Appeals & Complaints

Politics & Security is committed to fair, transparent, and accountable editorial decision-making. This policy sets out the procedures for authors and other parties who wish to appeal an editorial decision or submit a complaint regarding the conduct of the journal.

1. Appeals Against Editorial Decisions

Authors who believe that a rejection decision was based on a misunderstanding of their work, a factual error in the review, or a failure to follow the journal's stated peer review procedures may submit a formal appeal.

Appeals based solely on disagreement with the reviewers' academic judgement will not be considered. An appeal must present specific, substantiated grounds.

How to submit an appeal: Appeals must be submitted in writing to editor@politics-security.net within 30 days of the editorial decision. The subject line should read: "Appeal — [manuscript title]". The appeal must include the manuscript ID, the specific grounds for the appeal with reference to the relevant section of the review or editorial letter, and any supporting evidence or clarification the author wishes to provide.

Appeal process: The Editor-in-Chief will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days. The appeal will be reviewed by a member of the Editorial Board who was not involved in the original decision. A decision on the appeal will be communicated within 30 working days. The appeal decision is final.

2. Complaints About Editorial Conduct or Journal Processes

Any author, reviewer, reader, or third party may submit a complaint regarding the editorial conduct of Politics & Security, including concerns about: bias or lack of impartiality in the review process; breach of confidentiality; failure to follow stated policies; inappropriate handling of a conflict of interest; unprofessional conduct by an editor or reviewer.

How to submit a complaint: Complaints should be submitted in writing to editor@politics-security.net with the subject line: "Complaint — [brief description]". The complaint should describe the concern clearly, identify the relevant article or process where applicable, and include any supporting documentation.

Complaint process: The Editor-in-Chief will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days and will conduct an initial assessment within 15 working days. If the complaint concerns the conduct of the Editor-in-Chief, it should be directed to the journal owner at the Higher School of Security and Economics, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (contact via the institution's official website). The outcome of the complaint process will be communicated to the complainant in writing. Where a complaint is upheld, the journal will take appropriate corrective action, which may include issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction in accordance with the journal's Corrections & Retractions Policy.

3. Escalation

If a complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of the journal's internal process, they may escalate the matter to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) if the journal's handling of the case is believed to have been inconsistent with COPE guidelines. Information on raising a concern with COPE is available at publicationethics.org.

4. Confidentiality

All appeals and complaints are handled confidentially. The identity of the complainant will not be disclosed to third parties without explicit consent, except where required by law or where disclosure is necessary to resolve the matter.