Best practices

Milano University Press (MUP) promotes the free circulation of scholarly knowledge through its adherence to international academic publishing standards, ranging from the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines to the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS). Our mission is to ensure that high-quality academic research is accessible, discoverable, and permanently available to the global scholarly community.

The publishing programme is inspired by international standards for Open Access scholarly publishing and is committed to continuous updating in line with the latest best practices. This enables indexing in the main international databases dedicated to open research, including the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) for journals and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) for books.

Editorial boards and scientific committees operate in accordance with the quality criteria that are now considered essential for any publishing initiative recognized at the international level.

In accordance with the University’s commitment to the principles of Open Science, Milano University Press serves as a publishing platform that promotes free and unrestricted access to scholarly literature and the widest possible dissemination of research results.

Milano University Press provides open access to all its content, with the aim of making research freely available to the public and fostering the global exchange of knowledge.

Milano University Press does not require any publication fees from authors publishing in its journals. No Article Processing Charges (APCs) are applied, nor are Book Processing Charges (BPCs) required for authors affiliated with the University of Milan who do not have access to dedicated funding.

Milano University Press embraces the Diamond Open Access model. This means that there are no costs for researchers publishing within the University, nor for readers who download, access, read, and reuse publications in digital formats.

Peer review is one of the fundamental pillars of scholarly communication and an essential mechanism for ensuring the quality, reliability, and rigor of academic publications. Through this process, contributions submitted to Milano University Press are evaluated by experts in the relevant field according to scientific, methodological, and ethical criteria, with the aim of assessing the originality, significance, and robustness of the research presented.

To maximize the visibility, interoperability, and traceability of its publications, Milano University Press adopts internationally recognized standards for metadata management. The use of globally recognized persistent identifiers enhances the quality of bibliographic information, facilitates indexing in major catalogues and scholarly databases, and ensures stable links between authors, institutions, and published content.

• DOI (Digital Object Identifier): A DOI is a permanent identifier assigned to digital publications such as journal articles, books, book chapters, and other scholarly outputs. It enables content to be reliably located and cited over time, even if the web address of the resource changes.
• ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID): ORCID is a unique digital identifier assigned to researchers. It enables the unambiguous identification of authors, avoiding confusion caused by name similarities, variations in name spelling, or changes in institutional affiliation. Associating an ORCID iD with publications also allows scholarly outputs and other academic activities to be permanently linked to an author’s profile, supporting accurate attribution of research contributions.
• ROR (Research Organization Registry): ROR is a persistent identifier for research organizations, universities, and funding bodies. This standard enables the accurate and consistent description of authors’ institutional affiliations, harmonizing the different ways in which organization names may be recorded.
• ISSN (International Standard Serial Number): An ISSN is the international standard identifier for serial publications such as academic journals, periodicals, and scholarly series. It uniquely identifies a publication and its different versions, whether print or electronic.
• ISBN (International Standard Book Number): An ISBN is the international identifier used for monographs. Each edition and format of a publication is assigned its own ISBN. The use of this standard facilitates cataloguing, commercial distribution, discoverability in library catalogues, and the accurate citation of scholarly works.

Research integrity is a core value of Milano University Press. For this reason, all our journals and books adhere to the COPE Core Practices developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), aligning their policies with the highest international standards of publication ethics.

Editors are responsible for acting promptly in cases of confirmed or suspected errors and misconduct, both in relation to published contributions and those still under consideration for publication. In cases of errors, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, whether identified in published articles or during the publication process, appropriate measures will be taken in accordance with COPE recommendations and guidelines.

Corrections will be issued with appropriate visibility and may include the publication of an erratum (for errors introduced during the publication process), a corrigendum (for author errors), or, in more serious cases, the retraction of the work concerned. Retracted documents will remain available online and will be clearly marked as retracted in all online versions, including the PDF, in order to ensure transparency for readers.

For its journals, Milano University Press uses the plagiarism detection software iThenticate/Turnitin.

Milano University Press recognizes that excellence in research and academic publishing can only be achieved within an environment that values a diversity of perspectives. We are committed to actively promoting equity and inclusion at every stage of the publishing process, removing barriers that may limit participation on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, age, or socioeconomic background.

This commitment is reflected, for example, in compliance with DEI policies in:

• Representation in Editorial Boards
• Submission and Peer Review policies and workflows that prevent discrimination of any kind
• Inclusive language and respect for identity
• Digital accessibility

Authors who have used artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of a manuscript, the creation of images or graphic elements, or the collection and analysis of data are required to explicitly disclose such use. The disclosure should specify the AI tool employed, its purpose and scope of application, the prompts or queries used, and the date of use, in order to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and verifiability of the research process.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, validity, and integrity of all published content and must ensure compliance with the journal’s Code of Ethics and anti-plagiarism policies.

Reviewers are expected not to use artificial intelligence tools in the evaluation of submitted manuscripts. Critical judgment, original assessment, and scholarly expertise, which are essential components of the peer review process, cannot be delegated to AI technologies.

Milano University Press adheres to the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the use of artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies in scholarly publishing. Further information is available in the COPE Statement on Authorship and AI Tools.

All published materials are distributed under one of the Creative Commons licences selected by the relevant journals or book series, or agreed upon by the authors. Authors retain the intellectual property rights to their work and grant Milano University Press a non-exclusive licence to publish the work in the agreed edition.

Copyright in the content published in Milano University Press journals and books remains with the authors, without any restrictions.

Milano University Press does not allow embargo periods and encourages journal editorial teams to accept preprints.

Milano University Press provides a dedicated space on Zenodo where authors may deposit their preprints, where permitted by the agreements and policies of the relevant journal.

Milano University Press adopts a digital archiving and preservation policy designed to ensure the long-term accessibility, integrity, and discoverability of its publications. The preservation of scholarly content is a fundamental component of academic publishing, safeguarding the research record and ensuring that it remains available and reusable over time.

Publications hosted on the platform are accompanied by structured metadata and persistent identifiers that enhance discoverability, citation, and integration with library catalogues, institutional repositories, and international indexing systems. To support the long-term preservation of digital content, journals published by Milano University Press participate in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which ensures the preservation of scholarly materials through their inclusion in the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) network, a distributed preservation system based on the creation of multiple geographically dispersed copies of digital resources.

Milano University Press also promotes the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) in scholarly research. For this reason, authors publishing on the platform, regardless of their institutional affiliation, may make use of the University of Milan’s Dataverse institutional repository to deposit research data associated with their publications, together with any supplementary materials. The use of Dataverse supports the sharing and preservation of research data in accordance with international standards for quality, interoperability, and reuse.