Journal Policies

MPA Research is a fully open access journal. All articles are freely available online to everyone, immediately upon publication, with no embargo period, no subscription, no pay-to-read wall, and no requirement to register or log in to read, download, copy, distribute, print, or link to the full text of any article.

This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative definition of open access. Readers are permitted to use published articles for any lawful purpose in accordance with the license under which each article is published (see the Licensing and Copyright Policy).

There is no charge to readers or their institutions for access. The journal’s open access model is supported by Article Processing Charges paid by authors or their institutions, where applicable (see the Article Processing Charges Policy).

Contact: info@mparesearch.com

Copyright. Authors retain full copyright of their work published in MPA Research. No transfer or assignment of copyright to the journal or publisher is required as a condition of publication.

License. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) unless a different Creative Commons license is explicitly stated on the article itself. Under CC BY 4.0, anyone is free to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for any purpose, including commercially, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and the original source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

Author grant. By submitting to MPA Research, authors confirm that the work is their own, that they hold the rights necessary to publish it, and that they grant MPA Research a non-exclusive right to publish the article and to identify itself as the original publisher. Because authors retain copyright, they may reuse and self-archive their published article (including the final published version) without seeking permission, provided the original publication in MPA Research is cited.

Third-party material. Where an article contains material (figures, tables, images, extended quotations) owned by a third party, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain written permission for its reuse under the article’s license and to provide appropriate attribution.

Machine-readable licensing. The applicable license is displayed on the full text and metadata of every article and embedded in a machine-readable form.

License URL: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

MPA Research is committed to full transparency about all fees. This page states every charge that may apply to authors. There are no charges beyond those listed here.

Submission fees. MPA Research does not charge any submission, handling, or manuscript-processing fee. Submitting a manuscript is free.

Article Processing Charge (APC). A standard Article Processing Charge applies to manuscripts that are accepted for publication after peer review. The APC covers editorial processing, peer-review management, production, hosting, permanent archiving, and DOI registration. The APC is payable only after a manuscript has been accepted; authors are never asked to pay in order to have a manuscript reviewed.

Waiver and discount policy. MPA Research recognises that the ability to pay should not determine the ability to publish. Authors who cannot pay the APC may request a full or partial waiver at the point of submission by writing to info@mparesearch.com. Waiver decisions are made independently of the editorial decision on the manuscript; requesting or receiving a waiver has no bearing whatsoever on whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

No hidden charges. There are no charges for colour figures, supplementary files, English-language editing (which is optional and not required for review), page counts, or any other item. Any optional paid service, if ever offered, would be clearly identified as optional and would never affect the editorial decision.

Refunds. Where an APC has been paid and an article is subsequently withdrawn or retracted through no fault of the author, refund requests are considered on a case-by-case basis at info@mparesearch.com.

All research content published in MPA Research undergoes external peer review before acceptance. Editorials, announcements, and clearly labelled non-peer-reviewed material, if any, are the only exceptions and are identified as such.

Type of review. MPA Research uses single-anonymised (single-blind) peer review: reviewers know the identity of the authors, but the authors do not know the identity of the reviewers.

Process.

1. Initial editorial check. On submission, an editor screens the manuscript for scope, completeness, ethical compliance, and originality (including plagiarism screening). Manuscripts that fall outside scope or fail basic checks may be rejected without external review.
2. Reviewer assignment. Suitable manuscripts are assigned to at least two independent expert reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Reviewers are selected for their competence in the manuscript’s subject area and must have no conflict of interest with the authors or the content.
3. Review. Reviewers assess originality, methodological soundness, validity of results, clarity, ethical compliance, and appropriate citation of prior work, and recommend one of: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject.
4. Editorial decision. A handling editor makes the decision based on the reviewers’ reports and the manuscript’s merit. In cases of conflicting reviews, an additional reviewer may be consulted. The final decision rests with the editor, not the reviewers.
5. Revision and re-review. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers for confirmation that concerns have been addressed.

Indicative timelines. The journal aims to complete initial screening promptly and peer review within a typical range of a few weeks, though timelines vary with reviewer availability and manuscript complexity. Speed is never prioritised over the rigour of review.

Reviewer conduct. Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential, must declare any competing interests, must not use unpublished material for their own advantage, and must provide objective, constructive assessments. Reviewers are expected to follow COPE’s Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

Handling of editors’ own submissions is covered separately — see the Editorial Independence and Editor-Authored Submissions Policy.

MPA Research is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved in publication — authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher — are expected to meet the standards below.

Duties of authors. Authors must ensure that submitted work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal. Data must be accurate and, where appropriate, available. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and inappropriate image manipulation are unacceptable and constitute serious misconduct. All sources must be properly cited. All persons who made significant contributions must be listed as authors, and all listed authors must have approved the submission. Any financial or personal conflict of interest must be disclosed.

Duties of editors. Editors decide which submissions are published, based solely on academic merit, validity, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, religion, nationality, seniority, or institutional affiliation. Editors must keep submissions confidential, must not use unpublished information for personal advantage, must handle conflicts of interest, and must act promptly and fairly when ethical concerns are raised, following COPE flowcharts.

Duties of reviewers. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts of interest, decline review where they cannot be objective or lack expertise, and provide timely, constructive, and evidence-based assessments.

Duties of the publisher. MPA Research supports editorial independence, maintains the integrity of the academic record, and is prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.

Handling misconduct. Allegations of misconduct — whether against authors, reviewers, or editors, and whether raised before or after publication — are investigated in line with COPE guidance. Outcomes may include correction, expression of concern, retraction, notification of the authors’ institutions, and a ban on future submissions. The journal follows due process and gives those accused an opportunity to respond.

Conflicts of interest. All authors must declare competing financial and non-financial interests. Where no competing interests exist, a statement to that effect is published.

Complaints and appeals are handled as set out in the Complaints and Appeals Policy.

Editorial independence. Editorial decisions at MPA Research are based solely on the scholarly merit of the work and its fit with the journal’s scope. They are not influenced by the commercial interests of the journal, by the payment or waiver of any fee, or by any external party.

Submissions authored by editors or editorial board members. MPA Research permits members of its editorial board to submit their own research, but such submissions receive additional safeguards to prevent any conflict of interest:

• An editor or board member who is an author of a submission is completely excluded from the handling and decision-making for that manuscript.
• The manuscript is assigned to an independent editor or an external handling editor with no conflict of interest, and undergoes the same external peer review as any other submission.
• The authoring editor has no access to reviewer identities, reviewer reports, or the editorial decision process for their own manuscript.
• To protect the integrity of the journal, the proportion of content authored by the journal’s own editors and board members is kept low and is monitored; the editorial board does not use the journal primarily as an outlet for its own work.

Editor conflicts of interest. Editors recuse themselves from any manuscript where they have a competing interest, including manuscripts from close colleagues, collaborators, or their own institution where objectivity could reasonably be questioned.

MPA Research has a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism, including self-plagiarism (redundant publication) and the use of others’ ideas, data, text, or images without proper attribution.

Screening. Every submission is screened using plagiarism-detection software before peer review. Manuscripts showing unattributed overlap with existing published work are returned to authors or rejected, depending on the extent and nature of the overlap.

Action on detected plagiarism. Where plagiarism is identified before publication, the manuscript is rejected. Where it is discovered after publication, the journal follows COPE guidance, which may result in a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction, and notification of the authors’ institution.

Text recycling and duplicate submission. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously, or re-publishing substantially overlapping work without disclosure and citation, is treated as misconduct.

MPA Research is committed to the long-term availability of its content.

Preservation. The full text and metadata of all published articles are deposited for permanent preservation in Zenodo, the open digital repository operated by CERN, and each article is assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through that deposit. This ensures that articles remain accessible and citable even if the journal’s own website becomes unavailable.

Access continuity. Because content is preserved in an independent third-party repository with persistent identifiers, the scholarly record is protected against loss.

MPA Research follows COPE guidelines for correcting the published record.

Corrections. Minor errors that do not affect the findings or conclusions are addressed with a published correction (erratum/corrigendum) that is linked to the original article. The original article remains available; the correction is clearly labelled and dated.

Retractions. Articles are retracted where findings are unreliable due to major error or misconduct (such as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism), where the work has been published elsewhere without disclosure, where ethical approval was absent, or where there is clear evidence of a serious breach of publication ethics. Retracted articles are not removed; they remain online, clearly watermarked as retracted, with a linked retraction notice explaining the reason.

Expressions of concern. Where there is well-founded concern that is still under investigation, the journal may publish an expression of concern pending the outcome.

Withdrawal before publication. Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before it is published; requests are considered in line with COPE guidance, particularly where an ethical concern has arisen.

Appeals against editorial decisions. Authors who believe a decision was based on a factual error or a misunderstanding of the manuscript may appeal by emailing info@mparesearch.com with a point-by-point response to the concerns raised. Appeals are reviewed by an editor who was not involved in the original decision. The editorial decision on an appeal is final.

Complaints. Complaints about the conduct of the journal, its editors, reviewers, or publisher — including complaints about publication ethics, editorial process, or journal management — may be sent to info@mparesearch.com. Complaints are acknowledged promptly and handled following COPE guidance, with an explanation of the outcome provided to the complainant.

MPA Research follows the authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authorship should be based on substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting or critically revising the work; approval of the final version; and agreement to be accountable for the work.

All authors listed must meet these criteria, and all who meet them must be listed. Contributors who do not meet the criteria (for example, funding acquisition or general supervision alone) should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors.

Changes to authorship (additions, removals, or reordering) after submission require the written agreement of all authors and an explanation to the editor.

Corresponding author responsibilities include ensuring that all named authors have approved the submission and any changes, and managing communication with the journal.

All authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived to influence the work or its assessment. For authors, this includes funding sources, employment, consultancies, honoraria, patents, and personal relationships relevant to the work. Every published article carries a competing-interests statement; where none exist, this is stated explicitly. Funding sources must be declared in a dedicated funding statement.

MPA Research encourages authors to make the data and materials underlying their published findings available to the extent that ethics and confidentiality allow. Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in a recognised repository and to include a data availability statement in the manuscript indicating where the data can be found and under what conditions they can be accessed.

MPA Journals recognizes that there are a myriad of AI tools available, and our policy is designed to guide their responsible use while maintaining the integrity and excellence of scientific publishing in this journal. Authors using AI tools should use them transparently and ethically, in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Research and following the best practices and policies detailed below. Authors are responsible for all submitted content including the accuracy of AI-generated content as well as referencing associated material as appropriate.