The Importance of Scholarly Integrity and Facts in Academic Publications in Today's World: An Editor and Publisher's View

If you are reading this, there is a high likelihood you have an inherent interest in academics, science, and research. Depending on your viewpoint, you may partake this activity with a healthy dose of skepticism or conversely with an unwavering sense of trust that what is written is accurate. More likely, you fall somewhere in between-and should. While no treatise is immune to occasional errors, the importance of keeping transgressions to a minimum cannot be emphasized enough. An academic publisher's role is to promote proper validation of scientific findings by supporting editors in the peer-review process, certify these findings by publishing them in our journals, and ensure the distribution and archiving of these results in collaboration with multiple partners-in particular the academic libraries. An editor's role is to carry out that vision and mission to ensure, inasmuch as possible, the veracity of the content created by the individual authors, organize it for continuity, and produce a volume worthy of every reader's time and effort. In these activities, together we help build, protect, and conserve the integrity of the corpus of scientific knowledge, which spurs the thoughtful pursuit of human progress.

As editor and publisher, we formally state that we are committed to support public discourse based on corroborated facts and that we shall not adapt the editorial policies of our journals under any pressure. We have and will continue to validate and distribute peer-reviewed data and content.

Together with our partners in the library community, we have and will ensure wide access to the ever-expanding scientific corpus.