Ethics and integrity are not just a priority for us—they are the very foundation upon which our platform is built. By seamlessly integrating AI checks, peer reviewers, and our editorial team's oversight, we ensure fairness, rigour, and trust in academic publishing. Our dedication to the highest ethical standards makes Qeios a leading choice for transparent and reliable research.
We're introducing groundbreaking practices to enhance integrity and quality in academic publishing.
At Qeios, we ensure an impartial evaluation process by maintaining a distinct separation of roles. Peer reviewers alone are responsible for assessing the validity of papers, while our editorial team oversees the peer review process by handling any misconduct cases and resolving disputes. This separation eliminates editorial bias, such as blocking critical commentaries or adhering to a publisher’s agenda, and upholds the quality of published research. This structure promotes a fairer and unbiased academic environment.
Qeios papers often receive more than the minimum of 4 peer reviews needed to get an article peer-approved. In fact, they receive a median of 10 peer reviews, making Qeios the most peer-reviewed publishing venue globally. In the rare instance that additional reviews uncover flaws missed by the initial reviewers, causing the overall average rating to drop below 2.5 out of 5, the paper will no longer be considered peer-approved. This continuous scrutiny process ensures that research published on Qeios remains reliable and trustworthy over time.
Our comprehensive reporting system allows both authors and reviewers to report any issues or misconduct at any stage. These reports are thoroughly analysed by Qeios' editorial team, and decisions are made in strict accordance with COPE and ICMJE guidelines. This process upholds the integrity of all content on Qeios, both articles and peer reviews, maintaining the trust and reliability of our platform at all times.
To innovate ethical practices, we have integrated the accuracy of AI, the expertise of peer reviewers, and the oversight of our editorial team, creating a seamless interplay that ensures the highest standards of research integrity and quality.
Our custom-built AI ensures precision and reliability at every step. It assists with pre-checks at submission to filter out non-scientific content and detect plagiarism. It aids in sending unbiased invitations to the most appropriate peers and verifies the identities and reviews of spontaneous peer reviewers. Additionally, it supports rigorous checks before granting the peer-approved status, assessing language quality and adherence to field-specific best practices, such as the WMA Declaration of Helsinki for human medical research and ARRIVE guidelines for animal research.
Qualified researchers with field expertise can publicly voice concerns about any Qeios article by posting a peer review at any time, aligning with our commitment to continuous research scrutiny. Importantly, peer reviews themselves can be evaluated through an upvote/downvote system and comments, fostering accountability and promoting healthy scholarly communication. If peers spot any issues of misconduct, they can instantly alert the editorial team using our "Report" tool. This feature is also available to authors, who can report concerns about reviewers, ensuring comprehensive vigilance.
At Qeios, reviewers alone determine the validity of papers, while our custom-built AI handles the routine checks for plagiarism, language quality, and field-specific best practices—areas where it excels. This allows our editorial team to focus on addressing any misconduct cases and enhancing Qeios. Our editorial team responds to red flags raised by AI checks or reports from reviewers and authors, strictly adhering to COPE and ICMJE guidelines. This advanced issue-spotting capability reserves valuable editorial resources for complex matters where editorial expertise is most needed and impactful.