Information for Authors Submitting a Paper
This page contains information for authors in general. For Authors, practical and, in some cases, journal-specific information can be found on the journal's page. Additionally, the About NPC page includes critical information for authors.
Submission Guidelines
Original material must be included in all papers submitted to the NPC. The submitted paper, or any translation thereof, must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Violations of these rules will typically result in the submission being immediately rejected without further review.
Contributions should be written in English and include a summary of between 100 and 300 words. Generally, NPC's journals accept the following types of contributions:
• Original research articles
• Review articles that provide an in-depth examination of a scientific subject
All manuscripts and any accompanying materials should be submitted through the National Paper Center's Paper Submission System (PSS). Please adhere to the instructions provided on this website.
Process of Peer Review in General
In short, all manuscripts submitted to our journals undergo a rigorous and thorough peer review process. The review is conducted in a single-blind fashion. If the manuscript is accepted for full review, it will be subjected to an external review by a minimum of two reviewers.
Manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Office will undergo a thorough initial review, including a plagiarism check. The peer-review process is overseen by an Editor – typically the journal's Editor-in-Chief or a board member – in collaboration with the Editorial Office. It begins with an Editor's Preliminary Review (finished no more than 10 days after manuscript submission).
After accepting a manuscript for full review, the Editor will compile at least two reviewer comments and compose a decision letter based on the reviewers' comments (finished no more than 4 weeks after preliminary review). The Corresponding Author is notified of the decision and requested to submit an adequate revision (peer-reviewed again whenever necessary). The author will be asked to format the manuscript according to the NPC template before it is sent to the publisher for typesetting and proofreading. The author will receive a PDF version of the paper produced by NPC for review prior to it being published online.
The Generic NPC Peer Review Process flowchart depicts the review process used in the majority of NPC's journals. Editors-in-Chief may adhere to different conventions when collaborating with the Editorial Board and the journal's publisher's Editorial Office. Additionally, while some journals at NPC function successfully without an Editor-in-Chief, all journals have an Editorial Board. Nonetheless, the process depicted in the flowchart is applicable to the majority of the journals published by NPC.
To reiterate, the Editor responsible for a particular manuscript may be, but is not required to be, the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief may designate a member of the Editorial Board to review the manuscript. Over time, work is distributed among a larger number of individuals, utilizing a vast pool of expertise drawn from the entire Editorial Board. This is especially critical when the journal's scope encompasses a broad scientific field. If the Editor-in-Chief is temporarily unavailable, another member of the Editorial Board, including himself or herself, may assign the manuscript to an Editor. Additionally, a qualified individual from outside the Editorial Board may be appointed as Editor for a manuscript. In any case, the Editor-in-Chief is kept informed of all significant issues, as the Editor-in-Chief is ultimately responsible for the journal's academic matters. In the rare case that a journal does not have an Editor-in-Chief, such information will be forwarded to the Editorial Board member who is currently the most active in the journal's administration.
NPC is proud to have such a distinguished group of academics on its Editorial Boards. Additionally, NPC recognizes that these academics have primary responsibilities at their respective institutions. To ensure an efficient working environment for external academics, the publisher employs Editorial Assistants who assist board members as much as possible. Editorial Assistants are vital to the publishing process in a variety of ways. For instance, authors and readers frequently have numerous questions throughout the publishing process. Each journal's Editorial Assistant is responsible for all external and internal correspondence. If desired, the Editor-in-Chief can receive all such correspondence via CC email. Additionally, the Editorial Assistant can take over the review process, delegating decision-making authority to the Editor assigned to the manuscript. The Editorial Assistant would also be responsible for correspondence with reviewers and the Corresponding Author in this case. Academic Editors are editors whose responsibilities are limited to core activities and decision-making. A Handling Editor is an Editor who is also in charge of correspondence with reviewers and the Corresponding Author.
To reiterate, the Editor assigned to a manuscript is invariably accountable for all critical activities and decisions made during the manuscript's review process. These fundamental activities and decisions include the following:
- Accepted for review or decision: pre-rejected reviewer selection writing the decision letter including reviewer comments
- Editor's remarks
- Editor's decision regarding the manuscript's future status: Accepted; to be resubmitted; to be revised; or rejected.
Please read the FAQ for additional information on the pre- and post-publication peer review processes.
Rights of Authors
NPC requests nonexclusive copyright from authors. This way, authors retain complete ownership of their work. NPC produces the final paper in NPC's layout based on its copyright. This version is made available to the public (and to the authors) under the terms of the Creative Commons license (CC BY or CC BY-NC). As a result, authors may also publish the final paper in any repository or on any website, as long as the paper is properly cited. When linking to their article, authors should utilize the link established by NPC with crossref.org. It is a hyperlink to the final paper's full text. The URL establishes a permanent link that will never fail.
On the About Us page, you can learn more about reader and author rights.
Statement of Publication Ethics
NPC is committed to upholding high standards through a rigorous peer review process and strict adherence to ethical guidelines. Editors should take any violations of professional ethical codes, such as plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, or fabricated claims of authorship, extremely seriously and with zero tolerance.
NPC adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics' (COPE) Code of Conduct and the COPE Flowcharts for Resolving Suspected Misconduct Cases. NPC is particularly committed to adhering to COPE's Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. Editors at NPC adhere to COPE's Code of Conduct and Editors' Best Practice Guidelines.
Authors should be conscious of the possibility of a conflict of interest. Authors may retain responsibility for the accuracy of their work in this case, but must inform the reader via an appropriate statement in the Acknowledgements.
Retraction Policy of the NPC
NPC recognizes the critical nature of the scholarly record's integrity and completeness. The historical record of published research articles shall be preserved in its entirety. However, there may be instances where a paper is published as a result of misconduct or honest error. While editors certainly exercise great care in guiding the review process, it remains notoriously difficult to detect every instance of misconduct or error. As a result, it may be necessary to amend the scholarly record. Changing the record is not a decision to be taken lightly. The course of action will vary depending on the circumstances and may include the following: • Expression of Concern • Correction (Erratum or Corrigendum) • Retraction • Removal
The action's purpose is to correct the literature and to educate readers. It is not intended to be a means of retribution against the author (s).
The editor of the journal in question is responsible for directing an investigation into misconduct or honest error. The investigation will involve both authors and reviewers. The editor will determine the most effective method for correcting the scholarly record. The COPE's Retraction Guidelines and other generally accepted scholarly principles serve as guiding principles.
Minor errors that do not impair the metadata's integrity or a reader's ability to comprehend an article and do not involve a scientific error or omission are corrected, and the original article is replaced with the corrected version.
If final action is requested by an author, NPC will assist in processing it without additional charges. If the author(s) did not initiate the measures (e.g., retraction) or if the measures are taken without mutual agreement, the author(s) will not be compensated financially and the Article Processing Charges (APC) will not be reimbursed.