Guidelines for the editorial activity and the Scientific Publications Office of the University of Trento

Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 1 of 16 GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 2 of 16 SUMMARY 1. Preamble and Definitions ............................................................................................................................... 4 2. Current Organization of the University’s Editorial Activity ............................................................................... 4 3. UniTrento Publishing Policies ......................................................................................................................... 5 3.1. Works Eligible for Publication .................................................................................................................. 5 3.2. Start of New Editorial Initiatives .............................................................................................................. 5 3.3. Persons Eligible for Publication ............................................................................................................... 6 3.4. Open Access to Scientific Publications ................................................................................................... 6 3.5. Publishing Platforms for Open Access Digital Editions ........................................................................... 6 3.6. Bibliographic Identification Codes ........................................................................................................... 7 3.7. Copyright and License to Publish ............................................................................................................ 7 3.8. Scientific, Ethical, and Legal Responsibility of the Editorial Initiatives..................................................... 7 3.9. Publication Costs Borne by the Editorial Initiatives ................................................................................. 9 3.10. Legal Deposit and Long-Term Conservation of Documents of Cultural Interest ................................... 9 3.11. Agreements with External Parties ......................................................................................................... 9 3.12. Editorial Brand .....................................................................................................................................10 3.13. Support and Consultancy from the Office ............................................................................................10 3.14. Harmonization of the Structures’ Regulations about the Editorial Activity with the Guidelines .............10 4. Duties of the Scientific Publications Office ....................................................................................................10 4.1. Coordination of the Editorial Initiatives ...................................................................................................10 4.2. Publishing Platforms for Open Access Digital Editions ..........................................................................11 4.3. Start of New Editorial Initiatives .............................................................................................................12 GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 3 of 16 4.4. Publication .............................................................................................................................................13 4.5. Purchase and Assignment of Bibliographic Identification Codes ...........................................................14 4.6. Fulfillment of Journal Registration Obligations and Communication of Relevant Changes ....................14 4.7. Fulfillment of Obligations and Internal Provisions Regarding the Long-Term Conservation of Documents of Cultural Interest .........................................................................................................................................15 4.8. Support for Indexing and Classification ..................................................................................................15 4.9. Monitoring and Statistics on the Editorial Activity ...................................................................................16 4.10. Promotion of the Editorial Brand ..........................................................................................................16 4.11. Relationships with Other Academic Publishers ....................................................................................16 4.12. Open Science Commission ..................................................................................................................16 4.13. Service Desk portal ..............................................................................................................................16 GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 4 of 16 1. PREAMBLE AND DEFINITIONS For the purposes of this document, “University’s editorial activity” refers to the publishing of intellectual works for which the University of Trento (hereinafter: UniTrento) acts as publisher or co-publisher. UniTrento’s editorial activity does not pertain to a legal entity separate from the University. However, in certain regulatory contexts (University Open Science Policy) or informative ones (University webpages, Service Desk portal), the terms “Publishing House of the University of Trento” and “University Press” are used to refer to the University in its specific function as a publishing house. UniTrento’s editorial activity was formally initiated in 1992. Since then, the University has been providing specific services for continuous editorial initiatives (journals and book series) or individual ones (single books) within its Structures (Departments, Centres, Directorates). With the aim of coordinating these services, in 2012 UniTrento centralized its technical-administrative staff that was primarily involved in supporting the editorial initiatives, and in 2021 the Scientific Publications Office (hereinafter: the Office) was established within the Dissemination and Evaluation of Research Outputs Division, part of the Directorate of Research Services and Valorization. 2. CURRENT ORGANIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY’S EDITORIAL ACTIVITY The Rector, as UniTrento’s legal representative, is the owner and responsible for the University’s editorial activity. In exercising this function, the Rector is required to update – personally or by delegation – the information communicated by UniTrento to the Register of Communication Operators (ROC), notifying the start of new journals, as well as changes to the identification data or the Editor-in-Chief of already-existing journals; the Rector is also required to communicate to the Court of Trento any changes in the management or identification data of journals registered with it. The University Structures decide on the start of new editorial initiatives, upon request by an affiliated person, and guarantee their content and formal quality, as well as their economic sustainability. For initiatives falling within the types of works admitted for publication with UniTrento (detailed in paragraph 3.1), the Structures can request their inclusion in the University’s editorial activity, relying on the Office’s support and coordination. Each editorial initiative is under the responsibility of the Structure that decided on its launch. Each continuous initiative includes a Director / Editor-in-Chief (responsible to the publisher), a Scientific Committee (responsible GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 5 of 16 for the criteria for selecting publication proposals and for the scientific assessment of proposals through peer review), and an Editorial Team (responsible for preparing the works for publication). The Office centrally supports and coordinates the University’s editorial activity from a technical-administrative point of view. It provides support and consultancy to proposers of new initiatives and to already-active editorial initiatives, and supports the Rector in exercising their function as publisher (preparing documentation for communications to the ROC and the Court, as well as fulfilling the legal deposit obligation). 3. UNITRENTO PUBLISHING POLICIES 3.1. Works Eligible for Publication The types of works admitted by UniTrento as part of its editorial activity are journals and books of scientific relevance, of high didactic value, or pertaining to the so-called “third mission.” The works published by UniTrento shall always include at least one text authored by a person affiliated with the University. The criteria for selecting publication proposals are established autonomously by each journal and book series published by UniTrento. To be admitted for publication, works shall undergo peer review or other types of quality assessment of their content, and be consistent with the editorial guidelines chosen by the relevant editorial initiative. The fulfillment of these requirements is guaranteed to the publisher by the Director / Editor-in-Chief of the specific editorial initiative and/or by the Structure proposing its publication. 3.2. Start of New Editorial Initiatives The start of a new editorial initiative shall be requested by a person affiliated with the University. In the case of journals and book series, the characteristics of the initiative are communicated, via a specific form (Scheda dell’iniziativa editoriale), to the relevant Structure, which approves its start through a resolution. In the case of single books, only the approval of the person directing the Structure is required. The approving persons vouch for the content and formal quality of the initiative and the securing of the economic and human resources that are necessary for it. The inclusion of an initiative in the University’s publishing activity shall be requested from the Office by the proposer, through a specific procedure available on the Service Desk portal. Journals and informative GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 6 of 16 periodicals are registered with the ROC; the registration of journals with the competent Court is reserved only for the ones that are published also in print edition, and is subject to the Rector’s prior consent. 3.3. Persons Eligible for Publication Each continuous editorial initiative published by UniTrento autonomously establishes which persons are admitted for publishing their works in it. Also authors and volume editors not affiliated with the University are admitted for the publication of single works (provided that the publication includes at least one contribution from a person affiliated with the University, as prescribed in paragraph 3.1). In any case, the publication proposal shall be submitted to the Office by a person affiliated with the University. 3.4. Open Access to Scientific Publications In accordance with the University Open Science Policy approved by the Academic Senate on 7th December 2022, UniTrento promotes Diamond Open Access by publishing its works as digital editions on online platforms that comply with the standards and protocols for open access. The publication of a work in print edition is subject to its publication as an open access digital edition. Informative and institutional periodicals are not published on open access platforms. 3.5. Publishing Platforms for Open Access Digital Editions UniTrento’s scientific and didactic journals are published as digital editions on TESeO - Trento Editions Service for Open Science (https://teseo.unitn.it/), a platform based on the open-source OJS software. The Office manages the website, which is reserved for the University’s editorial activity; the publication of each issue is the responsibility of the journal’s Editorial Team. The digital editions of books published by UniTrento are available on IRIS UniTrento (https://iris.unitn.it/), the University’s institutional repository; the publication of each work is handled by the Office and shall be requested by the relevant Editorial Team through a specific procedure available on the Service Desk portal. Exceptions apply to book series published on OJS software before 2021 and subsequently included in TESeO, which may continue to publish their works in TESeO. GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 7 of 16 3.6. Bibliographic Identification Codes UniTrento guarantees the assignment of appropriate bibliographic identification codes to all publications falling within the University’s editorial activity. ISBN (International Standard Book Number) codes are assigned by the Office to each book and monographic journal issue. ISBNs are assigned when the works are ready for publication. ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) codes are assigned, through the Office, to each journal and book series. The timing, methods, and requirements for the issuance of ISSNs are established by the sole Italian provider (Centro Italiano ISSN). DOI (Digital Object Identifier) codes are assigned to each book, journal issue, and journal article. DOIs are assigned upon publication. 3.7. Copyright and License to Publish The publication of a work by UniTrento is possible only with explicit authorizations issued by all parties holding economic rights over the texts and images contained therein. By filling in a specific license to publish form – which the Office makes available in advance to all editorial initiatives via the Service Desk portal –, each interested party grants the said authorization to UniTrento without time limits nor charges to the publisher, allowing the digital edition to be published under a Creative Commons license (UniTrento recommends using the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share-Alike license in its latest available version) and retaining the rights to their work (which may therefore be republished in other publishing venues, provided that the terms of the selected Creative Commons license are respected). The task of collecting the forms signed by the rights holders, verifying their completeness and correctness, and permanently archiving them on behalf of the publisher falls on the initiative’s Editorial Team, under the responsibility of the person directing the initiative itself. UniTrento entirely defers to the authors or volume editors the voluntary submission of their works to the Italian General Public Register of Protected Works. 3.8. Scientific, Ethical, and Legal Responsibility of the Editorial Initiatives Each editorial initiative is responsible to the publisher for: • the content and formal quality of the works (as per paragraph 3.1), including the necessary peer assessment through the correct and scrupulous application of scientific review procedures, or through GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 8 of 16 specific consultations in the case of works of high didactic value or pertaining to the so-called “third mission”; • full compliance with copyright, through the collection and permanent conservation of the license to publish forms (as per paragraph 3.7) in accordance with the provisions of the University; • full application of University regulations relating to research ethics and integrity, personal data protection and the processing of sensitive and judicial data, in addition to the obligation for journals to adopt a binding and publicly accessible code of ethics (or, alternatively, to state explicitly their adherence to the recommendations of COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics); • timely provision of materials and information necessary for the publisher to fulfill legal obligations (e.g., communication of changes to the Editor-in-Chief or identification data of editorial initiatives, submission of print publications for legal deposit); • the requirement of affiliation with a UniTrento Structure for the Editorial Team members with roles of responsibility towards the Office (the Editorial Team contact person and the technical contact person). These guarantees are formally required by the publisher during the procedure for starting a new editorial initiative and/or during the procedure for requesting the publication of individual works. The persons that are directly responsible to the publisher regarding the above-mentioned aspects are: • in the case of journals, the Editor-in-Chief (direttore responsabile), a professional figure regulated by Italian Law no. 47 of 8th February 1948, and therefore also legally accountable; • in the case of book series, the Director of the initiative; • in the case of single books, its proposer, and the Director of the relevant Structure limited to the scientific value of the work. UniTrento reserves the right to suspend online access to already published works, without the need for authorization from the relevant editorial initiative, in cases where evidence of the initiative’s failure to comply with its scientific, ethical, and legal responsibilities towards the publisher is found or reported by third parties. UniTrento may also order the partial or total obscuring of an editorial initiative’s website in cases of serious infringements of University regulations or in cases where the legal requirements for a journal’s Editor-in-Chief cease to be met (e.g., being a licensed journalist enrolled in a professional register). GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 9 of 16 3.9. Publication Costs Borne by the Editorial Initiatives Costs related to a single editorial initiative are borne by the initiative itself and/or the Structure that decided on its launch. Such costs include, by way of example, expenses for the purchase of software for text layout and image processing, for any outsourced services such as printing, distribution, and sale of the print edition, and for the payment of stamp duties for legal documentation (for example, communication of a change of the Editor-in-Chief of a journal registered with the Court). 3.10. Legal Deposit and Long-Term Conservation of Documents of Cultural Interest UniTrento, in its function as a publishing entity, is required to comply with the Italian legislation on legal deposit of documents of cultural interest (Italian Law of 15th April 2004, no. 106). Concurrently with the fulfillment of this obligation, the University implements further measures aimed at facilitating the long-term conservation and public access to documents of cultural interest published by UniTrento, such as the donation of complimentary copies of each new print publication to the University libraries and the Trento municipal library, the storage of one copy of each new print publication at the Scientific Publications Office, and the joining to Magazzini Digitali, an Italian national service for the long-term conservation and access to digital documents of cultural interest. For the fulfillment of legal obligations and complementary measures adopted by the University, each editorial initiative publishing works in print edition is required to send the Office a predefined quantity of complimentary copies of each new publication within 30 days from their date of circulation. The Office is required to communicate to the interested editorial initiatives, through dedicated pages of the Service Desk portal and/or the University website, the exact number of copies to be sent, depending on the type of work and the formal or informal agreements between the University and the depositary institutions. 3.11. Agreements with External Parties Editorial initiatives have the possibility, through their reference Structure, to enter into agreements with external parties for services concerning portions of editorial activity that are not offered by the University (for example, printing, layout, distribution, and sale of print editions). Agreements that imply co-responsibility between UniTrento and other publishing entities (for example, co-publications) shall be approved and signed by the Rector. The Office provides technical advice on the content of such agreements. GUIDELINES FOR THE EDITORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO Università degli Studi di Trento Approved by the Open Science Committee on 14 November 2024 Approved by the Academic Senate on 18 December 2024 Page 16 of 16 will submit it on behalf of the initiative. In any case, responsibility for the correctness of the data communicated in the application lies with the editorial initiative. 4.9. Monitoring and Statistics on the Editorial Activity The Office provides, upon request, statistical data on the University’s editorial activity for internal surveys and for external institutional surveys (ISTAT statistics on publications, Italian monitoring on Open Access). 4.10. Promotion of the Editorial Brand The Office contributes to the promotion of the editorial brand by participating in trade fairs, conferences, and dedicated meetings where to showcase the University’s editorial activity. 4.11. Relationships with Other Academic Publishers The Office maintains relationships with other academic publishers, both Italian and international, also by participating in collaborative projects in order to share experiences, expertise, and best practices. 4.12. Open Science Commission The Office regularly participates in the work of the Open Science Commission through its own representative, who is responsible for coordinating the working group concerning the University’s editorial activity. 4.13. Service Desk portal The Office shares and updates information, instructions and procedures related to the provision of editorial services on the University’s Service Desk portal.