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Personal and Ubiquitous Computing - Update on Special Issues

We have recently published a number of Editorial Expressions of Concern about articles that appeared in a Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

These Editorial Expressions of Concern flag research integrity concerns, in this case that the peer review process was not carried out in accordance with our peer review policy (this opens in a new tab)

Springer Nature journals follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the aim of which is to protect the integrity of the scientific record. As COPE note (this opens in a new tab)"While there is an expectation that everyone involved in the process acts with integrity, the peer review process can be susceptible to manipulation." 

We have now put in place a series of more rigorous controls for guest-edited issues in Personal & Ubiquitous Computing.  These include a more thorough screening of guest editors and the Special Issues they propose, new controls over the number of papers which can be accepted for an issue, more rigorous oversight of the peer review and acceptance process, and controls over papers that guest editors – who now have to provide a detailed justification for each paper – recommend for publication.

These measures will ensure that only high-quality, peer-reviewed papers appear in the journal, while maintaining a diverse and vibrant research publication.

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