LiU Electronic Press

Instruction to Series Editors for Series of Scientific Articles

Publishing scientific articles is a very important part of the work of LiU E-Press. The publishing is done within the field of series, that corresponds to disciplines or research fields with a recognised scope and delimitation. The aim of series' editors is:

• To judge of whether or not a contribution submitted for publishing within his/her series should be accepted or not,
• By spreading information and in other ways work for the promotion of contributions of high quality and,
• Give the author instructions for the preparation and delivery of their contributions.

Criteria for Judgements

When judging whether an incoming contribution shall be accepted or not, the following steps must be observed. In the article series, articles may be included that have the expected structure of articles in published scientific journals of good international quality or by conferences of good international quality within areas where the conferences are be considered as “archival”. Further on, reports may be included which in different ways supplement the articles, such as primary information, experimental reports, documentation of software, detailed mathematical evidence or contributions for discussion. Overview articles or surveys and tutorials are also welcome.
   Reports without any association to a published imminent article, will only be published in exceptional cases. If an article is published in an another scientific journal and matching reports are subsequently published at LiU E-Press, this may be accepted, but it is desirable that LiU E-Press is also given the right to republish the main article.
   The judgement of articles at LiU E-Press does not constitute a peer review as is done by scientific journals. LiU E-Press may publish articles which have not yet undergone peer review and may also publish the successive versions of an article, which may be the result of the peer review process. In other words, it is quite possible to use LiU E-Press for publishing the first version of an article for the purpose of spreading it and receive points of view on it, which constitutes an open review by peers in a broader sense. LiU E-Press shall not be used for publishing incomplete and not thoroughly written manuscripts.
   Within areas where there are clearly different opinions and interpretations, a series at LiU E-Press shall not be prevented from publishing articles which represent one side of the debate, even if representatives within other disciplines may reject the article. Such articles must obviously fulfil customary demands for scientific content.
   Series editors are not prevented from making judgements concerning publishing his/her own articles and articles written by members of the staff. He/she must take precautions in regard to his/hers own and LiU E-Press interests, and in doubtful cases an independent colleague should be consulted so that quality is not questioned.
   All published works, as well as actual articles or associated material must have a graphic form of high and even quality. The graphical standard within a series is an ideal to strive for but in exceptional cases may yield to a good presentation of the contents. It is the duty of the author to make sure that this term is fulfilled and the work of the series editor is limited to forwarding the instructions concerning LiU E-Press as a whole with any supplements which the series editor find suitable.
   LiU E-Press may publish articles by authors working at Linköpings University as well as authors working elsewhere. The judgement as to which contribution will be accepted from the second group is made based of the policy of the board of LiU Library.
   Proceedings from a conference within a series area are normally not published within the series, but at a separate LiU E-Press structure for conference proceedings. Consultations are made in cooperation with the series editor concerning publishing but the conference programme committee makes the final decision regarding incoming articles.
   If an author or research group is going to publish a large number of articles or article reports, a sub-series should be established for this purpose so that the main series not will be dominated by the material in question. The decision about establishing sub-series is taken by the director of LiU E-Press on suggestion from the series editor. The same terms are valid for contributions within a sub-series as for a main series.

Contacts with Authors

Each series editor may make their own proposals on how the procedure for spreading information to and contacts with authors and possible authors is to be conducted. The editor may consult LiU E-Press’ staff so that the public image of LiU E-Press remains consistent and the work is done in the most efficient way.
   The administrative procedure and the technical solutions for the workflow for incoming contributions to the scientific series and for decisions about them is taken by the staff of LiU E-Press.