Purpose and Scope of These Policies
These policies describe the editorial, ethical, financial, and publishing principles that govern ISQGD Books, the official scholarly publisher of the International Society for Quality Growth and Development (ISQGD). ISQGD Books serves as the Society’s book-publishing program. These policies are intended to support consistent decision-making, protect editorial independence, provide transparency for authors and reviewers, and maintain high scholarly and production standards.
ISQGD Books considers textbooks, research monographs, lecture texts, advanced educational books, and interdisciplinary scholarly works in mathematics, statistics, science, engineering, technology, education, data science, artificial intelligence, and related areas.
Editorial Board, Editor-in-Chief, and Handling Editors
The Editor-in-Chief provides overall academic leadership for ISQGD Books. The Editorial Board supports the scholarly development of the publishing program, advises on proposals and manuscripts within relevant areas of expertise, recommends qualified reviewers where appropriate, and helps maintain consistent editorial standards.
Individual books are handled according to subject expertise. A suitable handling editor may be assigned to coordinate evaluation, reviewer selection, revision, and recommendation. Editorial Board membership does not imply involvement in every manuscript.
Editorial appointments, current affiliations, and contact information are maintained on the official ISQGD Books Editorial Board section.
Editorial Independence and Decision-Making
Academic decisions are based on scholarly merit, educational value, originality, clarity, reviewer reports, the intended readership, and the recommendations of the responsible editor. The ISQGD Board of Directors provides institutional governance for ISQGD, but individual book acceptance decisions are handled through the scholarly editorial structure of ISQGD Books.
No author is entitled to acceptance because of institutional affiliation, ISQGD membership, leadership position, personal relationship, financial contribution, or prior service to ISQGD.
Independent Peer Review
Books considered for publication undergo an editorial evaluation appropriate to the nature of the work. Substantial textbooks, monographs, and other scholarly books are normally reviewed by qualified external experts with relevant subject knowledge. The review process may involve proposal review, sample-chapter review, full-manuscript review, or a combination of these stages.
For substantial scholarly books, ISQGD Books ordinarily seeks at least two independent external reviews before a final publication decision, unless the Editor-in-Chief determines that a different review structure is more appropriate for a particular type of work.
Reviewers are asked to consider correctness, originality or distinctiveness, organization, exposition, pedagogical or scholarly value, completeness, suitability for the intended readership, and the quality of examples, exercises, figures, tables, references, and supporting material where applicable.
Conflict-of-Interest Policy
ISQGD Books requires appropriate management of actual, potential, and perceived conflicts of interest. An author who is an ISQGD officer, Board Director, Editorial Board member, editor, staff member, or another person closely connected with the publishing program must not control the evaluation of his or her own manuscript.
In such cases, an independent editor will be assigned. The author will not select reviewers, evaluate reviewer reports on behalf of the publisher, or make the publication decision concerning the manuscript.
Editors and reviewers should disclose relationships or circumstances that could reasonably affect, or appear to affect, their impartiality.
Originality, Plagiarism, Research Integrity, and Responsible Scholarship
Authors must submit work that is original, properly attributed, and prepared in accordance with accepted standards of academic integrity. Substantial unattributed copying, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, deceptive manipulation of evidence, or other serious forms of scholarly misconduct are incompatible with publication by ISQGD Books.
Authors are responsible for accurately acknowledging sources, collaborators, prior publication, related editions, and any material reproduced or adapted from third parties. Where a book incorporates previously published material, the relationship to that material must be clearly disclosed and all necessary permissions must be secured.
ISQGD Books may decline, suspend, or terminate consideration of a manuscript when serious ethical concerns arise. If concerns are discovered after publication, appropriate corrections, notices, withdrawal statements, or other remedies may be considered depending on the circumstances.
Author Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for the scholarly accuracy of their manuscripts, the originality of their work, the accuracy of citations and permissions, and the timely correction of errors identified during review and production. Authors should respond carefully and professionally to editorial and reviewer comments and should disclose any material change in authorship, content ownership, or publication status while the book is under consideration.
All named authors must have made a meaningful contribution to the work and must approve the submitted and final versions. The publishing agreement will identify the authors or editors legally responsible for the work.
Reviewer Responsibilities and Confidentiality
Reviewers are expected to provide fair, constructive, evidence-based evaluations within a reasonable time. Review material should be treated as confidential and should not be shared, used for personal advantage, or discussed outside the review process without authorization.
Reviewers should avoid personal criticism and should identify significant errors, omissions, unclear arguments, pedagogical weaknesses, or concerns about originality or attribution whenever relevant.
Possible Editorial Outcomes
Depending on the stage of review, an editorial decision may include: invitation to submit a full manuscript, revision requested, major revision and reconsideration, conditional acceptance subject to specified changes, acceptance, or decline. A proposal invitation does not constitute final acceptance of the completed book.
Final academic acceptance is made through the ISQGD Books editorial process after the required review and revision stages have been satisfactorily completed.
Appeals, Complaints, and Editorial Concerns
Authors may raise a reasoned appeal or complaint when they believe that a significant procedural error, undisclosed conflict of interest, or serious misunderstanding materially affected an editorial decision. Appeals should identify the specific concern and provide relevant supporting information.
An appeal does not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance. Where appropriate, the matter may be reviewed by an editor who was not responsible for the original decision.
Author Agreements, Copyright, Licensing, and Permissions
Every accepted title is governed by a written publishing agreement. The agreement should address publishing rights, copyright, formats and editions, pricing, royalties, accounting, approved deductions, author copies, revisions, permissions, termination, and other relevant responsibilities.
ISQGD Books generally favors arrangements in which authors retain copyright while granting ISQGD Books the publishing rights necessary to produce, distribute, market, archive, and make the work available in the agreed formats. The exact terms are determined by the applicable publishing agreement.
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for third-party material that requires authorization, including copyrighted figures, photographs, tables, substantial quotations, or other protected content.
Pricing and Global Accessibility
ISQGD Books seeks to maintain reasonable and internationally accessible pricing while supporting professional production and a sustainable publishing program. Electronic and print prices are determined in consultation with the author and may reflect production requirements, distribution arrangements, format, length, expected readership, and market conditions.
ISQGD Books may establish a standard worldwide electronic-book price for a title where appropriate. Print prices may differ because printing, retail, fulfillment, and distribution costs vary by format and channel.
Royalty and Revenue-Sharing Policy
Under the standard ISQGD Books model, authors ordinarily receive 40% of Distributable Net Revenue from sales of their books, subject to the applicable publishing agreement.
Distributable Net Revenue means the amount remaining from receipts attributable to the sale of a book after the clearly defined and contractually permitted publication, transaction, production, and distribution costs have been accounted for.
Book-specific one-time production costs are recoverable only as provided in the author agreement. Once such approved one-time costs have been fully recovered, they cease to be deducted from later sales. Genuine continuing transaction, platform, printing, fulfillment, or distribution costs may continue to apply where relevant.
Royalty statements and payment procedures will be specified in the publishing agreement. ISQGD Books aims to maintain transparent accounting so that authors can understand the basis on which royalties are calculated.
Typesetting, Copyediting, Design, and Production Quality
Accepted books are expected to meet consistent standards for typography, mathematical notation, figures, tables, references, metadata, accessibility, and overall production quality. The exact production workflow may vary depending on the manuscript and format.
Authors may be asked to review proofs and are responsible for identifying remaining substantive or typographical errors within the proofing schedule. Post-proof changes that substantially alter content may require editorial approval.
ISBNs, Metadata, DOI, and Bibliographic Information
ISQGD Books will maintain appropriate bibliographic metadata for published titles and will obtain or assign ISBNs for formats that require separate identifiers. DOI registration or other persistent identifiers may be used where appropriate and beneficial.
Metadata should accurately identify the title, subtitle, author or editor names, edition, format, publisher, publication date, subject classification, and other relevant bibliographic information.
Digital-First Publishing and Print Availability
ISQGD Books follows a digital-first publishing model designed to support efficient, affordable, and international dissemination of scholarly and educational works. Electronic editions provide a principal means of publication and global access, allowing books to reach students, educators, researchers, professionals, libraries, and institutions without requiring conventional inventory or large advance print runs.
Where a physical edition is appropriate or there is reader, library, or institutional demand, ISQGD Books may also make paperback or hardcover editions available through professional print-on-demand and distribution services. Physical copies can then be produced in response to orders and shipped directly to purchasers by the applicable printing or distribution provider. This approach helps avoid unnecessary inventory, storage, and fulfillment costs while preserving access to professionally produced print editions.
Electronic and print editions of a title are based on the same academically reviewed and approved work. Preparation of a print format does not duplicate the scholarly evaluation of the underlying manuscript; however, each format remains subject to appropriate production checks, bibliographic requirements, and quality control before release.
Availability of particular formats and distribution channels may vary by title. ISQGD Books selects formats and services according to the work, its readership, production requirements, accessibility goals, and sustainable publishing practices.
ISQGD Books as Publisher and the Role of Distribution Services
ISQGD Books remains the scholarly publisher of titles accepted and issued under its imprint. To make books accessible internationally, ISQGD Books may use established external services for electronic retail, digital delivery, print-on-demand, physical fulfillment, and distribution.
Such providers act as service, retail, printing, fulfillment, or distribution channels; their involvement does not transfer editorial responsibility or the publisher role from ISQGD Books. ISQGD Books retains responsibility for its editorial standards, publication decisions, publishing identity, and the bibliographic information associated with its titles.
Specific service providers and distribution channels may change over time or differ by title. This flexibility allows ISQGD Books to select appropriate channels while maintaining its scholarly and publishing standards.
Electronic and Print Distribution
ISQGD Books may distribute titles through the ISQGD website, third-party electronic platforms, professional print-on-demand and fulfillment services, retail or library channels, institutional arrangements, or other appropriate methods. When a third-party print-on-demand service is used, the service provider may print and ship physical copies directly in response to customer orders, allowing ISQGD Books to offer print editions without maintaining routine physical inventory or operating its own order-fulfillment system. Distribution arrangements may differ across titles and formats.
The goal is to support reliable international access while preserving professional standards, transparent accounting, and reasonable pricing.
Corrections, Revised Editions, and Withdrawals
When significant errors are identified after publication, ISQGD Books may issue corrections, update an electronic edition, prepare a revised edition, or take other appropriate action. Minor typographical corrections may be incorporated into later printings or updated electronic files without creating a new edition where bibliographically appropriate.
Serious ethical or legal concerns may require a formal notice, withdrawal, or other corrective action. Such decisions will be made carefully and documented appropriately.
Questions Concerning These Policies
Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers may direct policy-related questions to ISQGD Books through the contact information provided on the ISQGD Books page.