Publication Policy
This policy sets out how JAFT manages peer review, access and licensing, charges, authorship, and the integrity of the published record. It complements the journal’s Ethics Policy.
Peer review
JAFT operates double-blind peer review: authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another. Every submission first passes a desk check (scope, formatting, and similarity screening) and is then evaluated by independent expert reviewers. Editorial decisions rest on reviewer recommendations and the editor’s judgement of scope and quality. Indicative timelines are published on the For Authors page.
Access, licensing & copyright
JAFT operates a hybrid model. Authors may publish their article open access — free to all readers under the CC‑BY‑4.0 licence, with copyright retained by the authors — by paying the article processing charge (APC). Articles published without the open-access option are made available to readers on a subscription or pay-per-view basis under the journal’s standard licence.
Article processing charges
An APC applies, tiered by author category, and is requested only after a manuscript has been accepted; it has no influence on editorial decisions. There is no submission fee or page charge, and invited papers are exempt. Full charges are listed on the For Authors page.
Preprints
Posting a preprint (for example on arXiv or an institutional repository) is permitted and must be declared at submission. Authors should update the preprint with a link to the published version once it is available.
Data availability
Authors are encouraged to make the data underlying their findings openly available wherever possible, in line with FAIR principles, and to include a data-availability statement in the manuscript.
Corrections, retractions & versioning
Significant errors are addressed through published corrections; work whose core findings are unreliable, or where serious ethical violations are confirmed, may be retracted. Correction and retraction notices remain permanently linked to the article record. See the Ethics Policy for the full process.
Archiving & preservation
Published articles are assigned DOIs and preserved for long-term access, so that the version of record remains permanently available and citable.
Appeals & complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision in writing with substantive grounds. Complaints regarding decisions or suspected ethics breaches are handled by the Editor-in-Chief under COPE guidelines. See the Ethics Policy.
Questions about these policies? Contact the editorial office.