Peer Review Policies TU Wien Academic Press

High scientific quality is central to TU Vienna Academic Press. All manuscripts undergo a comprehensive quality assurance process from submission to publication, including peer review. Depending on the type of publication, additional information is gathered for evaluation (e.g. available expert opinions for dissertations). For special publication types such as conference proceedings and dissertations, additional quality assurance regulations apply.

In order to ensure good scientific practice, the Code of Conduct of TU Wien as well as the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice are considered authoritative. Furthermore, the Quality Standards for Open Access Books of the AG Universitätsverlage are observed with regard to technical, editorial and content-related aspects. General formal and technical aspects of submitted publications are checked in advance by publishing staff.

Single-blind peer review is standard at TU Wien Academic Press. It is possible to agree on other review procedures while maintaining high quality standards, e.g. variants of open peer review or double-blind peer review.

Authors and editors may propose individuals for review (any conflicts of interest must be declared). The final selection of the reviewers is made by the publisher after additional research based on subject-related and content-related criteria. As a rule, at least two persons are commissioned for the external review. For certain types of publications (conference proceedings, dissertations, edited volumes), an adapted review procedure may be used. In this case, the publisher’s quality assurance regulations for conference proceedings and dissertations apply.

The reviewers commissioned by the publisher submit their comments using a standardized review form and give a summary vote (recommendation for publication / recommendation for publication with conditions / not suitable for publication). The manuscript is revised on the basis of the expert opinions. When the revised manuscript is submitted, the authors or editors are asked to provide a short statement on the revisions (or non-revisions) that have been made. On this basis, the publisher decides on the further processes for publishing the manuscript. Formal control and quality assurance with regard to spelling, consistency of citations, illustrations, and other aspects are carried out by publishing house staff and external proofreaders after a positive publication decision has been made.