Academic Representatives
Academic Ambassadors act solely as Academic Representatives of IJPSC. They have no influence on the editors of IJPSC, are strictly separated from all editorial roles and do not conduct peer reviews.
IJPSC applies a strict 0% endogeny rule: it does not publish research articles by its editors, Editorial Board members or reviewers. Academic Ambassadors hold none of these roles. Ambassadors have no influence on the Editorial Board, on the handling of submissions, on the acceptance of articles or on any other part of the review process; in the double-blind process they do not even know who reviews an article. An Academic Ambassador can never become a member of the Editorial Board and can never take on the role of an editor or reviewer.
1. Purpose and Scope
The International Journal of Psychology and Strategic Communication (IJPSC) appoints Academic Ambassadors to strengthen its international scholarly outreach. Together, the Academic Ambassadors form the Academic Outreach Committee, a body that is organizationally separate from the Editorial Board and has no editorial function.
This policy defines the responsibilities, limits, and conduct of Academic Ambassadors. It safeguards editorial independence, the integrity of peer review, and the journal’s commitment to minimizing endogeny in line with the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. It applies to all Academic Ambassadors; to the Editor-in-Chief, editors, Editorial Board members, and reviewers of IJPSC; and to anyone who moves from an editorial role to the Academic Outreach Committee.
2. Definitions
An Academic Ambassador is an internationally well-connected researcher who is highly active on a global scale and teaches and conducts research at several universities worldwide. For this reason, Academic Ambassadors play an important role in the IJPSC community. They are appointed by IJPSC to support scholarly networking, outreach, and collaboration, and they hold no editorial, reviewing, or decision-making role.
The Academic Outreach Committee is the body formed by all Academic Ambassadors. It is coordinated by the IJPSC journal office and reports on outreach activities, never on manuscripts.
3. Responsibilities
Academic Ambassadors support the international scholarly outreach of IJPSC in a passive, informational capacity. They encourage early-career and experienced researchers to connect with one another, and they inform their networks about the opportunity to publish in IJPSC in accordance with DOAJ standards, through a double-blind peer-review process and under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). They also identify emerging research topics relevant to the journal’s aims and scope, build connections with universities, research institutions, and scholarly networks, and encourage research collaborations. In addition, they may propose topics and participants for IJPSC Round Tables and other academic events.
Academic Ambassadors refer prospective authors to the journal’s public submission system and author guidelines. They do not collect, pre-screen, edit, or submit manuscripts on behalf of other authors.
4. Editorial Independence and Research Integrity
Academic Ambassadors have no role in editorial decisions or the peer-review process. They are not members of the Editorial Board and are listed separately from it. They do not serve as editors, guest editors, or reviewers for IJPSC, and they do not recommend or nominate reviewers for manuscripts submitted by others. Their access to the submission and peer-review system is limited to their own submissions as authors, and they receive no information about the status, reviewers, or review reports of other manuscripts.
Academic Ambassadors have no influence on the Editorial Board at any time and cannot recommend articles for publication. Every manuscript is assessed exclusively through the journal’s double-blind peer-review process. Any attempt to influence the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript, or to give authors assurances about the outcome, speed, or likelihood of publication, is contrary to the ethical standards of the journal.
When an editor needs a reviewer, the editor finds one independently. An Ambassador may suggest experts to the journal office only in general terms to help build the reviewer pool, never for a specific manuscript.
Rejection of paper mills. IJPSC is not a paper mill and firmly rejects paper mills and all related practices, including commercial manuscript brokering, ghostwriting, the sale of authorship, citation manipulation, and guaranteed publication. The Ambassador role serves scholarly exchange only. Any indication of such practices leads to the rejection or retraction of the manuscripts concerned and to the termination of the Ambassador role, in line with COPE guidance. Ambassadors are not payed at any time. They act independently in their own name.
5. Submissions by Academic Ambassadors
Academic Ambassadors may submit research articles to IJPSC, either alone or together with colleagues, doctoral candidates, and students. Their submissions receive no preferential treatment and undergo the journal’s standard double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers. The handling editor and the reviewers must have no conflict of interest with the Ambassador, such as recent co-authorship, a shared institutional affiliation, a supervisory relationship, or close personal ties.
Ambassadors disclose their role in the cover letter, and the published article states it in the competing-interests statement, for example: “The author serves as an Academic Ambassador of IJPSC. This role carries no editorial or peer-review responsibilities.” Manuscripts by students or early-career researchers introduced by an Ambassador are treated like any other submission. Authorship must follow COPE and ICMJE criteria, and gift or honorary authorship for the Ambassador is not permitted. IJPSC monitors the share of articles linked to the Academic Outreach Committee (see Section 10) to keep its author base diverse.
6. Round Tables and Academic Events
Academic Ambassadors may propose topics for IJPSC Round Tables and other academic events and invite suitable participants. IJPSC is responsible for the technical and organizational implementation.
Round Tables are formats for scholarly exchange, not a route to publication. If contributions arising from a Round Table are submitted to IJPSC, each manuscript is submitted individually and reviewed under the standard peer-review process. The Ambassador who initiated the Round Table does not select, solicit, compile, or edit these manuscripts. Any themed collection or special issue is curated by the Editor-in-Chief or an appointed editor; Ambassadors never act as guest editors.
7. Change of Roles and Endogeny
A person may move from an editorial role to the Academic Outreach Committee, but a move from the Academic Outreach Committee to an editorial role is not possible. A role change takes effect only once the previous role has ended in practice, meaning that all assigned manuscripts and review invitations have been completed or reassigned and access to editorial or reviewing functions has been removed. All role changes are dated and recorded in the journal’s internal register.
IJPSC applies a strict 0% endogeny rule. It does not publish any research article in which at least one author held an editorial role at IJPSC at any time between submission and publication, or at any time during the calendar year of publication. A later change of title does not lift this exclusion.
8. Voluntary Role
The role of Academic Ambassador is voluntary and unpaid. Academic Ambassadors receive no fees, commissions, or other benefits for their work, for introducing authors, or for manuscripts that are submitted or published. IJPSC does not set targets or quotas for the number of authors or manuscripts an Ambassador introduces, and Ambassadors must not request or accept payments or favors from authors in connection with the journal.
IJPSC covers the costs of its publishing infrastructure, including DOI registration, technical hosting, and the dissemination of published articles. These costs are independent of the Ambassador role.
9. Appointment, Term, and Conduct
Academic Ambassadors are appointed by the Editor-in-Chief based on their academic qualifications, international networks, and commitment to research integrity. Each appointment is confirmed in writing together with this policy. The term is three years and may be renewed; either party may end the role at any time with written notice.
Ambassadors follow the COPE Core Practices, represent the journal accurately, and never describe themselves as editors of IJPSC. Information they receive about the journal’s plans or events is treated as confidential where indicated. IJPSC terminates the role if an Ambassador breaches this policy, in particular by interfering with peer review, offering assurances of publication, or accepting benefits from authors.
10. Transparency and Monitoring
IJPSC lists all Academic Ambassadors with their name, academic position, and institutional affiliation on a dedicated page, separate from the Editorial Board. The page states that Ambassadors have no roles, no rights, and no influence on the Editorial Board, editorial decisions, or peer review. They act solely as Academic Representatives of IJPSC: as globally connected researchers, they represent the journal publicly, increase its visibility, and advance its research and perspective through their international networks.
Once a year, the Editor-in-Chief confirms that no endogenous research articles have been published, reviews the share of research articles with at least one Academic Ambassador as an author, and assesses the institutional and geographical diversity of authors. A short summary of this review is published. This policy is reviewed every two years.