Guidelines for Author

Information for Authors

Overview

United Press is a publisher of scholarly open access journals that maintain a peer-reviewed, rapid, and rigorous manuscript handling and editorial process. Our journals provide a fast and straightforward publication process under an open access license and are indexed in leading databases, ensuring broad readership.

As a pioneer in open access publishing, our mission is to make new research findings accessible to everyone. We serve scholars globally from diverse backgrounds, striving to build journals that reflect this diversity and inclusiveness. By valuing differences, we create an equitable work environment and foster the openness essential to our mission.

United Press's progress has always been driven by the exchange of ideas between the East and the West. We recognize that diversity extends beyond this and aim to bridge gaps between the global North and South, creating equal opportunities for everyone regardless of race, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, country of origin, physical ability, or socio-economic status. Discrimination based on these characteristics is not tolerated.

Benefits for Authors and Readers

United Press is committed to:

• Publishing thoroughly peer-reviewed journals with high scholarly impact.

• Ensuring quick publication, typically within 3-5 weeks of submission if no major revisions are needed.

• Providing full open access, allowing free and immediate access to all published content.

• Tracking citations to ensure coverage in top databases like Scopus, Web of Science, PMC, PubMed, and MEDLINE.

Open access means:

• Free availability of literature without subscription or price barriers.

• Immediate access to articles upon publication.

• Authors retain all copyrights and are not required to sign copyright transfer agreements.

• Published material can be reused with proper accreditation under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Market-Specific Taxes

Authors from Switzerland and Japan will have their invoices include local taxes: VAT for Switzerland and JCT for Japan, as per government rates.

English Editing

Authors must submit their work in correct English. The article processing charge (APC) includes only minor English editing. Extensive editing is not covered and may require using a paid language-editing service, which could delay publication. Rapid English editing is available through Author Services, and reviewer vouchers can be used for this service.

Funding and Discounts for APCs/BPCs

Many funding agencies and institutions allow research grants to be used for APCs and BPCs. More information is available on our funding page. Discounts on APCs may be granted at the Publisher's discretion and should be discussed with the editorial office upon submission. Reviewers may receive discount vouchers, which can be combined with IOAP and affiliated society discounts. Authors affiliated with participating universities receive APC discounts, but only one IOAP scheme discount is allowed per paper, although it can be combined with other discounts.

Peer-Review and Editorial Procedure

All submitted manuscripts undergo a thorough peer-review by experts. The Managing Editor conducts a technical pre-check, and the academic editor performs an editorial pre-check. The peer-review process is managed by the Editorial Office, collecting at least two review reports per manuscript. Authors can track the peer-review progress in real-time via the Susy platform. Final decisions, made by the academic editor, are communicated to the authors, who are required to make adequate revisions before final acceptance.

Editorial Decisions and Revisions

The decision categories are:

• Accept in Present Form: No further changes required.

• Accept after Minor Revisions: Accepted after minor changes based on reviewer comments, with a five-day revision period.

• Reconsider after Major Revisions: Acceptance depends on major revisions, with a maximum of two rounds allowed. Authors have ten days to resubmit revised manuscripts.

• Reject and Encourage Resubmission: Rejected but authors are encouraged to resubmit after additional experiments.

• Reject: Rejected due to serious flaws or lack of original contribution, with no resubmission offer.

Digital Preservation

United Press ensures indefinite preservation of its publications by archiving content in:

• The CLOCKSS archive

United Press retains copies of submitted manuscripts and supporting files for record-keeping but will delete files upon author request for rejected articles.