Editorial Policies

EPAP’s publications undergo a rigorous peer review process before the publication decision is made. All books are sent for external peer review to at least two experts selected by EPAP.
EPAP review process is double-blind. Each referee receives an anonymous manuscript for review, and the identity of the referees is not revealed to the author(s). Exceptions may be made by mutual prior agreement.
Experts within the subject area are asked to comment on the strength of the methodology and the analysis of data, whether conclusions are supported by sufficient evidence/data, whether the content is well structured, and if the submission includes up-to-date information on the subject and adequate referencing.
After review feedback is received the publishing manager will collate the feedback and ask the authors (/ book editors) for relevant revisions. If revisions are requested, then these must be completed prior to the book being editorially accepted for publication. If major revisions have been requested then the re-submitted book may be sent out for subsequent rounds of review.

Peer Review Guidelines

The Academic Board will make the final publication decisions based on the peer review reports. The duty of the referee is to provide a statement on the manuscript’s suitability for publication by choosing from the following options:
(1) the manuscript can be published as it is;
(2) the manuscript can be published if certain proposed changes are made;
(3) the referee cannot recommend publication of the manuscript.
EPAP forwards the referee statements to the author(s) of the manuscript. At this point, recommendations for changes to the manuscript are usually made
The purpose of the review is to evaluate the scholarly quality of the manuscript and to help the publisher to decide on the fate of a manuscript that has been offered for publication. The review statement is also intended to help the author(s), and this is why EPAP hopes that it will include concrete suggestions for improvement.
The evaluation should address questions such as these:

• Is the text competent from a scholarly point of view? Does it provide new information or data on the field?
• Does the work follow theories or methods that are relevant to the field?
• Is the text a reasonable and meaningful addition to scholarly discussions and does it consider pertinent matters? Does it bring new perspectives to the debate?
• What is the target audience? Will the manuscript only be understood by researchers who are well versed in the field, or can it also be used by representatives of related fields? Could it be interesting for academics of other disciplines? Is it understandable for students of the discipline?
• Is the author familiar with the essential literature in the field?
• Does the text fulfil the promises made in the introduction? Are clear objectives set for the text and does the author adhere to them?
• Does the author justify claims made in the text? Does the content of the text support the conclusions drawn?
• Is the structure of the manuscript clear and balanced, and is the content presented fluently and intelligibly?
• Does the manuscript form a cohesive and reasoned whole whose parts support each other?
• Do the titles and subtitles correspond to the content?
• Are matters presented in a sensible order and to the extent and level of detail demanded by their importance?
• Are there significant deficiencies in the text, or should certain elements be cut back or condensed? What are the most crucial corrections that must be made to the manuscript?
• If there are illustrations, what is the relationship between text and figures? If there are no illustrations or figures, should they be added for the sake of informativeness? If so, what kind?

If a referee considers the sources of the manuscript or their use to be lacking, he/she should help the author(s) by suggesting essential literature for reference. What fundamental sources of information are missing from the manuscript? Who has said the same thing previously?
If the manuscript repeats prior published materials to a great extent, the publisher must be made aware of this. Any suspicions of plagiarism or deficiencies in attribution of quotations or sources must be brought to the publisher’s attention.
Review statements should be appropriate, encouraging and as thorough as possible. A clear distinction should be made between differences of opinion and scholarly deficiencies: claims made by the manuscript which are well presented and justified but divergent from the referee’s own views are not the same as defects related to poor argumentation, methodology or use of sources. Referees should consider what kind of feedback they themselves would like to receive on their own work.
EPAP agrees a deadline for the peer reviews with the expert referees. Referees must inform EPAP as early as possible of any delays in the schedule. Books under review are confidential, and all related files and printouts must be handled as such. The referees must destroy the related files and printouts after the review process. Referees must make a non-disclosure agreement. Manuscripts may not be discussed with or shown to third parties unless it is absolutely necessary and this is agreed in advance with the publisher. The contents of unpublished manuscripts may not be utilised without permission. No compensation is given for peer review tasks, but they are regarded as an academic merit. The purpose of peer reviewing is to ensure the high academic standard of publications. Reviewing is a highly regarded position of trust that serves the academic community as a whole. Any possible conflicts of interest should be taken into account in the review process. If a consulted expert has a conflict of interest related to the content or author(s) of a book, or is in other ways involved with the matter, EPAP must be informed.

EPAP’s Editorial board is fully briefed on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) best practice guidelines. All of EPAP books adhere to the COPE mandatory code of conduct for best practice and have access to their guidance.

Open Access Books

Authors and contributors can deposit their post-print file in institutional repositories or on a personal website. We define post-print as the version of the work after peer-review, with revisions having been made but before copy-editing and typesetting have taken place. This may be subject to an embargo period of 6 months.

Gold Open Access

EPAP gives authors and contributors the option of publishing their work under the Gold Open Access model. All our usual publishing standards continue to apply, and the monographs are made freely available online, with perpetual access, through a Creative Commons license.

Copyright

EPAP recommends the CC-BY license but is happy to discuss author’s preferences. More information on CC-BY can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Contributors can choose to publish Gold Open Access books under the following Creative Commons licences:

• Creative Commons - Attribution Licence (CC-BY)
  The book can be copied and redistributed in any format, it can also be adapted (built upon, remixed, etc), this can be for any purpose, even commercial. The following restrictions apply:
  Attribution – appropriate credit and any changes must be indicated.


• Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC)
  The book can be copied and redistributed in any format; it can also be adapted (built upon, remixed, etc). The following restrictions apply:
  Attribution – appropriate credit and any changes must be indicated
  Non-Commercial – material cannot be used for commercial purposes


• Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - No Derivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND)
  The book can be copied and redistributed in any format, it can also be adapted (built upon, remixed, etc), the following restrictions apply:
  Attribution – appropriate credit and any changes must be indicated
  Non-Commercial – material cannot be used for commercial purposes.
  No Derivatives - Material that is adapted (built upon, remixed, etc) cannot be distributed.

If you have any queries or wish to publish your accepted book under the Gold Open Access option please contact

Publications Charges

EPAP charges for monographs depend on the length of the manuscript.
For an estimate please contact

Accessibility

• The full text of the book will be available, for free and to all, immediately upon publication.
• The full text is searchable as part of the EPAP website and will also be indexed by traditional search engines.
• Print copies are available on demand through all standard outlets.
• Each book will have its own ISBN and homepage on EPAP website
• Authors may choose CC-BY 4.0, CC-BY-NC 4.0 or CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licences.