1.1. General duties and responsibilities of Editors and Publisher in the name of (name of Publisher)

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1 Best Practice Guidelines for Book Editors are designed to provide a set of Editorial standards to which the Editor/Editors and the Publisher are expected to adhere. The following Editorial standards aim to ensure the quality of the scientific publication including the publishing process and the scientific relevance of accepted and published chapters. 1. General Terms 1.1. General duties and responsibilities of Editors and Publisher in the name of (name of Publisher) Ensuring appropriate coverage and quality of scientific content published by the book Carrying out/managing the review process Striving to meet the needs of Readers and Authors Avoiding possible misconduct Working with the Publisher until the completion of the book project The Editor will follow the Publisher's policy on conflicts of interest Expiry and Termination The length of the Editor's appointment term is determined in relation to the duration of the book project The formally accepted agreement between the Editor and the Publisher will be terminated if the Editor fails to perform his duties to a satisfactory level as determined by this agreement.

2 If the Publisher requests for a dissolution of all activities performed by the Editor, the Publisher is entitled to select and appoint a new Editor to resume the book's activities Upon appointment dissolution, all Editor's duties cease to exist. 2. Scientific Content 2.1. Editors should be accountable for all scientific content published in their books. This means the Editors should: strive to meet the needs of Authors and Readers; strive to improve book quality; champion freedom of expression; maintain the integrity of the academic record; preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards; always be willing to publish corrections, clarifitcations, retractions and apologies when needed In regards to having processes in place to assure the quality of the materials published, the Editor will be supported by the Publisher and the Publisher's Editorial team concerning all technical aspects of all processes Editorial best practices include the following activities on behalf of the Editor: actively seeking the views of Authors and Editors about ways of improving the book s processes; encouraging and being aware of research into review and publishing processes and reassessing their book s processes in the light of new findings;

3 working with the Publisher to provide appropriate resources and guidance from experts; supporting initiatives designed to reduce research and publication misconduct; supporting initiatives to educate researchers about publication ethics; ensuring that any call for chapter issued by the Publisher for the book project reflect the message of the publication and put it into context; ensuring that any press releases issued by the Publisher reflect the message of the reported chapter and the book that includes the chapter and put it into context; 2.4. Quality assurance - The Editor should take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the material they authorize for publication. - The Editor should use systems supplied by the Publisher to detect falsified data (e.g. plagiarized text). In case of questionable submissions, the final decision concerning the validity of the chapter is taken by the Editor. 3. Editorial and review processes 3.1. The Editor, supported by the publishing staff, should strive to ensure that review process in the book is fair, unbiased and timely The Editor should respect the practices provided by the Publisher, aimed at ensuring that material submitted remains confidential while under review The Editor, in accordance with and supported by the Publisher, should ensure that people involved with the Editorial process (including themselves) receive adequate guidelines and keep abreast of the latest guidelines and recommendations The Editor should keep informed about research into review processes and technological advances and adopt review methods best suited for the book and the research community it serves.

4 4. Relations with Authors Authors 4.1. The Editor s decisions to accept or reject a chapter for publication should be based on the chapter s importance, originality and clarity, and the study s validity and its relevance to the remit of the book The Editor should not reverse decisions to accept submissions unless serious problems are identified with the submission New Editors should not overturn decisions to publish submissions made by the previous Editor unless serious problems are identified The Publisher should have a declared mechanism for Authors' appeal against Editorial decision and the Editor should act upon the submission of any appeal The Editor, in accordance with and supported by the Publisher, should be guided by the COPE flowcharts ( in cases of suspected misconduct or disputed Authorship The Editor, supported by the Publisher, should publish details of how they handle cases of suspected misconduct (e.g. with links to the COPE flowcharts) A description of review processes should be published and communicated to Authors with the assistance of the Publisher and the Editor should be ready to justify any important deviation from the described processes independently from the Publisher The Editor should act upon the submission of any appeal The Editor, in aaccordance with and supported by the Publisher, should provide guidance about criteria for authorship and/or who should be listed as contributor following the standards within the relevant fiel. 5. Misconducts

5 Protecting individual data 5.1. The Editor must obey laws on confidentiality in their own jurisdiction and must obtain written informed consent for publication from people who might recognize themselves or be identified by others (e.g. from case reports or photographs) The Editor should encourage ethical research. Dealing with possible misconduct 5.4. Both the Editor and the Publisher have a duty to act if they suspect misconduct or if an allegation of misconduct is brought to them. This duty extends to both published and unpublished chapters The Editor should not simply reject chapters that raise concerns about possible misconduct. The Editors and the Publisher are ethically obliged to pursue alleged cases The Editor, in accordance with and supported by the Publisher, should first seek a response from those suspected of misconduct. If they are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the relevant employers, or institution, or some appropriate body (perhaps a regulatory body or national research integrity organization) to investigate The Editor, in accordance with and supported by the Publisher, should make all reasonable efforts to ensure that a proper investigation into alleged misconduct is conducted; if this does not happen, Editors should make all reasonable attempts to persist in obtaining a resolution to the problem. This is an onerous but important duty. Integrity of the academic record 5.8. Errors, inaccurate or misleading statements must be corrected promptly and with due prominence, in accordance with and with the technical support of the Publisher.

6 5.9 The Editor, supported by the Publisher, should follow the Publisher's guidelines on retractions The Publisher should ensure that published material is securely archived and freely available online. Intellectual property The Editor should be alert to intellectual property issues and work with the Publisher to handle potential breaches of intellectual property laws and conventions by: adopting systems for detecting plagiarism (e.g. software, searching for similar titles) in submitted items; the Editor will be advised and supported by the Publisher on this point; supporting Authors whose copyright has been breached or who have been the victims of plagiarism; be willing to support Authors rights and pursue offenders. Encouraging debate The Editor should encourage and be willing to consider cogent criticisms of work published in their book Authors of criticized material should be given the opportunity to respond via appropriate channels of communication as determined by the Publisher Studies reporting negative results should not be excluded The Editor should be open to research that challenges previous work published in the book. Complaints

7 5.15. The Editor, in accordance with and supported by the Publisher, should respond promptly to complaints and should ensure there is a way for dissatisfied complainants to take complaints further. 6. Relations with the Publisher 6.1. The Editor and the Publisher have to work along side in reaching their strategic goals for the book project. Publisher's responsibilities 6.2. Providing, supporting, and maintaining the call for chapters, submission and review system Technical editing Design Creation, management, hosting of and access to online version Print Sales and pricing Abstracting and indexing Marketing and promotion Publishing process support to Authors and Readers The Publisher must communicate all guidelines to all publishing process associates. Editorial independence

8 6.12. The relationship of the Editor to Publishers and owners should be based firmly on the principle of Editorial independence The Editor should make decisions on which articles to publish based on quality and suitability for the book project and without interference from the Publisher Commercial considerations do not affect Editorial decisions Advertising departments should operate independently from Editorial department. Book Project development The Editor should communicate regularly with the Publisher and communicate transparently their time constraints and periods of unavailability With the acceptance of this agreement and the proposed role of Editor, the appointed Editor accepts the responsibility of acting in the best interest of the book project.