Editorial Independence and Separation of Commercial Services

Scientific Steps International Publishing Services (SSG) publishes scholarly journals and also offers optional commercial services to researchers. These are:

• Author Services: human expert services such as statistical analysis, English editing, plagiarism checking, and layout editing.
• StepSphere: an AI-powered research workspace.

SSG keeps its commercial services strictly separate from the editorial processes of its journals.

1. Merit only. Editorial decisions at SSG journals are based solely on the scholarly merit of the work, its relevance to the journal's scope, and the outcome of peer review.
2. No influence. Purchasing or not purchasing any SSG service has no effect on submission handling, peer review, editorial decisions, publication timelines, Article Processing Charges, or APC waivers.
3. Not required. No SSG journal requires, recommends as a condition, or rewards the use of any SSG service.
4. Information barrier. Editors, editorial board members, and reviewers have no access to information about authors' purchases or use of SSG services. Commercial-service records are stored separately from editorial records.
5. Separate roles. Staff who handle commercial services take no part in editorial decisions. Editors do not receive any payment linked to the sale of services.
6. Open to all. SSG services are available to every researcher, whether or not they intend to submit to an SSG journal.
7. No guarantee. No SSG service guarantees, predicts, or improves the chance of acceptance at any journal.
8. Transparency. Service prices are published on the relevant service pages. Journal fees are listed on the Article Processing Charges page.
9. Concerns. Anyone who believes this policy has been breached can contact info@scientificstepsgroup-ssg.com. Concerns are handled under SSG's Publication Ethics policy and COPE guidance.