Policies & Ethics

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their submissions. Manuscripts must accurately represent the research undertaken, acknowledge relevant sources, and distinguish the author’s original contribution from the work of others.

Practices inconsistent with VDIP’s standards include:

• Plagiarism: Presenting another person’s words, ideas, research, or other intellectual contributions as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgment.
• Fabrication: Inventing evidence, findings, quotations, references, or other scholarly information.
• Falsification: Deliberately manipulating or misrepresenting evidence, research materials, findings, or sources.
• Undisclosed duplicate publication: Submitting or publishing substantially identical material without disclosing its publication history and addressing applicable permissions or editorial requirements.
• Misrepresentation of sources: Knowingly using inaccurate quotations, misleading citations, or descriptions that materially distort a source’s meaning.
• Improper authorship: Claiming authorship without a substantial intellectual contribution or excluding a contributor whose work warrants authorship.

All listed authors must approve the submitted manuscript and agree to its submission. Relevant contributions that do not warrant authorship should be acknowledged appropriately, with permission where necessary.

Authors must disclose prior publication and substantial overlap with previously disseminated material. Translations, revised editions, and republication may be considered when their relationship to the original work is clearly identified and applicable rights and permissions have been addressed.

Where applicable, authors must obtain required research approvals, informed consent, and authorization to use confidential or personally identifiable information. Submissions must not unlawfully disclose private information or infringe another person’s rights.

VDIP distinguishes deliberate misconduct from honest error and legitimate scholarly disagreement. Editorial responses will reflect the nature of the concern and the available evidence.

Authors retain copyright in their work unless they expressly agree otherwise in a separate written agreement. The rights granted to VDIP are established in the applicable publishing agreement. Publication under the VDIP imprint does not, by itself, transfer copyright ownership to the Press.

Authors must have the authority to submit their work and grant the rights necessary for the agreed publication.

Authors are responsible for identifying third-party material and obtaining any permissions required by applicable law or license terms. Permission is not required where material is in the public domain or its use is authorized by an applicable legal exception, including fair use.

Acknowledging a source does not, by itself, establish permission to reproduce protected material.

Permissions must cover the intended use, including the relevant publication formats and distribution arrangements. VDIP may request supporting documentation before publication.

Readers wishing to reproduce published material should consult the copyright notice, license, and permissions information accompanying the work. Unless an applicable license or legal exception permits the use, permission must be obtained from the relevant rights holder.

Nothing in these policies restricts uses permitted by applicable law.

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose relationships or circumstances that could reasonably influence, or appear to influence, their scholarly or editorial judgment.

Potential conflicts include:

• Financial interests connected to the work or its conclusions.
• Close personal relationships or recent substantial collaboration.
• Supervisory, employment, or institutional relationships.
• Personal disputes or significant competitive interests.
• Other circumstances that could compromise impartial evaluation.

A disclosed conflict does not automatically disqualify a submission or participant. VDIP will determine whether the conflict can be managed through disclosure, reassignment, recusal, or another appropriate measure.

Editors and reviewers with a significant conflict must disclose it promptly and must not independently determine the outcome of the affected submission.

Submissions by members of VDIP’s editorial leadership or Editorial Board must be handled by a qualified person without a relevant conflict. Authors must not control the review or acceptance of their own work.

Payment for authorized editing, design, production, or other services does not guarantee acceptance, favorable evaluation, or publication. Financial arrangements must not determine scholarly judgments.

Further information about author costs and distribution arrangements is provided on the For Authors page.

AI-assisted tools may support research, translation, writing, and editorial work, but their use must not compromise accuracy, originality, confidentiality, or scholarly accountability.

Permitted Assistance and Disclosure

Authors may use tools for spelling, grammar, formatting, language improvement, and similar supporting tasks, provided they review the results and remain responsible for the final manuscript.

Substantive use of generative AI must be disclosed to VDIP. This includes using AI to produce manuscript passages, develop scholarly arguments, analyze research materials, or generate translations intended for publication.

Disclosure should identify the tool and explain the nature and extent of its use. VDIP may require a statement in the published work where necessary for transparency.

Routine spelling, grammar, and formatting assistance does not ordinarily require formal disclosure.

Author Responsibility

Authors remain responsible for:

• Verifying facts, quotations, citations, and bibliographic references.
• Reviewing the accuracy and fidelity of translations.
• Ensuring that arguments and interpretations are adequately supported.
• Addressing copyright, licensing, privacy, and permission requirements.
• Identifying and correcting errors in AI-assisted material.

AI systems cannot be listed as authors. Fabricated citations, invented quotations, and misleading representations of AI-generated content are unacceptable.

Confidentiality and External Tools

Editors, reviewers, editorial personnel, and contractors must not upload confidential manuscripts, review reports, correspondence, or identifiable editorial materials to external AI services without prior authorization from VDIP and any additional permission required from rights holders or affected individuals.

Any authorized use must include safeguards appropriate to the material, taking account of the provider’s retention, access, and training practices.

Authorization from VDIP does not replace any permission required by law, contract, or confidentiality obligation.

Unpublished submissions, peer-review reports, and related correspondence will be handled as confidential editorial materials.

Access will be limited to people who reasonably need the information for evaluation, publication, administration, investigation, or professional advice.

Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished material for their own research or personal advantage without the author’s permission. Confidentiality responsibilities continue after an assignment ends.

Confidentiality is not absolute. VDIP may disclose relevant information where reasonably necessary to investigate a concern, obtain legal or professional advice, protect affected rights, or comply with applicable law or lawful process. Disclosures should be limited to what is reasonably necessary.

This section addresses editorial confidentiality. It does not replace a website privacy notice describing the collection and use of personal information.

Authors should notify VDIP promptly when they discover a significant error or ethical concern affecting their submitted or published work.

VDIP may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction, or take another appropriate editorial action, depending on the evidence and seriousness of the issue.

Corrections

A correction may be appropriate when an error affects part of a publication without making its principal findings or arguments unreliable.

Substantive corrections should identify the affected work and explain the change. Minor typographical or formatting errors may be corrected through routine updates.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be issued when a serious question remains unresolved and readers need to be alerted while further assessment takes place.

Retractions

Retraction may be appropriate where substantial evidence establishes serious unreliability, extensive plagiarism, materially unauthorized content, or another significant breach of publication ethics.

Retraction does not necessarily indicate deliberate misconduct. Serious errors made in good faith may also justify retraction.

Retraction notices should identify the publication, explain the established basis for the decision, and distinguish confirmed findings from unresolved allegations. Notices must avoid speculation about motives, unnecessary personal information, and unsupported accusations.

VDIP will ordinarily preserve the bibliographic record and clearly identify the work’s retracted status. Content may be removed or access restricted where required by law or warranted by serious infringement, privacy, safety, or comparable concerns.

Books and Third-Party Distribution

Corrections, revised editions, withdrawal, and other measures affecting books will be handled in accordance with applicable law, publishing agreements, and distribution arrangements.

Where authors control their distribution accounts, VDIP will seek their cooperation in implementing appropriate changes. VDIP cannot guarantee changes to copies, listings, or records controlled by independent distributors, libraries, or other third parties.

VDIP will assess concerns according to their specificity, seriousness, and available supporting evidence.

Affected parties will ordinarily receive a reasonable opportunity to respond before a final adverse editorial determination. VDIP may request documentation or consult qualified independent advisers.

Where necessary, VDIP may take interim action before completing an assessment, including pausing review or publication, restricting access, or publishing an expression of concern. Interim action does not, by itself, establish misconduct.

Editorial findings concern the suitability and integrity of a publication. They do not constitute a judicial determination of legal liability.

Submitting a Complaint

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other interested parties may submit concerns through the official contact details on the Contact page.

A complaint should identify:

• The publication, submission, or editorial matter involved.
• The specific concern.
• Relevant evidence or supporting documentation.
• Contact details for follow-up, where the complainant is willing to provide them.

Anonymous concerns may be assessed where sufficient information is available.

Review and Resolution

VDIP may request further information, seek responses from affected parties, consult independent expertise, and determine whether editorial action is warranted.

Complaints concerning an editor or the person responsible for the original decision should be assigned to another qualified person without a relevant conflict of interest. Independent assistance may be sought where an appropriate internal reviewer is unavailable.

VDIP will seek to communicate an appropriate outcome, subject to confidentiality, privacy, and legal restrictions. Complete investigative records or confidential review materials may not be disclosed.

Editorial Appeals

Authors may request reconsideration where they identify a significant procedural error, undisclosed conflict of interest, or material factual misunderstanding affecting the decision.

An appeal must explain its grounds and include relevant supporting information. Disagreement with a scholarly judgment alone does not establish grounds for reversal.

An appeal does not guarantee acceptance or publication. VDIP will communicate its determination and whether any further internal review is available.

Responsibility for implementing these policies rests with VDIP’s authorized editorial leadership.

Editorial Board members or independent advisers may assist where appropriate. VDIP will maintain records of significant ethical decisions and review its procedures as its publishing activities develop.

These policies take effect when posted. Revisions will be identified by an updated date. Changes will not, by themselves, amend an existing signed publishing agreement. Where a revision materially affects a pending submission, VDIP will inform the affected author before relying on the revised requirement.