mail and telephone. The in-house editorial staff normally work for several journals related to their educational background. Assistant Editors process manuscripts through the peer-review and production procedures; Managing Editors have the editorial responsibility for the journals; Production Editors, English Editors, Copyeditors and Data Specialists are responsible for putting accepted content into a publishable format (full-text PDF, XML and HTML versions).

Articles submitted to Sciences Force journals are subject to strict peer-reviewing. In most journals, the process is single blind peer-review (the reviewers know the authors’ identities, but the authors do not know the reviewers’ identities). Some journals operate double blind peer-review (the reviewers do not know the authors’ identities until the paper has been published). The Sciences Force online submission system, incorporates online tools for manuscript submission, peer-reviewing and editorial decision making. Reviewers and external editors do not need to have an account with the Sciences Force submission system in order to finish the tasks assigned to them. Rather, the system will recognize the reviewers and external editors through one-time usable IDs found in the URLs. Editors-in-Chief and Guest Editors can view articles submitted to their journal or Special Issue via Susy at any time.

The Instructions for Authors page on the website of each Sciences Force journal guides authors through preparing and submitting their manuscripts.

Once a manuscript is submitted, the submission is received by the in-house Managing Editor, who will subsequently coordinate the whole editorial process for the manuscript: peerreview, decision making, possible author revisions, manuscript acceptance, copyediting, English editing, proofreading and final publication. An in-house Assistant Editor will be assigned to the submitted article and will send review invitations.

At least two reports per manuscript are collected for each manuscript—three if the first two differ substantially. Reviewers must hold a PhD, cannot have published with the authors in the past three years, and must have recent publications in the field of the submitted manuscript.

The Editor-in-Chief, Guest Editor, or a suitable Editorial Board member can make the final acceptance or rejection decision for a manuscript, usually after the author’s revisions. We typically allow no more than two rounds of major revisions.

After the acceptance of an article for publication, the in-house editorial staff organize the production of the paper, which entails copyediting, English editing and final production in preparation for publication on the journal website. All journals are structured in yearly volumes and either monthly or quarterly issues. Nevertheless, articles are published online immediately after their acceptance and production.

In many Sciences Force journals, Academic Editors who have made the acceptance decision for a manuscript, after full peer-review, have the option to include their name and role as the Academic Editor on the published manuscript. This is at the Academic Editor’s discretion. Guest Editors of Special Issues are required to have their name(s) included on manuscripts they have accepted for publication.

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief is a champion of the journal and their discipline. They supervise journal activities, with the aim to ensure success of the journal within the scientific community. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the scientific quality and development of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief is expected to maintain connection to the Editorial Board and assist the Editorial Office in the management of the journal. The initial term is for 2 years, which entails:

• Acting as ambassador for the journal, Sciences Force and Open Access publishing;
• Scientific decisions about the journal's scope;
• Inviting distinguished scientists to join the Editorial Board;
• Suggesting topics for Special Issues;
• Providing support and guidance to Section Editors-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members and Editorial Staff where required;
• Maintaining oversight of the editorial process for individual manuscripts (mainly by making the final decision regarding whether or not a paper can be published after peer-review and revisions);
• Understanding, leading and upholding Sciences Force’s peer review guidelines and ethics guidelines;
• Chairing the annual Editorial Board Meeting.

Section Editor-in-Chief

The Section Editor-in-Chief is a leader in their particular field, and is responsible for the scientific quality of a particular section of a journal. The Section Editor-in-Chief is expected to oversee the growth and development of the journal Sections and its board members. The initial term is for 2 years, which entails:

• Acting as ambassador for the journal, Sciences Force and Open Access publishing;
• Scientific decisions about the scope of their section;
• Inviting distinguished scientists to join the Editorial Board;
• Suggesting topics for Special Issues;
• Providing support and guidance to Editorial Board Members and Editorial Staff where required;
• Maintaining oversight of the editorial process for individual manuscripts in their section (mainly by making the final decision regarding whether or not a paper can be published after peer-review and revisions);
• Understanding, leading and upholding Sciences Force’s peer review guidelines and ethics guidelines.

Associate Editors

The Associate Editor is expected to maintain regular communication with the Managing Editor and Publishing Manager of the journal, and to other Sciences Force staff as needed, and be responsive when support is requested. The Associate Editor should support Editorin-Chief and Section Editor-in-Chief of the journal to:

• Advise on the strategic development of the journal;
• Advise Editor-in-Chief and Section Editor-in-Chief on the Aims and Scope of the journal or section;
• Provide support and guidance to Editorial Board Members and Editorial Staff when required;
• Maintaining oversight of the editorial process for individual manuscripts in their section (mainly by making the final decision regarding whether or not a paper can be published after peer-review and revisions);
• Suggest themes for Special Issues and assist in inviting/proposing Guest Editors to lead them;
• Invite distinguished scientists to join the Editorial Board;
• Act as ambassador for the journal, Sciences Force and Open Access publishing.

Advisory Board Members

The Advisory Board Members will provide guidance to the Editor-in-Chief regarding journal development strategies and policies. The initial term is for 2 years, which entails:

• Pre-screen and take decisions on new submissions, especially in cases of conflict of interest;
• Suggest topics for Special Issues and launch new Sections for the journal;
• Provide input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Help to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences;
• Attend Board Meetings to suggest journal development strategies;
• Provide assistance in solving appeal cases or ethical disputes.

Editorial Board Members

The Editorial Board Members will be responsible for final decisions on manuscripts in their field of expertise, will edit Special Issues and they may be invited to review manuscripts. The initial term is for 2 years, which entails:

• Pre-screen and take decisions on new submissions related to their research interests;
• Set up at least 1 Special Issue during their term on a topic related to their research interests (or supervising Special Issues related to your research field);
• Help to attract suitable expert authors and invite young scholars to join the topical advisory panel;
• Provide input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Help to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences;
• Attend Board Meetings to suggest journal development strategies;
• Review manuscripts

Section Board Members

The Section Board Members comply with the same terms and conditions as Editorial Board Members. According to their expertise they are assigned to a specific journal section for which they will be mostly committed. The initial term is for 2 years, which entails:

• Pre-screen and take decisions on new submissions related to their journal Section;
• Help to edit a Special Issue on a topic related to their Section (or supervising Special Issues related to your research field);
• Provide input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Help to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences;
• Attend Board Meetings to suggest journal development strategies:
• Review manuscripts.

For society-owned journals, please visit their respective websites as roles and responsibilities may differ.

Guest Editors

The Guest Editors will edit Special Issues and are encouraged to invite colleagues from the same research field to contribute to the Special Issue. Special Issues enable collaboration with scholars all over the world. The main responsibilities of Guest Editors are:

• Preparing the Special Issue title, aim & scope, summary and keywords;
• Providing a list of potential contributors;
• Pre-screen, supervise the whole peer-review process and take decisions on new submissions in their Special Issue;
• Promotion of the Special Issue at conferences, on social media and other relevant platforms.

Subject Editors

Subject Editors are assigned, based on their research expertise, to a specific category. They work alongside the Editorial Boards of all the journals in Sciences Force’s portfolio to develop the category and to promote Topics.

The responsibilities of the Subject Editor include:

• Developing Topics strategy, supplying new ideas for promoting Topics, and collaborating with institutes to set up Topics;
• Inviting other distinguished scientists to join the Subject Editor or to lead Topics as Topic Editors;
• Inviting recognized scholars in the field to contribute relevant submissions;
• Suggesting themes, subjects, and potential journals to set up Topics;
• Promoting Topics at conferences and using related social media channels;
• Joining the Topics Award Committee to evaluate Sciences Force Topics.

Topic Editors

The Topic Editors will edit Topics and are encouraged to invite colleagues from the same research field to contribute to the Topic. Topics offer the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines around the world. The main responsibilities of Topic Editors are:

• Preparing the Topics title, aim & scope, summary and keywords;
• Providing a list of potential contributors;
• Pre-screen, supervise the whole peer-review process and take decisions on new submissions in their Topics;
• Promotion of the Topics at conferences, on social media and other relevant platforms.

Collection Editors

The Collection Editors will edit permanent Topical Collections and are encouraged to invite colleagues from the same research field to contribute to the Topical Collection. The main responsibilities of Collection Editors are:

• Preparing the Topical Collection title, aim & scope, summary and keywords
• Providing a list of potential contributors, a couple of times per year
• Pre-screen, supervise the whole peer-review process and take decisions on new submissions in their Collection
• Promotion of the Collection at conferences, on social media and other relevant platforms.

Topical Advisory Panel

The Topical Advisory Panel is composed of established researchers and early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work. For early career researchers that currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute, we invite them to apply to join the Topical Advisory Panel, where they will provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. Each year the member’s performance is evaluated, and outstanding members will be promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

The main responsibilities include the following:

• Providing regular reviews of manuscripts.
• Setting up at least one Special Issue (SI) within two years of the appointment. Collaborations on SIs with other established researchers are encouraged, and are mandatory for early career researchers. The topic of the proposal should be within the scope of the journal. The scope of the SI should be broad enough to attract a reasonable number of submissions but narrow enough to provide a cohesive collection of articles. The SI should cover a small part of the scope of the journal, but not the whole.
• Providing a detailed strategy plan for the SI, including assisting in preparing the SI’s/Topic’s title, aim and scope, summary, and keywords, in addition to soliciting papers and promoting the SI.
• Providing support for SI/Topics related to your expertise when the Guest Editor(s) is not available. This includes SI promotion via social media and giving advice on some scientific cases.
• Promotion of the journal at conferences (adding one–two slides into your presentation, distributing flyers, recommending the journal to your colleagues, etc.), on social media, and on other relevant platforms.
• Participate in working with Editorial Board Members or the Editorial Office to promote high-quality/featured papers (for example, writing a summary or highlights for an Editor's selected papers).

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel member, applicants must:

1. Have expertise and experience in a field related to the journal;
2. Have at least six–eight published papers in the last 5 years as a first author or corresponding author;
3. Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

For publishing proposals, including the transfer of existing journals, the launch of new titles or the conversion of subscription journals to open access, please contact the New Journal Committee.