Policies

Open Access Policy

This journal is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his or her institution. Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or to use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This journal does not charge article processing fees.

Research Integrity

IMC adheres to the best practices in the ethics of scholarly publishing stated in the COPE’s (Committee on Publication Ethics) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for all parties involved: Authors, Reviewers and the Publisher. If you have questions or concerns regarding research integrity or publishing ethics in this journal, you may contact the editor.

Peer Review Process

All papers submitted to this journals are subject to anonymous, double-blinded (author and reviewer anonymized) peer review.

According to Johan Huizinga’s ethics of play, a game can only be enjoyed by all players involved when the rules of the game are transparent and when the game consists of a level playing field. IMC aims to respect this ethos of playing with a procedure of open peer review. IMC utilizes pre-publication open peer review and post-publication open peer commentary, and opens up review reports and the identity of reviewers. It works as follows:

First, authors are invited to publish a preprint on Research Equals, a platform for scholarly collaboration and open peer review, where the discussion will be initiated among peers. One can post the completed version i.e. preprint, one can also begin publishing specific parts (or modules).

The second step commences when the author informs the editorial board that the article approaches finalization. An expert-editor of the editorial board is appointed to reflect on the soundness of scholarly work, with open visor and identity (in contrast to blind peer review). This editor will reflect on 1. the added value of the content for the scholarly field, 2.  the soundness of argumentation, 3. (the completeness of) sources, 4. overall style/readability and 5. scientific and moral integrity of the work against the background of the Code of Conduct of Tilburg University. This procedure can lead to a rejection, a request for revision, or acceptation.

After acceptance, the article will be published in the online journal environment of Into the Magic Circle. The review report of an accepted article will also be published openly on Research Equals, as part of further post print discussion.

Authorship

All listed authors of the article should have made a significant contribution to the work. Others who have assisted in preparing the paper should be acknowledged in the article.

Archiving Policy

This journal utilises Portico and PKP PN to create permanent archives for the purposes of preservation and restoration.

Repository Policy

Authors are allowed and encouraged to deposit versions of their work in a repository of their choice. 

ORCID ID

Authors are encouraged to use their ORCID ID when submitting their manuscript.