Publication Transparency Policy
INDUSTRICS
Publication Transparency Policy
Transparency at INDUSTRICS means one thing: every claim the journal makes about itself can be checked. A journal that asks authors for their work and readers for their trust must show its own working — who owns it, how it decides, what it charges, what it earns, and how well it performs. This page is the inventory of what the journal discloses, at the level of each article and of the journal as a whole, and the discipline it binds itself to when making claims. It implements the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing issued jointly by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA and WAME.
One disclosure carries more weight in an applied journal than in most, and it is stated here rather than buried: readers must be able to see who paid for a study, who employs its authors, and whether the technology assessed belongs to either. A reader deciding whether to specify a component on the strength of a published result is entitled to know that before they act, not after.
Identity, ownership and people
The journal's name is unique and is not designed to be confused with any other publication. The legal owner and publisher, Scientara Publishing, Inc., is named with a physical address and working contact details; enquiries receive a response, not an autoreply. INDUSTRICS is owned by no manufacturer, trade association, standards body or commercial sponsor, and acts on behalf of none.
Every member of the editorial team is listed with full name, institutional or corporate affiliation, and country — all verifiable. Where a board member is employed in industry, their employer is published beside their name, and changes of employer are recorded as they occur, so that a reader can judge the board's composition for themselves rather than take the journal's word for its independence. No one is listed as editor or board member without documented consent, and no listed role is honorary.
What every article discloses
| Item | What the reader sees |
|---|---|
| Review status | Whether the article was externally peer reviewed; items assessed by the editorial office only are labelled as such |
| History | Dates of submission, acceptance and publication |
| Licence and copyright | The Creative Commons licence and the copyright holder |
| Funding and sponsorship | All sources of financial support for the work, or a statement that there were none, including materials, equipment or facilities supplied without charge |
| Competing interests | A statement from all authors — employment, consultancy, equity, patents filed or pending — including explicit declarations of no conflict |
| Evaluated technology | Where a study assesses a product, process or software made or sold by an author's employer or sponsor, that relationship, stated on the article |
| Maturity of the evidence | Whether the work is simulation, laboratory, pilot or in service |
| Author contributions and AI use | Individual contributions under the CRediT taxonomy, and any declared use of AI tools |
| Editor authorship | Where an author holds an editorial role, a statement naming the independent handling arrangement |
Journal-level reporting
- Each year the journal publishes a short public report: submission volume, acceptance rate, median times from submission to first decision and to publication, and the composition of its editorial bodies, including the distribution of board members between industry and research institutions. Numbers are reported as measured, including in years when they are unflattering.
- Automated tools the journal uses on submissions — similarity screening, image checks, AI-generated-text detection — are named in the publishing ethics policy; their outputs inform editors and are never the sole basis of a decision.
- Indexing, archiving and identifier services are listed only as they currently stand. A service under application is described as under application, never as achieved.
Revenue, advertising and endorsement
The journal's sole revenue is the article processing charge stated in the publication fee policy. It carries no advertising, sells no reprints, publishes no sponsored articles or supplements, and offers no paid route to faster or more favourable handling. Should any revenue source ever be added, it will be disclosed on this page before it takes effect, together with the rules separating it from editorial decisions.
Publication is not endorsement. Neither the journal, the publisher nor any member of its editorial board may be represented as endorsing, recommending, certifying or approving a product, supplier or process. Where marketing material implies otherwise, the journal asks for its correction, and says so publicly if it is not corrected.
Claims discipline
- Metrics are cited with their named source and year. The journal invents no metrics, cites no look-alike indicators, and displays no figure it cannot source.
- The journal describes itself as following COPE guidance and claims membership of no organisation to which it does not belong.
- Performance statements — speed, acceptance rate, reach — must match the most recent annual report, or they are not made.
- Invitations to submit or review identify the journal truthfully, describe it only in terms consistent with these policies, are sent to individuals for stated reasons rather than to purchased or scraped lists, and stop when the recipient asks.
Policy versioning
Every policy page carries its version date. Substantive changes are announced before they take effect — fee changes with the 60-day notice fixed in the fee policy — and the policy in force on the date of submission is the one that governs a manuscript. Prior versions are retained and available from the editorial office on request, so that what the journal promised at any point in its history remains checkable, which is the standard this page exists to serve.