Policy Framework
JOTS maintains public policies intended to support transparency, editorial independence, research integrity, responsible peer review, and the long-term reliability of the scholarly record.
The policy suite describes how the journal handles access, copyright, author fees, peer review, publication ethics, plagiarism, artificial intelligence, data, preservation, repository sharing, complaints, appeals, and editorial-board transparency.
The policies are reviewed periodically as the journal website, publication workflow, and public records are maintained. Updates should preserve accurate public information and avoid unsupported claims about indexing, preservation networks, or third-party services.
Verified Public Facts
- Peer-reviewed open-access journal.
- CC BY 4.0 licence.
- Authors retain unrestricted copyright and publishing rights.
- No article processing charges or publication fees.
- Permanent article identifiers use DOI where assigned.
- Canonical journal website: https://otsjournal.org/.
- Editorial office: editor@otsjournal.org.
Policy Coverage
| Area | Public policy coverage |
|---|---|
| Open access | Immediate open access, no embargo, no reader registration or subscription requirement, CC BY 4.0, no author-facing fees, and repository deposit of the version of record. |
| Copyright | Author-retained copyright, non-exclusive publication rights for JOTS/OTS Academy, version-of-record identification, third-party-material responsibility, and licence visibility. |
| Fees and business model | No APCs, submission charges, author fees, page charges, colour charges, publication fees, or post-publication access fees; editorial decisions remain independent from funding or support arrangements. |
| Peer review | Double-anonymous peer review, editorial screening, normally at least two independent reviewers for suitable research manuscripts, reviewer confidentiality, editor conflicts, special issues, appeals, and final editorial responsibility. |
| Publication ethics | Author, editor, reviewer, and publisher responsibilities; misconduct concerns; investigations; research ethics; conflicts of interest; corrections; expressions of concern; retractions; removals; and replacements. |
| Plagiarism and research integrity | Plagiarism, duplicate publication, text recycling, translated plagiarism, citation manipulation, legitimate overlap, author explanation, and pre- and post-publication editorial action. |
Publisher, Platform, and Indexing Roles
OTS Academy remains the publisher and editorial authority for JOTS. Scholardemia provides platform, workflow, and publication infrastructure.
Indexing and abstracting decisions are made independently by indexing organisations. JOTS provides accurate public records and metadata but does not claim indexing status unless it is verified.
Scholardemia records may mirror journal content and support submission or publication workflows, but https://otsjournal.org/ remains the canonical public journal website.
Continued Policy Review
- Keep publication ethics statements current with clear responsibilities, investigation steps, and possible outcomes.
- Keep peer-review procedure visible, including reviewer selection, conflicts, special issues, editorial-board submissions, delays, and appeals.
- Keep plagiarism, duplicate-publication, text-recycling, translated-plagiarism, and citation-manipulation procedures specific without using a fixed similarity percentage.
- Keep open access, copyright, author-fee, and business-model statements visible on relevant public pages.
- Keep preservation wording aligned with services and records that are actually implemented.
Access, Rights, and Fees
| Policy | Summary |
|---|---|
| Open Access | Immediate access, no embargo, no reader registration, no subscription or paywall, and CC BY 4.0 reuse terms. |
| Copyright and Licensing | Authors retain copyright and grant JOTS/OTS Academy non-exclusive rights to publish, distribute, preserve, index, and identify the article as the version of record. |
| Article Processing Charges | No APCs, submission fees, author fees, page charges, colour charges, publication fees, or post-publication access fees. |
Editorial and Research Integrity
| Policy | Summary |
|---|---|
| Peer Review | Double-anonymous peer review, editorial screening, independent reviewers where suitable, reviewer confidentiality, conflict handling, and final editorial responsibility. |
| Publication Ethics | Author, editor, reviewer, and publisher responsibilities, misconduct handling, authorship, conflicts of interest, research ethics, corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, removals, and replacements. |
| Plagiarism | Plagiarism, duplicate publication, text recycling, translated plagiarism, citation manipulation, legitimate overlap, and editorial action before and after publication. |
| Complaints and Appeals | Evidence-based complaints and appeals are reviewed through the editorial office with confidentiality and proportionate outcomes. |