Editorial Independence, Ownership & Publishing Services Policy

1. Purpose of this Policy

This policy clarifies the relationship between the Politics & Security  journal, its Owner, its Editorial Board, and ESS-Press as the journal’s publishing service provider.

 

2. Ownership of the Journal

The Politics & Security is fully owned by the  Higher School of Security and Economics, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The Journal Owner retains full and exclusive rights to:

·         the journal title, branding, and strategic direction;

·         editorial aims, scope, and thematic priorities;

·         appointment and removal of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board members;

·         all editorial and ethical policies;

·         decisions on copyright and licensing;

·         financial policies.

ESS-Press does not own the journal and does not hold rights to its editorial content.

 

3. Editorial Independence

The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board are solely responsible for:

·         evaluating submitted manuscripts;

·         ensuring rigorous and unbiased peer review;

·         selecting and inviting reviewers;

·         making acceptance, revision, or rejection decisions;

·         enforcing ethical standards;

·         handling conflicts of interest;

·         initiating investigations of misconduct;

·         issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.

ESS-Press does not participate in:

·         editorial evaluation;

·         reviewer selection;

·         acceptance/rejection decisions;

·         any scholarly determination of the merits of submissions;

·         setting or modifying editorial or ethical policies.

All editorial decisions are made without interference from ESS-Press, sponsors, or any external parties.

 

4. Role of ESS-Press

ESS-Press acts solely as a technical and publishing service provider (“operated by ESS-Press”).

Its responsibilities include:

Technical & Platform Services

·         hosting and maintaining the journal website;

·         software configuration, updates, and security;

·         user and submission workflow support.

Production & Publishing Services

·         copyediting and language polishing (when requested by the Editor-in-Chief);

·         typesetting, layout preparation, and proofreading;

·         metadata creation (Crossref, bibliographic standards);

·         DOI registration and maintenance;

·         online publication, version-of-record hosting, and archiving.

Indexing & Discoverability Support

·         preparing metadata for indexing services;

·         assisting with technical requirements for repositories and directories.

These operational services do NOT grant ESS-Press any editorial authority.

5. Ethical Responsibilities

ESS-Press commits to supporting the journal’s ethical integrity by:

·         respecting editorial independence at all stages;

·         maintaining confidentiality of all submissions and review materials;

·         protecting reviewer anonymity;

·         ensuring secure handling of manuscript data;

·         supporting COPE-aligned investigations when requested by the Editor-in-Chief.

 

6. Transparency for Authors and Readers

To ensure transparency:

·         The journal’s website explicitly states its owner and its independent editorial governance.

·         ESS-Press is identified only as a publishing services provider, not the owner or editorial authority.

·         APCs/waivers (if any) are determined and administered by the Journal Owner, not ESS-Press.

·         All journal policies (ethics, peer review, conflicts of interest, corrections, retractions) are set by the Editorial Board.

 

7. Financial Independence

Financial decisions related to the journal (APC, waivers, funding models) are:

·         established by the Journal Owner or Editorial Board, and

·         displayed on the journal’s own website.

ESS-Press does not set APCs for journal, does not collect APCs for the journal, and does not influence financial policy.