Policies
Privacy Policy
This journal’s editorial team and its hosting service, the University of Alberta Libraries, use this data to guide their work in publishing and improving this journal. Data that will assist in developing this publishing platform may be shared with its developer Public Knowledge Project in an anonymized and aggregated form, with appropriate exceptions such as article metrics. The data will not be sold by this journal, the University of Alberta Libraries, or PKP nor will it be used for purposes other than those stated here. The authors published in this journal are responsible for the human subject data that figures in the research reported here.
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Those involved in editing this journal seek to be compliant with industry standards for data privacy, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provision for “data subject rights” that include (a) breach notification; (b) right of access; (c) the right to be forgotten; (d) data portability; and (e) privacy by design. The GDPR also allows for the recognition of “the public interest in the availability of the data,” which has a particular saliency for those involved in maintaining, with the greatest integrity possible, the public record of scholarly publishing.
Open Access Policy
Vanguard Journal of Theology & Ministry (VJTM) is a diamond open access journal that provides immediate access to its content without charge. We hold to the principle that making research freely available to the public supports the greater global exchange of knowledge. Authors will never be charged to submit or publish a manuscript through Vanguard Journal of Theology & Ministry.
Copyright Policy
Works published in VJTM are published under a Creative Commons license selected by authors in consultation with the editorial team. Unless otherwise specified, articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The CC BY 4.0 license allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the Work, even commercially, as long as they credit the Author for the original creation. Authors retain copyright of their Work, with first publication rights granted to VJTM
Author Self-Archiving Policy
Under the terms of the Creative Commons license, authors are permitted to post their work online in institutional/disciplinary repositories or on their own websites. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in VJTM as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
Digital Archiving Policy
This journal is archived with the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) Preservation Network and Scholars Portal Journals. These programs offer a decentralized and distributed preservation, perpetual access, and preservation of the authentic original version of the content.
Appeals Policy
Occasionally, when a submission is rejected from a journal, the author may wish to appeal this decision. This action is most commonly taken in technical and research-based publishing, where it is evident that the rejection was based on a genuine misunderstanding of the article by the reviewer. However, for articles of an opinion or argument-based nature, appeals are unlikely to overturn an editor’s decision. This is because such rejections are often a matter of subjective judgement, and a theological journal such as VJTM could not survive if these subjective assessments are up to debate. VJTM has a small editorial team who are in communication with each other regarding any uncertain acceptance or rejection decisions. As a result, our submission decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
Conflicts of Interest Policy
Peer Reviewers
VJTM only conducts peer review in the circumstance that the peer reviewer(s) assigned to the article have declared that they are free of any conflicts of interest. The major concern is the peer reviewer having a relationship with the author, which would bias their review. To mitigate this risk, VJTM conducts double-blind peer review. In addition, peer reviewers must review and indicate agreement with a conflict of interest statement, which signifies that they lack any conflicts of interest. If they become aware of a conflict of interest while completing the review, they must recuse themselves from the article.
Papers submitted by students of Vanguard College may be especially susceptible to conflicts of interest, as undergraduate and faculty peer reviewers, as well as the editorial team members, may know the author. This risk will be mitigated by conducting a double-blind review process, and by assigning reviewers who have the least likelihood of recognizing the author (i.e. a student from a different program/year). Peer reviewers have been instructed to recuse themselves from the review if they identify the author mid-review.
Authors
VJTM does not procure a guarantee from authors that their submitted articles are free from conflicts of interest. Instead, the editorial team will review the article during the editorial process, and use their judgement to detect any potential conflicts of interest from an article. It is anticipated that conflicts of interest will not happen often for articles submitted to VJTM, as it is difficult for someone to benefit financially from the publication of a theological article. The editorial team will screen for any circumstances wherein a submitted article could produce a financial or other benefit for the author, or any other circumstances which cast suspicion on the bias-free status of the article.
Editorial Team
VJTM editorial team members are able and encouraged to submit articles to the journal. In such cases, the article will be processed by another member of the editorial team, which could present a conflict of interest. Team members will be aware of this dynamic, and take every effort to prevent bias from entering the editorial process. Peer review will be conducted by a non-team member peer reviewer who has no relationship to the author.
Language Policy
The editorial team at VJTM believes strongly in supporting the ability of authors to publish in both of Canada's official languages. Unfortunately, as a small journal, we do not currently have the capacity to accept submissions only in French. We can publish your article in French if you are able to provide an English translation to be published side-by-side with the original article. If you speak French and would like to volunteer as a peer reviewer or translator, please contact the editorial team with an expression of interest at vjtm@vanguardcollege.com
Si vous parlez français et souhaitez vous porter volontaire en tant que pair réviseur ou traducteur, veuillez contacter l'équipe éditoriale avec une manifestation d'intérêt à vjtm@vanguardcollege.com
Anonymous Authorship Policy
Part of the mission of VJTM is to enable the publishing of voices who may not generally be able to participate in scholarly publishing. As such, there are some circumstances where authors can publish under pseudonyms or as ‘anonymous’ with us. However, retaining academic credibility, usually assured through transparency and reachability, is also an important part of contributing knowledge to the scholarly forum. As such, we have specific regulations in place depending on the nature of the contribution.
Creative submissions may be published under either a pseudonym or “anonymous” without restriction.
Pastor/practitioner and undergraduate articles may be published under a pseudonym without restriction, but not as “anonymous”. The same pseudonym should be used for all the author’s publications.
Scholarly articles should always be published under their real name, which will be entered into scholarly databases so that they remain accountable for their work. An exception to this rule is in cases where their publishing under a real name has a likelihood to harm the author. In these cases, a pseudonym will be accepted. Authors must supply their real name and contact information with VJTM and agree to remain available to be contacted by a member of the editorial board for the sake of academic credibility.
If you would like to use a pseudonym or ‘anonymous,’ please register your VJTM account under your real name and then email our team at vjtm@vanguardcollege.com with your preferred name. We will make sure to publish anything you submit under your preferred name.