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U7Y Journal — Publication Ethics and Policies

Unveiling Seven Continents Yearbook Journal (U7Y Journal) is committed to the highest standards of publication integrity. The policies below set out the journal's practices for all parties in the publication process — authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher — and follow the principles and Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

On this page: Copyright and Licensing · Open Access and Funding · Authorship and Contributorship · Conflicts of Interest · Ethical Oversight and Informed Consent · Data Sharing and Availability · Editorial Decision-Making and Independence · Peer Review · Allegations of Misconduct · Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern · Appeals and Complaints · Long-Term Digital Preservation (Archiving) · Repository (Self-Archiving)

Copyright Policy

Authors retain full copyright of their published work. By submitting and publishing an article with U7Y Journal, the author(s) grant the journal the right of first publication and the non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, archive, and make the article publicly available.

All published articles are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows others to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, share, adapt, and reuse the work, provided that proper credit is given to the author(s), the original publication in U7Y Journal is cited, and any changes are indicated.

The copyright of each article remains with the author(s). U7Y Journal does not claim ownership of the copyright of published articles. The copyright and licensing terms specific to each article are also stated on the full text of that article (both the HTML page and the PDF).

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Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest exists where professional judgment about the validity of research could be influenced by a secondary interest such as financial gain, personal relationships, or institutional affiliation. U7Y Journal requires all parties to declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflict.
Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts at submission; a conflict-of-interest statement — or a declaration that none exists — is published in every article.
Reviewers must decline any manuscript in which they have a conflict and must not use knowledge of the work before publication.
Editors and editorial board members must recuse themselves from any manuscript in which they have a conflict, including those involving close colleagues, collaborators, or competitors.
Publisher and journal owner: ISBM AG has no role in the evaluation of individual manuscripts. Editorial decisions are made independently of any commercial or institutional interest of the publisher or owner.
Manuscripts submitted by editors or board members: when a manuscript is authored by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, a guest editor, or a board member, that person is excluded from its editorial handling and peer review. The manuscript is assigned to an independent editor and reviewed under the standard double-blind process, with records kept to demonstrate impartiality.
Handling and post-publication conflicts: disclosed conflicts are assessed by the Editor-in-Chief, who decides whether any action is needed. A conflict identified after publication is investigated under COPE guidance and may result in a correction or an expression of concern.

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Open Access and Funding

U7Y Journal is a fully open-access journal. All articles are immediately and permanently available to readers at no charge.

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research reported in their manuscript, including funding bodies, grants, sponsorships, and any other financial or material support. At submission, authors are required to provide:

  • the name of each funding organisation;

  • the relevant grant or award number(s); and

  • a description of the role of each funder in the study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the manuscript; and the decision to submit for publication.

Where research received no specific funding, authors must state: "This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."

A funding statement is published in the full text of every article (both the HTML page and the PDF). Article Processing Charges, where they apply, are the responsibility of the author or their institution/funder, and are described on the Publication Fees page. Authors whose funders mandate open-access publication can comply directly, as all articles are published under CC BY 4.0. Funding source has no bearing on editorial or peer-review decisions.

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Funding Policy

All authors must disclose every source of funding for the research reported in their manuscript, including the name of each funding body, the grant or award number, and the role of the funder (if any) in study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; manuscript preparation; or the decision to publish. Where the research received no specific funding, the manuscript must state: "This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors." A funding statement appears in every published article. Where a funder requires open-access publication, the author remains responsible for any applicable Article Processing Charge. Funding has no influence on editorial decisions, which are based solely on scholarly merit.

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Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship is limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the work, namely to:

  1. the conception or design of the study, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data;

  2. drafting or critically revising the manuscript; and

  3. approval of the final version for publication.

All authors are accountable for the integrity of the work, and each author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work.

Corresponding author. The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal, ensuring that all named authors meet the criteria, confirming that all authors have approved the submission, and responding to queries after publication. Corresponding-author contact details are published on every article.

Contributors and acknowledgements. Individuals who contributed but do not meet the authorship criteria (for example, technical or funding support) should be named in an Acknowledgements section.

Changes to authorship. Any addition, removal, or reordering of authors — before or after publication — requires the written agreement of all authors and the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. Requests must explain the reason for the change.

Use of generative AI. Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Any use of AI in preparing a manuscript must be disclosed, and authors remain fully responsible for the content. Disputes over authorship are handled in accordance with COPE guidance.

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Conflicts of Interest

U7Y Journal requires full transparency about any interest that could be perceived to influence the objectivity of the publication process. A conflict of interest exists where financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships could bias, or be seen to bias, the work or its assessment.

Authors must declare all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest at submission, including funding, employment, consultancies, honoraria, patents, or personal relationships relevant to the work. A conflict-of-interest statement — or a declaration that none exists — is published in the full text of every article.

Reviewers must decline any manuscript in which they have a conflict of interest (for example, recent collaboration, competition, or a personal or institutional relationship with an author) and must disclose any potential conflict to the Editorial Office before accepting a review.

Editors, guest editors, and editorial board members must not handle any manuscript in which they have a conflict of interest. Where a member of the editorial team (including the Editor-in-Chief, editors, guest editors, or board members) is an author, the manuscript is assigned to an independent editor, with no involvement from the conflicted individual at any stage of the decision, and this separation is documented.

Publisher and journal owner. The publisher (ISBM AG) and the VBNN Smart Education Group have no role in the evaluation or acceptance of individual manuscripts. No commercial, institutional, or membership relationship influences editorial decisions.

Disclosure and handling. Conflicts disclosed at submission are considered during the editorial process and, where relevant, published with the article. Conflicts identified after submission or after publication are investigated in line with COPE guidance and may result in correction or retraction where appropriate.

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Ethical Oversight and Informed Consent

All research published by U7Y Journal must have been conducted ethically and in accordance with recognised international standards.

Human participants. For research involving human participants, identifiable human material, or identifiable data, the study must have been approved by an appropriate institutional, local, regional, or national ethics committee or review board, and must comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Each manuscript must include an "Ethics Approval" statement giving the name of the approving committee or institutional review board, the approval reference/ID number, and confirmation that informed consent was obtained from participants for both participation and publication of the resulting data. Where verbal rather than written consent was obtained, this must be explained and justified in the manuscript.

Animal research. For research involving animals, authors must confirm compliance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and report this in the manuscript (for example, adherence to the ARRIVE guidelines).

Identifiable individuals. Where a manuscript contains information, images, audio, video, or data relating to identifiable individuals, personal data must be anonymised wherever possible, and confidentiality maintained throughout the editorial process. Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from any identifiable individual (or their legal guardian), and each such article must include a statement confirming that this consent was obtained. Identifying details should be omitted unless strictly necessary for scientific purposes and explicitly consented to. Authors must retain signed consent documentation and provide it on request.

Local exemptions. Where local regulations do not require formal ethics approval, authors must state this and, where possible, provide a link to the relevant national or governmental policy. Regardless of local requirements, adherence to international ethical research standards is mandatory. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements will not be considered for publication.

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Data Sharing and Availability

U7Y Journal encourages authors to make the data underlying their findings openly available wherever ethically and legally possible, to support transparency and reproducibility.

Each research article should include a Data Availability Statement indicating whether the supporting data are:

  • openly available (with a link or repository name and accession/DOI);

  • available from the author on reasonable request; or

  • unavailable, with the reason stated (for example, ethical or privacy restrictions).

Where data relate to identifiable individuals, sharing must comply with the journal's policy on confidentiality and informed consent and with applicable data-protection law.

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Editorial Decision-Making and Independence

All editorial decisions at U7Y Journal are based solely on a manuscript's scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigour, relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with ethical standards.

Following double-blind peer review, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on each manuscript, taking into account the recommendations of independent reviewers. Decisions may be to accept, to request minor or major revision, or to reject. Where a handling or associate editor manages a submission, the Editor-in-Chief retains final accountability for the decision.

Editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher, of any commercial or institutional interest, and of whether any fee, discount, or waiver applies to the manuscript. Membership of the VBNN Smart Education Group, or of any associated institution, confers no advantage in the review or acceptance of a manuscript.

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​Peer Review

All submissions undergo double-blind peer review, in which neither authors nor reviewers know each other's identity. The full process, timelines, reviewer responsibilities, and decision outcomes are set out on the Peer Review Policy page.

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Allegations of Misconduct

U7Y Journal takes all allegations of potential misconduct seriously, whether identified pre-publication or post-publication. We follow the COPE flowcharts and Core Practices in handling allegations of plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, and duplicate publication.

Allegations may be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office at info@u7y.com. On receipt, the Editorial Office will initiate an investigation, and authors will be given the opportunity to respond to the allegations. If misconduct is confirmed, the journal reserves the right to reject the manuscript, issue a correction, or retract the published article, and may notify the authors' affiliated institutions.

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Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

U7Y Journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the academic record.

  • Corrections (Erratum/Corrigendum): issued when a significant error is discovered that affects the scholarly record, the integrity of the paper, or the reputation of the authors or the journal.

  • Retractions: issued where there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable (for example, due to misconduct, data fabrication, or honest error), where the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, or where the research constitutes unethical behaviour.

  • Expressions of Concern: issued where there is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct, but the journal believes readers should be made aware of a potential concern while an investigation is ongoing.

All such notices are published promptly and linked permanently to the original article. Decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief in accordance with COPE guidelines.

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​Appeals and Complaints

Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions or to file a complaint regarding the peer-review process, publication ethics, or editorial conduct. All appeals and complaints must be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office at info@u7y.com.

  • Appeals: an author who believes their manuscript was rejected due to a misunderstanding or procedural error may submit an appeal letter detailing their justification. A designated editor not involved in the original decision will review the appeal alongside the original reviews. The decision on the appeal is final.

  • Complaints: complaints regarding editorial staff, reviewers, or publisher conduct are investigated by the Editor-in-Chief in accordance with COPE guidelines. We aim to acknowledge all complaints within 10 working days and to provide a resolution or update within 30 days.

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COPE

Ethical Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Reviewers Read more

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Archiving Policy

All published articles of Unveiling Seven Continents Yearbook Journal (U7Y Journal) are permanently archived through the Internet Archive, ensuring long-term digital preservation and continuous public access to the journal’s content. Read more

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Advertising Policy

U7Y Journal does not display third-party advertising.

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Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship is limited to those who made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the work, and all listed authors must approve the final version before submission.
Corresponding author: one author is designated as corresponding author, responsible for communication with the journal, confirming that all named authors meet the criteria and have approved the submission, managing correspondence during review, and responding to post-publication queries.
Changes to authorship: any addition, removal, or reordering of authors must be requested in writing to the Editorial Office and confirmed by all authors, including the person being added or removed. Before publication this requires the Editor-in-Chief's approval; after publication, changes are made only through a published correction.
Contributors and acknowledgements: individuals who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria (e.g. technical support, language editing, or funding acquisition only) should be named, with their permission, in an Acknowledgements section. Full author guidance is available on the Author & Reviewer Guidelines page.

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Repository (Self-Archiving) Policy

Authors are permitted to deposit any version of their work — submitted, accepted, or published — in institutional or disciplinary repositories of their choice. Proper citation of the original publication in Unveiling Seven Continents Yearbook Journal (U7Y Journal) and inclusion of the article DOI are required.

Note on images: selected articles may feature AI-generated representative images to visually express the thematic focus of the research. These images do not contain data or factual content.

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