General Guidelines

Originality and Ownership

By submitting an article for consideration by a JEA editor, the authors implicitly affirm that

the work described in the article is, to the best of their knowledge, original
the article is not actively under consideration for publication by other journals
the article represents their own work, to which they (and their employer) own all rights
they are prepared to cede the copyright to the article to the ACM (see below) in case of publication
they will obtain all necessary releases for any copyrighted material used in the article

Copyright

The ACM has published a detailed set of policies under the title of ACM Copyright Policy. It covers issues such as:

when does the copyright transfer take place
what rights are retained by the authors and their employers
how to post a copy of the work on one own's server after it has been submitted for consideration by an ACM editor and after it has been accepted for publication in an ACM journal
how to use hyperlinks to other authors' works

Authors whose submissions are accepted will be asked to sign the ACM Copyright Form.

While the ACM Interim Copyright Policy covers articles submitted to or published by JEA, it does not cover software and data. Software and data published by JEA are completely free---anyone with access to the Internet is welcome to use, copy, and modify it. For details, please read the Software Copyright Policy of JEA. (Is this the most recent policy?)

ACM Appeals Policy

ACM as a scientific publisher must make informed judgments about the correctness and relevance of manuscripts under consideration for publication. ACM relies on qualified volunteers to review manuscripts and serve on editorial boards and program committees to make these editorial decisions and to provide feedback to authors. In the vast majority of cases, this process works smoothly.

Should an author feel that the process was implemented incorrectly, or there was some other problem with the handling of his or her manuscript, the author should first follow the stated appeal procedure of the involved publication. If the concern is not resolved, the author may appeal the decision to the Publications Board Chair, whose decision can then, at the author's discretion, be appealed to the President of the ACM. The decision of the President is final.

At each stage of the appeal, the relevant ACM representative can at their discretion handle the appeal directly, or delegate this to an ad hoc committee named by the representative. The members of the ad hoc committee should not have any direct connection with either the manuscript under question or the associated publication. The decision by the representative, along with an explanation of the decision process, shall be communicated to the appealer and other involved parties in writing within a reasonable time frame.

Volunteers will be assumed to have acted in an appropriate and professional manner unless and until it is shown through an investigation to be otherwise. ACM representatives will keep involved volunteers appraised of the process, and will always be cognizant that such investigations are difficult for all concerned.

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