Academic publishing policy
How work is published on PSIR Forum
This policy applies to research papers, theses, journal essays, and news items submitted to the Research Hub and News & Journal.
Platform moderation is not peer review
PSIR Forum checks submissions for relevance, quality, and conduct. A moderator's approval is not formal peer review, journal acceptance, or institutional endorsement. Authors should not describe their work as peer reviewed on the strength of its publication here.
Published on PSIR ForumThe work has been approved by a moderator and is publicly available.
ModeratedA moderator has checked the work for relevance, substance, and conduct.
Peer reviewedUsed only where a genuine, independent peer-review process has been carried out and its criteria met. PSIR Forum does not currently award this label.
1. Originality and plagiarism
- Submit only work that is your own, or that your co-authors have agreed to.
- Do not submit work that is already published or under review elsewhere without saying so.
- Moderators may ask for clarification if content appears to be copied. Automatic checks cannot conclusively detect plagiarism, so this relies on careful human review and on reports from members.
2. Attribution and citations
- Credit every idea, quotation, table, and image that is not your own.
- Quotations should be short and clearly marked. Do not reproduce whole articles or chapters from other publishers.
- Include a references section where sources were used.
3. Copyright and permission to publish
- You confirm that you have the right to publish the work and any images or documents in it.
- Do not upload copyrighted books, journal articles, or other restricted material without permission. Link to the original instead.
- For news items, give the original source. Do not copy whole news articles from other publishers.
4. Co-author consent
- Only list co-authors who have agreed to be named.
- The submitting author is responsible for the accuracy of the author list.
5. Respectful academic discussion
- Disagree with ideas, not people. Challenge arguments with evidence.
- Comments and replies must follow the Community Guidelines.
6. Corrections and withdrawal
- Authors may request a correction or withdrawal of their own work through the submission page, or by contacting the club's leaders.
- Errors that change the meaning of a published item will be corrected or the item withdrawn, with a note explaining the change.
7. Prohibited content
- Harassment, threats, hate speech, or content that promotes violence.
- Spam, fraudulent offers, or material that breaks the law.
- Personal data published without consent, such as private contact details or private records.
- Copyrighted material published without permission.
8. Disclosure of AI assistance
- If AI tools were used to draft, edit, translate, or analyse the work, say so in the submission and describe how they were used.
- The author remains responsible for the accuracy of all content, including any AI-generated text, citations, or data.
- Using AI assistance is not, by itself, a reason to reject a submission. Undisclosed use, or content that is fabricated or misleading, can lead to rejection or withdrawal.
9. Moderation and decisions
- Moderators check relevance to political science, international relations, governance, diplomacy, peace and security, public policy, African and Ethiopian affairs, or related fields.
- They check that the work has a clear title and summary, references where appropriate, and no prohibited content.
- Decisions are recorded with the moderator's name and time. Authors see the outcome and any feedback, and may revise and resubmit where permitted.