Authors submitting work to Common Ground affirm that their manuscripts are original, have not been previously published, and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All sources must be appropriately cited, and all contributors who have made a significant scholarly contribution must be properly acknowledged as authors.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the content of their work, including data, citations, and interpretations. Where applicable, authors must ensure that their research complies with ethical standards governing research involving human participants, animals, cultural heritage, or sensitive materials, and that appropriate approvals and informed consent have been obtained.
Any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could be construed as a conflict of interest must be disclosed at the time of submission.
Common Ground does not tolerate plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism, redundant publication, or the unattributed use of others’ work. Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection tools. Submissions found to breach standards of originality or academic integrity may be rejected, withdrawn, or retracted in accordance with COPE procedures.
Editors are responsible for making publication decisions based solely on the scholarly merit of submissions, their relevance to the scope of the imprint, and the quality of argumentation and evidence presented. Editorial decisions are not influenced by the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political philosophy.
Editors must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and ensure that all editorial and peer-review processes are conducted fairly and without bias. Where conflicts of interest arise, editors will recuse themselves from decision-making.
Reviewers are expected to conduct reviews objectively, constructively, and in a timely manner. All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not use unpublished material disclosed in a manuscript for their own research without the express written consent of the author.
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited and should alert editors to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and other published works of which they are aware. Any potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed to the editor.
Where peer review is employed, Common Ground Books follows clearly defined review procedures appropriate to the scholarly field and the nature of the publication. Peer review is conducted by independent experts and is intended to support editorial decision-making, improve the quality of published work, and uphold scholarly standards.
The use of artificial intelligence tools must comply with ethical and scholarly standards. AI tools may be used for limited purposes such as language editing or formatting assistance but may not be credited as authors or used in ways that obscure accountability. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of their work, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools.
All participants in the publication process—authors, editors, and reviewers—must disclose any competing interests that could be perceived to influence their contributions or decisions. Transparency regarding conflicts of interest is essential to maintaining trust in the scholarly record.
Common Ground will take appropriate action when errors, ethical concerns, or evidence of misconduct are identified in published works. This may include the publication of corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern, in accordance with COPE guidelines. Such actions are undertaken to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted material included in their work. Copyright and licensing arrangements are governed by the publication agreement applicable to each imprint and format. Common Ground Books respects the intellectual property rights of authors and third parties and is committed to ethical and lawful use of published materials.
Allegations of research or publication misconduct—including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, unethical research practices, or undisclosed conflicts of interest—are taken seriously. All allegations are investigated in a confidential, fair, and timely manner, following COPE-recommended procedures.