STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES MANUAL · VERSION 2 · 2026 EDITION
Editorial procedures of the CAFNIA Journal
Each sheet sets out, for a given role, the steps to perform and the checkpoints to clear, so that the work is uniform, traceable and complete. A step is only finished once its checkpoint is satisfied.
Scientific independence: acceptance decisions rest exclusively on scientific criteria. The Journal applies the diamond model: no payment is requested from the author at any stage, so the question of fees influencing decisions simply does not arise.
A question about the Journal or a submission? journal@cafnia.org
Role map
Legal and institutional responsibility, resources, scientific independence, compliance (ISSN, legal deposit, data).
POS-DIR
Publication direction
Legal and institutional responsibility, resources, scientific independence, compliance (ISSN, legal deposit, data).
POS-RC
Editor-in-chief
Steers the editorial process, arbitrates decisions, upholds editorial policy and ethics.
POS-RS
Section editor
Handles manuscripts in their field and supports the editor-in-chief.
POS-SR
Managing editor
Acknowledgement, administrative check, anonymisation, deadline tracking.
POS-EV
Peer reviewer
Assesses the manuscript, flags ethical issues, issues a reasoned recommendation.
POS-CS
International scientific committee
Guarantees the journal's scientific level and international reach.
POS-AUT
Author
Compliant submission, responses to reviews, proof approval.
POS-PAO
Production
Copy-editing, typesetting, active DOI, archiving deposit, DOAJ compliance.
POS-GRA
Free-of-charge guarantee (diamond model)
No fee is charged to the author at any stage; funding comes from the Consulting and Training pillars.
POS-DC
Series editor (Editions)
Assesses book proposals, runs the collections and manages author relations.
POS-CL
Reading committee (Editions)
Reads book manuscripts and issues reasoned opinions.
POS-PROD
Book production (Editions)
Typesetting to standards, proofs, ISBN, manufacturing and sales files.
POS-COM
Sales and distribution (Editions)
Marketing, distribution, promotion and royalty reporting to authors.
The article chain, step by step
Table
| N° | Action | Checkpoint | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acknowledge the submission | ☐ Acknowledgement sent to the author | 48 h |
| 2 | Administrative check: format, completeness, declarations (conflicts, funding, AI) | ☐ Separate title page, bilingual abstract, ORCID, keywords | ≤ 3 d |
| 3 | Verify manuscript anonymisation | ☐ No names, affiliations or identifying metadata | ≤ 3 d |
| 4 | Pre-screening and assignment to a section editor | ☐ Scope and originality confirmed | ≤ 7 d |
| 5 | Appoint reviewers and launch double-blind review | ☐ At least two independent, conflict-free reviewers | ≤ 2 w |
| 6 | Collect the review reports | ☐ Consistency between scores and recommendation (accept / minor / major / reject) | 4–6 w |
| 7 | Editorial decision by the editor-in-chief | ☐ Reasoned decision, based on scientific criteria only | ≤ 1 w |
| 8 | Author revision and re-review if needed | ☐ Point-by-point response to reviewers | 2–4 w |
| 9 | Production: copy-editing, typesetting, proofs | ☐ Proofs approved by the author | ≤ 3 w |
| 10 | Publication: HTML/PDF article, active DOI, archiving | ☐ Accurate metadata, resolving DOI, archiving deposit done | – |
Diamond model: guaranteed free of charge
- No submission, review or publication fee is charged to the author at any stage of the process.
- Reading and downloading articles is free for everyone, with no subscription or registration.
- Free access is funded by CAFNIA SARL's Consulting and Training pillars, under a written allocation rule in the internal regulations.
- A transparent annual report on the Journal's funding is published.
Ethics and integrity
- Mandatory declaration of conflicts of interest, funding and any use of artificial intelligence tools.
- Systematic plagiarism screening; any suspicion of misconduct is referred to the editor-in-chief.
- Double-blind review: anonymisation verified before sending to reviewers.
- COPE compliance, CC-BY 4.0 licence, registers maintained, privacy policy published.
A question about the Journal or a submission? journal@cafnia.org