Publication Ethics

Publication ethics and research integrity

These policies apply to authors, editors and reviewers of Journal of Arts Economics and Creative Industries. The journal assesses work on its scholarly contribution, evidence and integrity.

1. Originality and misconduct

Submissions must be original and must not be under consideration by another journal. Disclose related earlier versions and substantive overlap. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, undisclosed redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation and manipulation of peer review are unacceptable.

The editorial office records and assesses concerns confidentially, invites an explanation from the relevant parties and may request supporting data or documents. Relevant institutions may be contacted when investigation is needed. Depending on the evidence, action may include revision, rejection, correction, an expression of concern or retraction.

2. Authorship and contributions

Authors must have made a substantive contribution, approved the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contribution. Describe each author's role. People providing only general support, funding or language assistance should be acknowledged as appropriate. Changes to the author list require a reason and the written agreement of all authors. Editors may pause handling while an authorship dispute is resolved.

3. Competing interests and funding

Authors must declare relevant financial and non-financial interests, funding and the funder's role, or state that none exist. Editors and reviewers must disclose competing interests and recuse themselves when impartial assessment is affected. A manuscript authored by an editor or board member must be handled independently.

4. Ethical oversight and consent

Research involving people or identifiable personal information must describe applicable ethics approval or exemption and informed consent. Explain why a requirement does not apply where appropriate. Identifiable participant material requires appropriate consent for publication. Authors must protect confidential and sensitive information.

5. Data, code and materials

Research articles must include a Data Availability Statement explaining access to supporting data, code and materials, restrictions or why sharing is not applicable. Public sharing is encouraged where lawful and ethically appropriate. Restrictions must be explained. Editors may request supporting material for assessment, with appropriate protection for confidential or identifiable data.

6. AI-assisted work

AI tools cannot be authors. Authors must verify all content and disclose substantive generative-AI use, including the tool, purpose and human verification; include version information where available. Routine spelling or grammar checks need not be disclosed. AI output must not fabricate evidence or references. Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or personal information to external AI services or use generative AI to produce their assessments. Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of human editors.

7. Appeals and complaints

An author may appeal a decision by explaining a material factual error or procedural concern and supplying evidence. An author with an existing manuscript may raise the matter in its discussion area. Where feasible, an editor uninvolved in the original decision will review the appeal. The outcome and reasons will be communicated to the author; an appeal does not guarantee a different decision.

Complaints about editorial conduct, the publisher or published work should identify the relevant manuscript or article and supporting facts. Contact Lunvera Press at contact@lunverapress.com for general publisher enquiries, reader concerns or complaints, as listed on the Contact page. The discussion area for an existing manuscript is not a general complaints channel for readers. Cases should be handled without involving an editor whose conduct is being assessed.

8. Corrections, withdrawal and retraction

Authors must alert the editorial office to substantial errors. Before publication, a corresponding author may request withdrawal through the manuscript's discussion area, giving a reason and confirming the agreement of all authors. After publication, errors affecting interpretation are addressed through a linked correction. Unreliable findings or serious publication-ethics problems may lead to retraction; an expression of concern may be issued while a serious unresolved concern is assessed.

A notice will explain the reason and be linked to the original article. The article will normally remain available with its status clearly marked. Substantial changes to published work will not be made silently.

9. Copyright and third-party material

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Published articles use CC BY 4.0. Reused or adapted material must be credited and any required permission obtained. Material with different rights must be identified separately; the article licence does not override those rights.

10. Advertising and editorial independence

Commercial interests, fee-waiver status, sponsorship and advertising must not determine editorial decisions or review outcomes. Any advertising or sponsored material must be clearly labelled and separated from editorial content. A sponsor's role in a reported study must be disclosed.

Editorial guidance: Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing and COPE Core Practices.