Editorial Independence

Journal of Applied Cryptanalysis & System Integrity (JACSI)

Principle

Editorial decisions at JACSI are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board. The Publisher (David Tom Foss) does not influence, direct, or override editorial decisions regarding manuscript selection, peer review outcomes, or publication timing.

Governance Structure

David Tom Foss (Publisher)
    │
    ├── Financial oversight, legal compliance, infrastructure
    │   (Does NOT make editorial decisions)
    │
    └── JACSI Editorial Board (Independent)
        │
        ├── Editor-in-Chief
        │   └── Overall editorial responsibility
        │
        ├── Associate Editors (TBD)
        │   └── Manuscript handling in specialty areas
        │
        └── Editorial Board Members (8-10)
            └── Peer review coordination, scope advisory

Separation of Roles

Function	Responsible Party	NOT Involved
Accept/reject manuscripts	Editor-in-Chief / Associate Editors	Publisher
Select reviewers	Handling Editor	Publisher
Set editorial policy	Editorial Board	Publisher (except legal compliance)
Financial management	Publisher	Editorial Board
Website hosting/infrastructure	Publisher	Editorial Board
Journal scope and aims	Editorial Board	Publisher

Safeguards

1. No commercial pressure: JACSI has no revenue from APCs, subscriptions, or advertising. There is no financial incentive to accept or reject manuscripts.
2. Transparent decisions: All editorial decisions are documented with rationale. Published articles include the handling editor's name.
3. Board authority: The Editorial Board may overrule the Editor-in-Chief by majority vote on matters of editorial policy.
4. Founder limitation: The Editor-in-Chief (who is also the journal's founder) is subject to the same conflict of interest and endogeny policies as all other editors. The founder role confers no special editorial privileges.
5. External oversight: JACSI commits to following COPE guidance. Any stakeholder may raise concerns about editorial independence with COPE directly.

COPE Alignment

This statement follows COPE's position on editorial independence:

https://publicationethics.org/guidance/cope-position/editorial-independence

"Editors should make decisions on which articles to publish based on quality and suitability for the journal, without interference from the journal owner/publisher."