Complaints and Appeals

FUADUNA • EDITORIAL GOVERNANCE

Complaints & Appeals

A transparent route for raising concerns about editorial decisions, journal processes, ethics, and conduct.

Fair ProcessConflict-Free ReviewGood-Faith Complaints

FUADUNA welcomes good-faith complaints and appeals as part of accountable editorial governance. A complaint concerns the journal's process or conduct; an appeal asks the journal to reconsider an editorial decision because of a specific error in process, evidence, or interpretation.

 

What Can Be Raised?

  • Editorial decision appeal: a reasoned request to reconsider rejection or another decision where the author believes a material error occurred.
  • Peer-review process complaint: concerns about procedural fairness, inappropriate reviewer conduct, confidentiality, or unmanaged conflicts of interest.
  • Ethics complaint: concerns about research misconduct, authorship, competing interests, plagiarism, or post-publication integrity.
  • Service or communication complaint: concerns about unreasonable delay, administrative handling, or communication from the journal.
  • Complaint about an editor: concerns involving the conduct or conflict of an editor, including the Editor-in-Chief.
 

How to Submit an Appeal or Complaint

  1. Use the journal's official editorial contact and identify the manuscript or article number and title.
  2. State whether the submission is a complaint or an appeal.
  3. Explain the issue concisely and provide specific evidence, relevant correspondence, or references to the journal policy involved.
  4. For an appeal, explain why the original decision should be reconsidered; disagreement with reviewer opinion alone is not sufficient.
  5. Maintain professional language. Harassment, threats, or attempts to pressure editors or reviewers are not acceptable.
 

Handling Procedure

  1. The journal records the complaint or appeal and checks whether it falls within FUADUNA's remit.
  2. A person with a relevant conflict of interest will not decide the matter.
  3. Where possible, the matter is reviewed by an editor who was not directly responsible for the disputed action.
  4. Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief may be referred to an appropriate independent representative of the publisher.
  5. The journal may seek information from authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, or other relevant parties before reaching a decision.
  6. The outcome is communicated to the complainant with a brief explanation. A final internal appeal is normally considered only when substantial new evidence or a material procedural error is presented.
No retaliation

Submitting a good-faith complaint, appeal, or integrity concern must not disadvantage an author, reviewer, or reader in future editorial interactions. Decisions on future manuscripts remain based on scholarly merit and journal policy.

Policy note. This page should be read together with FUADUNA's Focus and Scope, Peer Review Process, Publication Ethics, Copyright and Licensing, and other applicable editorial policies. Where a conflict arises, the most recently approved journal policy applies.