Policies

🌐 1. Open Access Policy

All articles published by ATSK Publishers are made immediately and freely available under an open-access model. We do not impose subscription fees or paywall restrictions, ensuring that research is accessible to the global academic community and the public.

Benefits of Open Access:

  • Unrestricted global collaboration
  • Faster dissemination of scientific findings
  • Increased author visibility and citation impact

🧾 2. Licensing Terms

We support Creative Commons (CC) licensing to enable flexible reuse of published content. Authors may choose from the following licenses:

  • CC BY (Attribution only) – Recommended for maximum dissemination
  • CC BY-NC (Attribution–NonCommercial)
  • CC BY-ND (Attribution–NoDerivatives)

🔹 Note: CC BY is the default license unless the author requests an alternative.
🔸 Authors should note that CC BY-ND restricts the creation of derivative works, including translations and educational adaptations.

Each article’s license is clearly displayed on the article’s landing page.

©️ 3. Copyright Policy

  • Authors retain full copyright of their work.
  • By publishing with ATSK Publishers, authors grant us a non-exclusive license to distribute and display the work in print and digital formats.

Goals of Our Copyright Policy:

  • Protect authors’ intellectual property rights
  • Promote accessibility through professional publishing and editorial standards
  • Maximize content visibility via open distribution

👥 4. User Terms of Use

Permitted:

  • Downloading for personal, academic, or non-commercial purposes
  • Sharing links or citing with proper attribution

Prohibited:

  • Commercial redistribution without written permission
  • Altering, modifying, or misrepresenting original content

✍️ 5. Author Rights

Authors may:

  • Use their work in future teaching, presentations, theses, or derivative publications
  • Share copies with colleagues, students, or online repositories
  • Post preprint versions on institutional or personal websites with a citation link to the published version

📊 6. Data Availability Policy

ATSK Publishers encourages transparency in scientific research. Authors are advised to:

  • Include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript
  • Deposit raw data in publicly accessible repositories where possible
  • Provide access to datasets upon reasonable request, unless restricted by privacy, legal, or ethical concerns

🧪 7. Peer Review Policy

We maintain a rigorous single-blind peer review process to ensure scientific quality:

Initial Screening:

Submissions are evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for fit, originality, and basic methodological quality. Manuscripts may be desk-rejected for:

  • Lack of novelty or relevance
  • Methodological flaws
  • Incompatibility with journal scope

Review Process:

  • Single-blind: Reviewers know author identity; authors do not know reviewer identity
  • Reviewed by at least two independent experts
  • Authors may suggest reviewers, but final decisions rest with the editorial team

Evaluation Criteria:

  • Originality and scholarly value
  • Methodological rigor and ethics
  • Clarity of data presentation and conclusions
  • Proper referencing of related work

Reviewer Responsibilities:

  • Maintain confidentiality
  • Disclose conflicts of interest
  • Provide objective, constructive feedback
  • Refrain from using unpublished material for personal gain

Timeline for Publication

Submission to Initial Decision (Peer Review Process):

  • Usually 4 to 12 weeks
  • Some journals take longer, especially if multiple rounds of peer review are required.

Revision by Author (if required):

  • Can take anywhere from 1 week to several months, depending on the extent of revisions requested and the author’s availability.

Final Acceptance to Publication:

  • Once accepted, it might take 2 to 8 weeks to be published online or in print, depending on the journal’s backlog and publication frequency.

🛡️ 8. Research and Publication Ethics

ATSK Publishers follows the ethical principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the ICMJE. We expect all parties—authors, reviewers, editors—to uphold the highest ethical standards.

Core Principles:

  • Integrity: No plagiarism, data fabrication, image manipulation, or redundant publication
  • Transparency: We publish retractions, corrections, and expressions of concern where needed
  • Fairness: Decisions are based solely on scholarly merit
  • Confidentiality: All manuscript details are kept confidential throughout the review process

🧬 9. Ethics in Human and Animal Research

For studies involving humans or animals, authors must:

  • Obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee or IRB
  • Include a statement confirming informed consent (for human studies)
  • Comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable institutional/national regulations

🛠️ 10. Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Notices

ATSK Publishers is committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. We issue:

  • Erratum – for minor publisher or author errors
  • Corrigendum – for substantive author errors
  • Retraction – for serious ethical or factual issues
  • Expressions of Concern – when potential issues are under investigation

All notices are clearly marked and linked to the original article.

📢 11. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal decisions or raise ethical concerns by contacting the Editorial Office. Appeals are reviewed by a senior editor or an independent member of the editorial board. All appeals are handled impartially and confidentially.