Guidelines for Learned Societies

1. Introduction

DAPresses offers learned societies a route to global dissemination of scholarly outputs through modern publishing workflows. We welcome societies across STEM, Arts, Humanities, and allied fields that need strong editorial infrastructure and publication visibility.

2. Eligibility Requirements

Eligible organisations

• STEM-based learned societies
• Arts, Humanities, and liberal arts societies
• Professional and specialist scholarly communities

Supported outputs

• Specialist, niche, professional, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary journals
• Conference, seminar, workshop, and symposium outputs
• International and regional scholarly forums seeking stronger visibility
• Archival migration of prior scholarly outputs
• Special issues and curated collections

3. Open Access and Publishing Model

DAPresses encourages societies to align with UNESCO open science principles while retaining flexibility around publication models.

• Open access is strongly encouraged
• Subscription and hybrid models can also be supported
• Licensing terms should be transparent and clear to readers and authors
• Reuse expectations should be documented explicitly

4. Editorial Governance Requirements

• An Editor-in-Chief appointed by the society
• An international editorial board where possible
• Sectional editors where applicable
• A defined governance structure and editorial independence
• Policies covering scope, ethics, language clarity, authorship, and data transparency

Editors-in-Chief of hosted society journals become part of the wider Dialogic Joint Editorial Board environment.

5. Manuscript Handling and Peer Review

Society journals are expected to operate fair, timely, and independent review processes with strong disciplinary and interdisciplinary judgment where needed.

• Single-blind review is acceptable
• Clarity for non-specialist readers is encouraged for cross-boundary work
• Editors may request additional review where interdisciplinary interpretation is important

6. Production, Quality Assurance, and AI Use

• DAPresses provides submission management, copyediting, production, DOI assignment, indexing support, and archiving
• Manuscripts must be original, ethically prepared, and written clearly
• Figures, tables, and references must meet technical and quality standards
• AI use must be disclosed and may only support clarity, not generate research content

7. Visibility, Branding, and Responsibilities

Societies can integrate their identity within DAPresses design guidelines while benefiting from platform-level discoverability and publication support.

• Society branding can be reflected on journal pages
• Events, calls, and announcements can be incorporated into the journal experience
• Societies remain responsible for editorial appointments and ethical oversight
• DAPresses remains responsible for publishing infrastructure, technical support, production workflows, and discoverability support

8. Financial Models and Launch Process

• Society-funded publishing
• Sponsorship-supported models
• APCs where appropriate
• Revenue-sharing arrangements where suitable
• Subscription and hybrid publishing structures

1. Submit an expression of interest
2. Share journal scope and governance details
3. Review the partnership agreement
4. Set up the journal workflow and site
5. Migrate any legacy content if needed
6. Launch and begin publication operations

9. Evaluation and Continuous Improvement

Hosted society journals should review editorial performance, policy relevance, quality outcomes, and visibility strategies regularly to support long-term growth and integrity.