Journal policies
Editorial policy
UCL Press regards it as fundamental that research should be conducted and published according to best ethical practice. Users will find the full list of editorial policies for the journal on the UCL Press editorial policy pages:
Editorial policies
Peer review policy
The Film Education Journal operates double anonymised peer review, where both the reviewers and authors are anonymised to each other during review.
- As far as possible, assigned Editors and invited reviewers will not possess any potential conflicts of interests to the submitted article. However, where this is not possible, in circumstances where specific and required expertise or other reasons that are deemed necessary, any decision to publish may require additional review to maintain fair review practice.
- The journal Editor may also decide to reject a review after considering any and all conflicts of interest and the reviewer will be informed of this decision. The Editor’s decision is final.
Further information about our peer reviewer policy, including reviewer and editor ethical obligations, can be found on the UCL Press editorial policy pages:
Peer review policies
Open data policy
Data has the power to revolutionise and disrupt the way societies are governed for the better. This is especially the case with open data, which is free to access, free to use, and can be shared by anyone. That is why the Journal of Experimental Pragmatics strongly encourages all authors to make all data on which the conclusions of their paper rely freely available to readers.
What is data?
Data are facts, observations or experiences on which an argument or theory is constructed or tested. Data may be numerical, descriptive, aural or visual. Data may be raw, abstracted or analysed, experimental or observational. Data include but are not limited to: laboratory notebooks; field notebooks; primary research data (including research data in hard copy or in computer-readable form); questionnaires; audiotapes; videotapes; models; photographs; films; and test responses. Research collections may include slides; artefacts; specimens; and samples.
FAIR Data Principles
The Film Education Journal supports the FAIR Data Principles (https://www.force11.org/group/fairgroup/fairprinciples):
Findable – making research outputs discoverable by the wider academic community and the public;
Accessible – using unique identifiers, metadata and a clear use of language and access protocols;
Interoperable – applying standards to encode and exchange data and metadata;
Reusable – enabling the repurposing of research outputs to maximise their research potential.
Citing data and data deposit
For support on best practice and how to cite to data already deposited elsewhere, authors are advised to use a free citation generator now available online at https://citation.crosscite.org. Prior to submission, all authors should ensure that their data are either deposited in publicly available repositories (for example, such as GenBank or the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity or other general subject suitable long-term and stable public repositories such as Figshare) whenever possible, or have included in the main text for open peer review if appropriate.
UCL authors are encouraged to use the UCL Research Data Repository (please see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/research-support/research-data-management/ucl-research-data-repository.) For further information including about FAIR data sharing, all authors can find some useful information about when, where, and how to share data as openly as possible, here https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/research-support/research-data-management/best-practices/how-guides/sharing-data.
Handling sensitive and personal data
In circumstances where ethical and legal issues dictate, any restrictions on sharing data (including research using personal data) should always be considered when storing and preserving research data. The journal also does not require public sharing of other sensitive data, such as the locations of endangered species. Alternatives to public sharing of sensitive or personal data include:
- Deposition of research data in controlled access repositories.
- Anonymisation or deidentification of data before public sharing.
- Only sharing metadata about research data.
- Stating the procedures for accessing your research data in your article and managing data access requests from other researchers.
The Film Education Journal adheres to the principle for data to be open: 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary' as outlined online at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/research-support/research-data.
Data repositories
The preferred mechanism for sharing research data is via data repositories. For help finding relevant research data repositories please see https://repositoryfinder.datacite.org.
Data citation
The journal encourages authors to cite any publicly available research data in their reference list. References to datasets (data citations) must include a persistent identifier (such as a DOI). Citations of datasets, when they appear in the reference list, should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite and follow journal style.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
As a part of UCL (University College London, UK), UCL Press and its publication the Film Education Journal are committed to UCL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
In particular:
UCL defines “equality” as the absence of unjust social hierarchy such as those based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion, and “diversity” as the presence of different cultural traditions and identities.
We wish to foster a positive cultural climate where all staff and students can flourish, where no-one will feel compelled to conceal or play down elements of their identity for fear of stigma. UCL will be a place where people can be authentic and their unique perspective, experiences and skills seen as a valuable asset to the institution.
UCL Press and the Editorial Board of the Film Education Journal aim to foster this positive cultural climate for all authors, reviewers, users and staff of the publication, to discuss, debate and encourage critical thinking on real world problems with the aim of benefitting humanity.