Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest
Editorial decisions are based exclusively on scholarly merit, relevance, methodological quality, integrity and clarity. Commercial considerations, author charges, institutional relationships and publisher interests do not determine editorial outcomes.
Decision authority
The Editor-in-Chief has final responsibility for editorial decisions. The publisher supports infrastructure and administration but does not direct acceptance, rejection or reviewer recommendations.
Independent peer review
Every manuscript passing editorial screening is evaluated double-blind by at least three independent reviewers selected for subject and methodological expertise.
Conflict screening
Editors and reviewers must disclose personal, professional, supervisory, collaborative, institutional and financial relationships. A conflicted person is recused and replaced.
Editorial submissions
A submission authored by an editor, board member or reviewer is assigned to an independent handling editor. The author has no access to reviewer identities, reports or the decision process.
Endogeny control
Before every issue, the journal audits editors, board members and listed reviewers against article authors. The journal’s target is to keep articles with any such person as an author below 25% in every issue. Recent authors may remain listed for transparent recognition of their appointment, but they are recused from manuscript handling. If the public endogeny threshold is exceeded, the journal defers indexation applications that require compliance until two consecutive issues meet the threshold.
Reviewer appointment
Appointment requires relevant expertise, a verifiable affiliation or scholarly profile, understanding of confidentiality and publication ethics, and willingness to provide evidence-based reviews.
Appeals
Authors may submit a reasoned appeal to the editorial office. An appeal is considered by an editor who was not responsible for the original decision; it does not guarantee reversal.
Accountability
Decisions and recusals are documented in the editorial record. Confirmed misconduct, undisclosed conflicts or repeated failure to meet ethical duties may lead to removal from the active roster.
Concerns about editorial independence or competing interests may be sent to editor.enigma.education@gmail.com. See also the Peer Review Process and Publication Ethics.