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All submitted manuscripts are assessed by the editor(s) for suitability for the review process. To save authors and referees time, only those manuscripts judged most likely to meet the editorial criteria are sent out for formal review. To be considered for publication in ICC, any given manuscript must satisfy the following criteria: originality, high importance to researchers in the field, rigorous methodology, substantial evidence for its conclusions. Special attention is paid by the editors to the readability of submitted material. Further editorial criteria may be applicable for different kinds of papers. Those papers judged by the editors to be of insufficient general interest or otherwise inappropriate are rejected promptly without external review (although these decisions may be based on informal advice from specialists in the field).

Policy of screening for plagiarism:

Papers submitted to ICC publication will be screened for plagiarism using plagiarism detection tools (Plagiarism Detector). ICC will immediately reject papers leading to plagiarism or self-plagiarism.

Manuscripts that are sent for peer review typically go to two referees.

Referees are chosen for the following reasons:

• independence from the authors and their institutions (the reviewers cannot be affiliated with the same institution as the author of the article and should not have collaborated with the author in the last five years.);
• expertise in the pertinent subject area;
• ability to evaluate the technical aspects of the paper fully and fairly;
• reputation;
• specific recommendations;
• previous experience of a reviewer's characteristics;
• availability to assess the manuscript within the requested time.

Prior to agreeing to review a paper, reviewers must declare if they have any conflicts of interest, including any relationship with the author, or if they are engaged in competing work that may potentially bias their review. If they do, an alternative reviewer will be assigned.

Referee policy treats the contents of papers under review as privileged information not to be disclosed to others before publication.

All referees agree to ICC's conditions before ICC sends them a manuscript to assess.

It is the major editorial policy to review the submitted articles as fast as possible. Reviewers are asked whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, and will assess the manuscript quality.

Reviewers are also asked to indicate which articles they consider to be especially interesting or significant.

The ICC shall not accept or publish manuscripts without prior peer review. Based on their advice, the editor decides:
- to accept the manuscript, with or without minor revision;
- to invite the authors to revise the manuscript to address specific concerns before a final decision is reached;
- to reject the manuscript, typically on grounds of specialist interest, lack of novelty, insufficient conceptual advance or major technical and/or interpretational problems.

Referees may recommend a particular course of action in their confidential comments to the editor, but should bear in mind that the editors may have to make a decision based on conflicting advice. Furthermore, editorial decisions are not a matter of counting votes or numerical rank assessments, but rather are based on an evaluation of the strengths of the arguments raised by each referee and by the authors.

The comments of the anonymous reviewers will be forwarded to authors.

The review process shall ensure that all authors have equal opportunity for publication of their papers.

Acceptance and scheduling of publication of papers in this periodical shall not be impeded by added criteria and procedures beyond those contained in the review process.
Submitted papers must be in English or French and should not have been published elsewhere or being currently under consideration by any other journal.

Authors are kindly asked to submit their manuscript according to the corresponding template.

The Editorial Board will then make a decision about publication in this periodical and authors will be notified.

All manuscripts accepted for publication are subject to editing by the publisher for presentation, style and grammar.

The Editorial Board's decision is final.