Our Code of Ethics
“POPS,” the academic presses of Université Paris-Saclay, serve all of its constituent institutions. They operate as a scientific publisher under the “diamond” model. Their catalog is made available via open access to the scientific community and the general public, without commercial intent. POPS is dedicated to publishing books, textbooks, scientific journals, and conference proceedings in digital format. These publications cover all of the University’s disciplines: science and engineering, life and health sciences, and humanities and social sciences.
General Principles
The Code of Ethics defines the values and principles of scientific integrity to which Université Paris-Saclay Open Press (POPS) adheres, as well as the best practices implemented to uphold them. This charter applies to all stakeholders in the editorial process: POPS governing bodies, scientific and editorial boards of journals, series editors, authors, reviewers, and external service providers. It applies to all editorial content published by POPS, although journals may adopt a supplementary charter providing further details on their own operations.
POPS adheres to the principles of transparency and ethics in publishing as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Publication Fees
However, costs related to editorial work and the technical infrastructure required for the digital distribution of journals and book series by POPS may be shared with the universities and institutions to which the teams leading these publishing projects are affiliated, or with other publishers in the case of co-publishing.
Copyright
Scientific writings are considered works of the mind under Article L112-2 of the Intellectual Property Code (CPI). Pursuant to Article L113-1, authorship is attributed to the individuals under whose names the scientific publication is released, unless otherwise specified (contributions without a direct and substantial role; see the “Intellectual Responsibility” section of this charter).
In accordance with the “no transfer of rights” strategy championed by cOAlition S, POPS do not require authors to transfer their rights in order to be published. They encourage the application of a Creative Commons license to manuscripts upon submission. Consequently, the transfer of rights established by the publishing contract signed subsequently by the parties, following the peer review process, is on a non-exclusive basis.
Journals published by POPS commit to following these same principles.
Intellectual Responsibility
Explanation of the contributions
Submitted manuscripts must list all individuals who contributed to their preparation in accordance with the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework. Only individuals who have made one of the 14 types of contributions identified by this framework may be listed as authors of the submitted manuscript. Consequently, all authors of the manuscript are informed of the publication process initiated with POPS.
Among the contributors signing the publication, those who qualify as authors are those who have made a direct and substantial intellectual contribution to the research design, data collection, data interpretation, and/or the drafting of the submitted manuscript. These authors are then held responsible for the scientific quality and integrity of its content.
The order of the manuscript’s authors should be discussed collectively at the outset of the publication project. Several approaches can be followed: descending order of contribution (the first name listed on the manuscript should be that of the person who contributed the most to the research and writing), an order based on equal contribution (if several people have contributed equally to the publication, this must be explicitly stated in the manuscript to avoid any interpretation of a hierarchical order among the authors’ names), or an alphabetical order of contribution (regardless of the type of contribution made). It is not good practice to prioritize a hierarchical order by listing the person highest in the scientific hierarchy as the first author, regardless of the significance of their contribution.
The contributors’ affiliations must be specified in accordance with the affiliation conventions in effect at their respective institutions.
Note that artificial intelligence cannot have author status.
Resource: https://coop-ist.cirad.fr/etre-auteur
Integrity in Conducting Research and Writing Publications
Authors agree to adhere to the principles of scientific integrity and best practices in scientific publishing. Submitted manuscripts must be original and written in accordance with the principle of cumulative knowledge. As such, the submission of a book manuscript or an article originating from a “paper mill” is prohibited.
Authors agree to abide by the rules of scientific discourse and to refrain from making any defamatory statements that could harm the reputation of others.
Any fabrication or falsification of research data, any manipulation of scientific signatures, or any borrowing that could be classified as plagiarism constitutes scientific fraud.
Resource: publications by Office français de l’intégrité scientifique.
Conflicts of Interest
All stakeholders in the POPS editorial process agree to disclose any conflicts of interest:
- During the submission phase: the editorial boards of journals, as well as series editors and book authors submitting a publishing proposal to POPS, agree to declare in writing their sources of funding (institutional or private) and any conflicts of interest they may have with members of POPS’ governing bodies.
- During the evaluation phase: members of the POPS Scientific Council and Technical Expert Committee—the bodies responsible for evaluating editorial proposals—as well as externally recruited reviewers, agree to declare in writing any conflicts of interest with regard to series editors, editorial boards, and authors submitting an editorial proposal, as well as with regard to the scientific content submitted for their evaluation.
- During the publication phase: POPS commits to clearly disclosing funding sources (institutional and private) and any conflicts of interest previously declared by the parties involved regarding the editorial content it publishes.
The journals published by POPS are committed to applying these principles within their own organizations and among authors and reviewers of their issues and articles.
Research data related to publications
Authors guarantee the reliability of the research data on which their publications are based. This data must be collected in good faith.
When it comes to personal data, authors must ensure its anonymity and protection in accordance with the Data Protection Regulation. Photographs taken during field research and any material that could make individuals identifiable may not be disclosed in a publication without the consent of the individuals concerned.
In accordance with Article L533-4 of the Research Code, derived from Article 30 of the Law for a Digital Republic, data must, as much as possible, adhere to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). The POPS bodies responsible for evaluating editorial projects and the external evaluators consulted reserve the right to request that authors provide access to their data and explain the methods used to analyze it.
In accordance with these same FAIR principles, the POPS commit to clearly indicating, as much as possible, the links between publications and the datasets deposited in the repositories designated for this purpose.
Resources: « Produire des données FAIR », site de l’Université Paris-Saclay ; « Données de la recherche », passeport pour la science ouverte, Comité pour la science ouverte, 2024 ; le guide du CNRS-SHS sur « les sciences humaines et sociales et la protection des données à caractère personnel dans le contexte de la science ouverte », version 2, 2021.
Research codes and software related to publications
The authors commit to making the software used to produce the results described in the publications available under a free license to the greatest extent possible.
In accordance with the principles of reproducibility and traceability of scientific results, the referenced software must adhere as closely as possible to the FAIR4RS and CODE recommendations on best practices for research software development.
In the event of partial or total reuse of third-party software, the authors agree to comply with the licenses under which such software was made available and to cite the software according to the author’s instructions.
In accordance with these same FAIR principles, and in line with the ministry’s Open Science strategy, the POPS commit to clearly indicating, as much as possible, the links between publications and software deposited in the repositories designated for this purpose.
Resources: Les licences recommandées par la Loi pour une République numérique ; Introducing the FAIR Principles for research software ; CODE beyond FAIR: a roadmap for reusable research software; « Codes et logiciels de la recherche », passeport pour la science ouverte, Comité pour la science ouverte, 2022.
Applications of Generative Artificial Intelligence
All stakeholders in the POPS editorial process commit to disclosing their use of generative artificial intelligence, beginning with the submission of manuscripts.
Authors, reviewers, and editorial staff—whether internal to POPS or external—agree to use only generative artificial intelligence software provided by their institution, respecting copyright and ensuring the protection of potentially sensitive data.
POPS further commits to not inputting submitted manuscripts into generative artificial intelligence software for the purposes of evaluation or editorial preparation, in accordance with data protection and copyright principles. Manuscript evaluations are conducted under the direct supervision of the designated researcher, who commits to providing constructive feedback in accordance with the standards of scientific discourse.
Evaluation Process
The aforementioned evaluation principles apply to all editorial content published by the POPS. However, it should be noted that proposals for collections and books are reviewed directly by the POPS governing bodies, whereas the journals published by the POPS independently and autonomously evaluate the articles submitted to them.
Transparency
Impartialité
The POPS are committed to implementing a clear and transparent evaluation process for selecting projects for publication. The selection criteria are detailed on the website, on the “Submit a Manuscript” and “Propose a Journal” pages.
Projects are evaluated jointly by the Scientific Council, in collaboration with external reviewers, and the Technical Expertise Committee. The composition of these two bodies is described on the “Governance” page.
Journals published by POPS commit to providing similar transparency regarding the composition of their editorial boards—aiming for gender parity and diversity of affiliation—the article selection process, and the evaluation criteria in effect by making their evaluation rubric publicly available.
With the same commitment to transparency, POPS ensures that the timeframe between manuscript submission, acceptance, and publication is made public.
To ensure that evaluations are as impartial as possible, the POPS Scientific Council is committed to engaging external reviewers (from outside both the Scientific Council and Université Paris-Saclay) while ensuring that there are no conflicts of interest between them and the authors of the manuscripts (see the “Conflicts of Interest” section of this charter). In this regard, the journals published by POPS are committed to opening their editorial boards as much as possible to members from diverse affiliations and to engaging reviewers from outside their own organizations.
The evaluation of editorial proposals by POPS bodies is conducted as a single-blind review (the names of candidates for publication are known to the POPS bodies, while the evaluation provided by POPS is anonymous); the evaluation conducted by external reviewers is a double-blind review. Journals published by POPS are free to choose the review model best suited to the standards of their discipline(s): single-blind, double-blind, or open peer review.
Reviewers—whether internal to the POPS, external, or invited by the journals’ editorial boards—agree to evaluate the scientific quality of the manuscript entrusted to them in an objective, constructive, and fair manner. The reviews submitted must be duly substantiated.
Privacy
The POPS journals are committed to not disclosing manuscripts submitted for their review beyond their own editorial boards, external reviewers, and any publishing professionals engaged as external service providers. Prior to publication, no information from a submitted manuscript may be used or disseminated by those who have had access to it, unless the authors consent.
The contents of the reviews conducted are also confidential and may not be disclosed, with the exception of reviews conducted—with the authors’ consent—using the open peer review model.
Journals published by POPS are committed to upholding these same principles.
Integrity
The POPS bodies responsible for evaluating editorial projects and the external reviewers consulted agree to report any suspected cases of scientific fraud. Manuscripts are uploaded to the Compilatio software, provided by Université Paris-Saclay, to detect any form of plagiarism.
In the event of fraud, the POPS reserve the right to take appropriate measures. In particular, the POPS may initiate a retraction process that consists of leaving the publications available for consultation while highlighting the scientific misconduct involved or the errors they contain.
POPS may also refer the matter to the “scientific integrity” officer at the author’s institution, the author’s employer, and any relevant authority.
The journals published by POPS are committed to upholding these same principles.
Digital Accessibility of Publications
In accordance with the European Accessibility Directive (2019-882), which took effect on June 28, 2025, POPS is committed to making its publications available in formats that are natively accessible to people with disabilities.
In addition, this POPS website meets accessibility requirements, and POPS is doing everything possible to ensure the accessibility of the websites for the publications in its catalog (both journals and books). This involves a range of choices in the editing, layout, and distribution of published content: sans-serif fonts, limiting typographic styling (bold, italics, underline), high-contrast colors, content structuring, alternative text for images, etc. These accessibility criteria are also taken into account in POPS’s communications with all stakeholders in the publishing chain and on social media.
Authors publishing with POPS commit to collaborating to meet these requirements, in particular by providing alternative text for figures and illustrations upon manuscript submission, in accordance with the recommendations provided to them.
Code of Ethics approved on October 1, 2026, by Poléthis.
Updated on October 19, 2026.