Journal Hosting and Affiliation Program

Last Updated: July 2026

ETFLIN is committed to advancing global scholarly communication through high-quality, open-access academic publishing. The ETFLIN Journal Hosting and Affiliation Program is designed to empower academic institutions, scholarly societies, university departments, and independent editorial boards by providing robust digital infrastructure, professional publishing workflows, and strategic guidance.

This policy outlines the governing principles, operational standards, rights, and responsibilities associated with hosting and affiliating an academic journal with ETFLIN.

1. Definitions, Program Scope, and Eligibility

1.1 Definitions

For the purpose of this policy, the following terms and definitions shall apply:

  • ETFLIN (Publisher): The academic publishing company responsible for providing platform infrastructure, technical workflows, production services, and publishing management.

  • Journal Hosting Program: A service framework wherein an external partner entity retains full ownership of their academic journal, while ETFLIN provides technical hosting, production, and indexing distribution.

  • Journal Affiliation Program: A collaborative publishing model wherein the journal is created, established, and legally owned by ETFLIN, while an eligible partner entity serves as the academic supervisor and quality assurance guarantor.

  • Affiliator: An eligible academic institution, faculty/department, learned society, or research center that partners with ETFLIN under the Affiliation Program to provide academic oversight, editorial direction, and quality assurance.

  • Hosted Journal: An academic journal owned by an external partner entity that utilizes ETFLIN's hosting and publishing infrastructure.

  • Affiliated Journal: An academic journal owned by ETFLIN and academically supervised by an Affiliator.

1.2 Eligible Entities

The program is open to:

  • Academic institutions and university faculties/departments.

  • Learned societies, scholarly associations, and research centers.

  • Independent journal editorial teams seeking transition to professional hosting or open access.

1.3 Qualification Criteria

To be accepted into the program, candidate journals or proposed new journals must demonstrate:

  • Clear research scope, clear contribution to the discipline, and a strong, diverse editorial board.

  • Strict adherence to international publishing ethics, including robust peer-review standards.

  • A clear plan for maintaining submission volume and editorial workflow continuity.

2. Services Provided by ETFLIN

Under the Affiliation and Hosting agreement, ETFLIN provides a complete end-to-end publishing framework divided into technical, editorial, and administrative support:

2.1 Technical & Hosting Infrastructure

  • Hosting on ETFLIN’s secure, high-availability platform utilizing modern custom journal management systems.

  • Minting and registration of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) via Crossref.

  • Regular server backups, SSL security protocols, and long-term digital preservation partnerships (e.g., PKP PN, CLOCKSS, or Portico).

  • Fully responsive website design optimized for academic search engines (Google Scholar, Bing Academic).

2.2 Production and Publishing Services

  • Conversion of accepted manuscripts into standardized PDF, HTML, and JATS XML formats.

  • Integration with automated similarity check software (iThenticate).

  • XML metadata generation for seamless indexing compatibility.

2.3 Indexing and Visibility Guidance

  • Assistance with preparation and submission for major indexing databases (e.g., DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO, PubMed Central where applicable).

  • Distribution of metadata across global academic networks.

3. Editorial Independence and Governance

Core Principle: ETFLIN strictly respects academic freedom and editorial autonomy.

  • The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board maintain sole authority over all editorial decisions, manuscript selection, and peer-review processes.

  • The affiliated journal must conduct rigorous double-blind or single-blind peer review involving independent, qualified subject experts.

  • ETFLIN does not interfere with editorial choices unless a published or upcoming article violates legal, ethical, or copyright frameworks (e.g., severe plagiarism, fraud, or libel).

4.1 Journal Title Ownership and Management

Ownership of the journal title, branding, and associated intellectual property is determined by the chosen program model:

  • Journal Affiliation Program: All journals established and operated under the Affiliation Program are created, managed, and legally owned by ETFLIN. The partner institution (Affiliator), qualified under Sections 1.2 and 1.3, serves as the official academic supervisor and guarantor of quality assurance.

  • Journal Hosting Program: Journals operated under the Hosting Program remain the exclusive property of the partner entity (e.g., university, learned society, or research group). The originating entity retains full ownership of the journal’s title, trademark, and branding, with ETFLIN acting as the service provider for hosting and publication support.

To maintain a balanced and comprehensive scholarly publishing portfolio, ETFLIN reserves the right to modify or adjust the title, aim, and scope of affiliated journals. Such adjustments may be implemented to fill gaps in subject matter coverage within ETFLIN’s publishing network, align with emerging academic disciplines, or prevent scope overlaps between journals. Any proposed title or scope modifications will be conducted in consultation with the affiliated entity and editorial board.

4.2 Article Licensing

  • All journals hosted under the ETFLIN program operate under an Open Access framework.

  • Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (or an equivalent CC license agreed upon during onboarding).

  • Authors retain copyright to their published work, granting ETFLIN and the journal a non-exclusive license to publish, display, and distribute the work.

5. Financial Structure and Business Models

ETFLIN offers tailored financial structures depending on the specific operational and financial needs of the affiliated journal. 

5.1 Sponsored or Diamond Open Access model

The hosting entity or sponsoring institution covers all associated hosting fees, ensuring that the journal remains completely free for authors with no Article Processing Charges (APCs).

5.2 APC-Supported Open Access model

An APC is charged to authors or their funding institutions upon manuscript acceptance, with the entire APC revenue going directly to ETFLIN to cover publishing, production, and platform maintenance operations.

5.3 Hybrid or Subsidized Model

This model combines institutional sponsorship with partial APC charges under a custom agreement tailored to the journal's specific circumstances. Detailed financial terms, hosting fees, and payment schedules are specified in individual Master Hosting Agreements.

All final APC rates, hosting fees, payment schedules, and financial obligations are determined at ETFLIN’s sole discretion and formalized within individual Master Hosting or Affiliation Agreements. Fee schedules are subject to adjustment based on journal scope, required technical services, and operational maintenance needs.

6. Ethical Compliance and Quality Control

All hosted journals must strictly comply with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA).

Mandatory Standards:

  1. Explicit publication of peer review practices, APC rates, ethics policies, and editorial board affiliations on the journal website.

  2. Active participation in investigating retractions, corrections, or peer-review manipulation.

  3. ETFLIN conducts an annual evaluation of hosted journals to ensure adherence to publication schedules, peer-review quality, and indexing criteria.

7. Application and Onboarding Process

  1. The editorial team or institution sends an application outlining the journal's history, scope, editorial board, and objectives.

  2. ETFLIN’s Publishing Board evaluates the proposal for scholarly quality and operational viability.

  3. Signing of the Journal Hosting & Affiliation Agreement, defining fee structures, responsibilities, and timelines.

  4. Migration of existing content (if migrating) or platform configuration (if launching a new journal), setup of DOIs, and launch.

8. Contract Duration, Renewal, and Data Portability

  1. Standard hosting agreements are executed for a minimum term of 3 years, renewable upon mutual agreement.
  2. Either party may terminate the agreement with a minimum written notice of 6 months prior to the end of the contract term.

  3. In the event of contract termination or migration to another publisher:

  • ETFLIN guarantees full export of all journal content, metadata, archive files, and reviewer/author databases in open standard formats (e.g., XML, PDF, CSV).

  • Articles published at ETFLIN will remain visible.

  • Existing DOIs will remain active.

9. Contact Information

For inquiries regarding the Hosting and Affiliation Program, application procedures, or technical details, please contact our publishing team:

  • Company Name: ETFLIN

  • Department: Journal Relations & Affiliation Program

  • Email: halo@etflin.com