Publishing Model

Last Updated: October 2026

This policy is part of ETFLIN's Publishing Policies.

Overview

ETFLIN is committed to disseminating scholarly research through an open, accessible, transparent, and sustainable publishing model. Our publishing practices are designed to provide timely access to accepted research while maintaining rigorous editorial standards, reliable publication records, and consistent bibliographic information.

ETFLIN adopts a continuous article publishing model combined with scheduled journal issues. Under this model, articles are published individually as soon as they have completed the required editorial and production processes, rather than being held until the nominal publication month of an issue. Each article is assigned to the applicable active issue according to the journal's established publication schedule.

This approach allows readers to access finalized research promptly while preserving the volume and issue structure used for journal organization, indexing, citation, and bibliographic identification.

The details of publication frequency, issue periods, and eligible article types may vary between ETFLIN journals. The specific schedule displayed on each journal's official website governs that journal's publication arrangements.

Open Access Publishing Model

ETFLIN supports immediate open access to scholarly research. Articles published under an applicable open-access license are made freely available online without a subscription requirement or an embargo period.

Readers may access, read, download, and reuse published articles in accordance with the license associated with each publication. The applicable license and copyright terms are stated in the journal's publication information and article records.

ETFLIN's open-access approach aims to facilitate the dissemination of research, enable scholarly communication across institutional and geographical boundaries, and support the responsible reuse of scientific knowledge.

Open access does not reduce the requirements for editorial assessment, peer review, research integrity, or publication ethics. All manuscripts must satisfy the applicable scholarly and editorial standards before acceptance.

Further information about copyright ownership, licensing conditions, and author reuse rights is provided in ETFLIN's Copyright and License Policy.

Continuous Article Publishing and Scheduled Issues

Continuous Article Publishing

ETFLIN uses continuous article publishing to make finalized research available without unnecessary waiting for a scheduled issue's nominal publication month.

Once a manuscript has received formal acceptance and completed the required production procedures, the article may be published online as soon as it is ready. Authors do not need to wait for the end of a month, quarter, or other issue period solely because the journal maintains a scheduled issue structure.

Continuous publishing does not mean that manuscripts are published immediately upon acceptance. Before publication, the article must complete the applicable production and verification procedures, which may include copyediting, typesetting, author proof correction, metadata preparation, verification of publication requirements, and final quality checks.

The article's actual online publication date is the date on which the finalized article becomes publicly available as the Version of Record. This date must accurately reflect the publication event and must not be changed merely to match the nominal month of the assigned issue.

Scheduled Journal Issues

Although individual articles are published continuously, ETFLIN journals retain their established publication frequencies and issue numbering.

Each journal has a defined number of issues per publication year. Depending on the journal, an issue may be associated with a particular month or a broader publication period. The scheduled issue structure provides a consistent framework for organizing articles and maintaining bibliographic records.

The issue assigned to an article is determined by the journal's publication schedule and the article's actual publication readiness and release date. An article that becomes ready during an active issue period is assigned to that issue, provided that it meets the applicable assignment requirements before the period closes.

The contents of an active issue may therefore grow progressively as articles are finalized and published. Readers can access each article individually before the issue period ends, without waiting for the issue's complete contents to become available.

Example of a Quarterly Publication Schedule

For a journal publishing four issues per year, designated for March, June, September, and December, the publication periods may be organized as follows:

Under this arrangement, Issue 1 is the active issue throughout January, February, and March. Articles that complete the publication process during that period may be published online immediately and assigned to Issue 1 without waiting until March.

For example, an article published online on February 12 may be assigned to Issue 1, designated as the March issue. Its actual online publication date remains February 12, even though the issue carries the March designation.

Similarly, an article that becomes ready for publication and is released online during April may be assigned to Issue 2, designated as the June issue, provided that April falls within that issue's active publication period.

The designation month identifies the scheduled issue rather than the required online release date of every article within it. An article must not be withheld solely because its assigned issue is associated with a later month.

This example illustrates a quarterly schedule. Journals with different publication frequencies use their own published issue periods and assignment arrangements.

Journal-Specific Publication Frequency

Each ETFLIN journal is responsible for publicly identifying its publication frequency, issue numbering, and scheduled issue months or periods.

The applicable frequency is stated on the journal's official website, including its journal overview or issue information page. Where a journal publishes two issues per year, for example, its schedule may follow a June and December cycle. A journal publishing four issues per year may instead follow a March, June, September, and December cycle.

These examples are illustrative. The schedule of one ETFLIN journal must not be assumed to apply to another journal.

Authors are encouraged to consult the relevant journal's official information to understand its current issue frequency and publication arrangements. The general continuous publishing model does not replace the journal-specific schedule; it explains how articles are published within that schedule.

ETFLIN seeks to maintain the announced publication frequency and issue periods consistently. Any material change to a journal's publication frequency or schedule will be communicated through the journal's official website and implemented in a manner that preserves clear bibliographic identification.

Article Readiness and Publication Workflow

Continuous publishing begins only after the manuscript has satisfied all requirements necessary for publication.

Editorial Acceptance

A manuscript must receive a formal acceptance decision from the responsible editor before entering the final publication workflow. Acceptance cannot be inferred from completion of peer review, a revision request, a positive reviewer recommendation, or the submission of proof corrections.

All applicable editorial, research integrity, ethical, and technical requirements remain in force. The continuous publishing model does not permit the journal to bypass initial editorial assessment, peer review, required revisions, or other mandatory procedures.

Further information is provided in ETFLIN's Peer-review Policy.

Production and Final Verification

After acceptance, the manuscript proceeds through the production procedures applicable to the journal. These may include preparation of the final layout, copyediting, typesetting, author proofreading, reference and metadata verification, and technical checks of the publication files.

Authors must respond to production queries and proof requests within the deadlines communicated by the editorial or production team. Outstanding corrections, missing documentation, unresolved ethical concerns, or incomplete publication requirements may prevent an article from being released until the relevant issues are resolved.

Continuous publishing reduces waiting associated with scheduled issue release; it does not eliminate the time required to prepare a reliable and complete Version of Record.

Online Publication and Issue Assignment

Once the final article is approved for release, it may be published online and assigned to the issue whose active publication period corresponds to the applicable release date.

The assignment process must maintain consistency between the article's landing page, full-text files, issue table of contents, and relevant metadata records. Where supported by the journal's publication system, the article should appear in the active issue listing as part of the continuous publication workflow.

The date on which the article becomes publicly available must be recorded accurately. The assigned issue designation and the actual online publication date serve different purposes and should not be treated as interchangeable.

Issue Closing and Assignment Cutoffs

Each scheduled issue has a defined publication period. The active issue remains open for the addition of articles that satisfy the journal's publication requirements during that period.

When the period ends, the issue is closed for routine article assignment and becomes part of the journal's published archive. Articles that have not completed the necessary production and final publication checks by the end of the period will normally be considered for assignment to the next applicable issue.

Acceptance alone does not secure assignment to a particular issue. The relevant consideration is whether the article has completed the required publication workflow and is ready for release under the journal's established schedule.

ETFLIN does not backdate publication records or alter actual online publication dates to make an article fit a particular issue. If an exceptional administrative or technical circumstance affects issue assignment, the journal will seek to resolve the matter while preserving accurate publication dates and bibliographic records.

Once an issue has been closed, articles should not be silently transferred to another issue. Any necessary correction to an issue assignment must be handled through an appropriate editorial and metadata update, with the changes recorded consistently across the relevant publication systems.

The precise operational cutoff and any journal-specific exceptions must be applied consistently and reflected in the journal's publication workflow.

Publication Dates, Issue Information, and Citation Metadata

ETFLIN distinguishes between the actual online publication date of an article and the issue designation to which it belongs.

Where applicable, article records should identify the relevant bibliographic and publication information, including:

• Article title, author names, and institutional affiliations.

• Journal title, publication year, volume, and issue number.

• DOI or another applicable persistent identifier.

• The actual online publication date.

• Page range or article number, where used by the journal.

• Abstract, keywords, references, licensing information, and other relevant publication metadata.

Submitted, revised, accepted, and published dates should be reported where applicable and supported by the journal's publication workflow.

The metadata in the article's HTML page, PDF, issue listing, and relevant external registration or indexing services must remain consistent. DOI records should accurately identify the article and its assigned issue, where issue metadata applies.

The assigned issue month must not be substituted for the actual online publication date. Similarly, a change to an issue designation must not result in an inaccurate publication history or an inconsistent citation record.

ETFLIN will make reasonable efforts to maintain accurate bibliographic information and update relevant metadata records when a material correction is necessary. Further details concerning the preservation of publication records are provided in ETFLIN's Archiving Policy.

Publication Quality and Editorial Independence

Continuous publishing is an operational publication model and does not establish a separate standard of scholarly evaluation.

All manuscripts remain subject to the applicable peer-review and editorial procedures. Editors must evaluate submissions according to scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, research integrity, ethical compliance, and the adequacy of the evidence presented.

The active status of an issue, available publication space, or an approaching issue-closing date must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted. A manuscript must not be accepted merely to complete an issue, nor rejected solely because an issue period is nearing its end when the manuscript can appropriately be considered for a subsequent issue.

The journal's publication schedule must not compromise reviewer independence, the time needed for meaningful scientific assessment, or the authors' opportunity to address legitimate reviewer and editorial comments.

Continuous publishing also does not constitute a promise of expedited peer review, automatic acceptance, or publication by a specified deadline. Publication timing remains dependent on editorial assessment, reviewer availability, the completion of required revisions, and production readiness.

Any request for exceptional priority handling is subject to the applicable ETFLIN editorial procedures and does not override the requirements of the peer-review process.

Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing

ETFLIN supports immediate access to published research under the applicable open-access licensing arrangements of each journal.

The copyright ownership and permitted reuse of an article are governed by the license and copyright statement applicable to that publication. These terms must be clearly identified on the article page and, where applicable, in the full-text publication files and metadata.

Where a journal publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, readers may reuse the material in accordance with that license and its attribution requirements.

Continuous publishing does not alter an article's copyright status or licensing conditions. The fact that an article is assigned to an issue, published individually before the issue period ends, or included in a later issue listing does not create a separate license or embargo.

Authors must ensure that third-party content incorporated into their manuscripts is used with the necessary permissions or another valid legal basis. The applicable requirements are set out in ETFLIN's Copyright and License Policy.

Publication Fees and Financial Sustainability

ETFLIN's publishing operations may be supported through the financial arrangements applicable to each journal, including publication charges, institutional support, grants, sponsorships, or other permitted sources of funding.

Any author-facing fees, payment requirements, waivers, and discounts must be described in the relevant journal's official pricing information. Continuous publishing does not itself create an additional fee or guarantee a shorter processing time in exchange for payment.

Payment of an applicable publication charge does not guarantee acceptance, priority handling, or a particular publication date. Financial arrangements must remain separate from the assessment of scholarly merit and the editorial decision.

Waiver and discount requests, where offered, must be handled according to the applicable pricing policy and must not compromise editorial independence.

Further information is available in ETFLIN's Pricing Policy.

Corrections, Retractions, and Publication Updates

After an article has been published, any correction, expression of concern, withdrawal, or retraction must be handled under the applicable editorial procedures.

Continuous publishing does not permit published articles to be silently replaced or removed merely to simplify issue management. Material updates to the scholarly record must be documented in a transparent manner, with the original article and related editorial notices linked where appropriate.

Where a correction or retraction affects an article assigned to a closed issue, the journal will preserve the issue's bibliographic identity and update the relevant records as necessary. Such an action does not normally require the issue to be reopened or the article to be reassigned to another issue.

The publication date and issue designation must remain traceable throughout the process. Any necessary metadata changes must be implemented consistently to preserve accurate citation and discovery information.

The applicable requirements are described in ETFLIN's Correction, Withdrawal, and Retraction Policy.

Digital Preservation and Continued Access

ETFLIN seeks to preserve published articles, issue records, and relevant metadata to support continued access to the scholarly record.

Continuous publication creates an ongoing stream of finalized articles and updates to active issue contents. These materials should be incorporated into the journal's publication and preservation workflows so that article files, bibliographic information, and issue records remain available after the active publication period ends.

The closure of an issue does not terminate the publisher's responsibility to maintain its published content in accordance with applicable archival arrangements. Published articles and formal post-publication notices should remain discoverable through the journal's archive and relevant persistent identifiers.

Preservation practices, external archiving arrangements, and continued-access procedures are governed by ETFLIN's Archiving Policy.

Special Issues and Supplementary Collections

ETFLIN journals may publish special issues or other scholarly collections where these arrangements are supported by the relevant journal.

Articles within a special issue remain subject to the same applicable standards of editorial oversight, peer review, research integrity, ethical compliance, and publication quality as regular submissions. The involvement of guest editors, sponsors, or external partners must not compromise the independence of editorial decisions.

Where a special issue operates within a scheduled issue structure, the journal must clearly distinguish the special issue or collection from the regular issue and identify its relationship to the relevant publication records. Additional metadata, including the collection title and guest editor information where applicable, should be maintained consistently.

A special issue must not be used to bypass the journal's usual publication requirements or to promise acceptance or publication solely on the basis of participation in a themed collection.

Any special issue arrangements must comply with the applicable ETFLIN editorial and publication ethics requirements.

Changes to Publication Frequency or Schedule

ETFLIN seeks to maintain the announced publication frequency of each journal. Changes may occasionally become necessary because of operational, editorial, or strategic considerations.

Any material change to a journal's issue frequency, scheduled months, or publication periods should be reviewed and approved through the publisher's appropriate governance procedures before implementation. The updated schedule must be clearly announced on the journal's official website and reflected in the relevant publication information.

Changes should be communicated sufficiently clearly to avoid confusion for authors, readers, libraries, indexing services, and other users of bibliographic metadata. Existing published articles must retain their accurate publication history and identifiers.

Where exceptional circumstances prevent a journal from following its announced schedule, ETFLIN will make reasonable efforts to communicate the situation and preserve the integrity of its publication records. A schedule change does not justify inaccurate publication dates, undocumented changes to issue assignments, or the reduction of peer-review standards.

Policy Review

ETFLIN periodically reviews its publishing practices to ensure that the publishing model remains consistent with the journal's stated frequency, editorial requirements, open-access commitments, and relevant scholarly publishing standards.

Questions concerning this policy or the publication arrangements of an individual journal may be directed to the relevant editorial office or to halo@etflin.com.