About the Journal
Serial Title
Superhero Science and Technology
Focus and Scope
Superhero Science and Technology (SST) is multi-disciplinary journal that considers new research in the fields of science, technology, engineering and ethics motivated and presented using the superhero genre.
The superhero genre has become one of the most popular in modern cinema. Since the 2000 film X-Men, numerous superhero-themed films based on characters from Marvel Comics and DC Comics have been released. Films such as The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War have all earned in excess of $1 billion dollars at the box office, thus demonstrating their relevance in modern society and popular culture.
Of particular interest for Superhero Science and Technology are articles that motivate new research by using the platform of superheroes, supervillains, their superpowers, superhero/supervillain exploits in Hollywood blockbuster films or superhero/supervillain adventures from comic books. Articles should be written in a manner so that they are accessible to both the academic community and the interested non-scientist i.e. general public, given the popularity of the superhero genre.
Dissemination of content using this approach provides a potential for the researcher to communicate their work to a larger audience, thus increasing their visibility and outreach within and outside of the academic domain.
The scope of the journal includes but is not limited to:
- Genetic editing approaches;
- Innovations in the field of robotics;
- New and advanced materials;
- Additive Manufacturing i.e. 3D printing, for both bio and non-bio applications;
- Advancements in bio-chemical processing;
- Biomimicry technologies;
- Space physics, astrophysical and cosmological research;
- Developments in propulsion systems;
- Responsible innovation;
- Ethical issues pertaining to technologies and their use for human enhancement or augmentation.
Article Processing Charges
Publishing in SST is entirely free, so neither Submission Charges nor Article Processing Charges are required from the authors. The resources needed to run the journal are covered by the institutions where the (associate) editors are employed, mainly in the form of time invested.
Open Access Policy
SST is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You are free to use the work, but you have to attribute (refer to) the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). The easiest way to refer to an article is to use the HOW TO CITE tool that you'll find alongside each article in the right sidebar.
Copyright Policy
- Authors retain their copyrights.
- if you use published images, text or other materials, please be aware of copyright regulations. The TU Delft Copyright helpdesk can provide further information and answer your copyright questions.
- In case of (alleged or proven) copyright breaches or scientific misconduct (e.g. fabrication of data), <Journal Initials or name> will follow the guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
Review Policy
The journal follows a <single/double-blind/open; describe the type of peer review/see terminologies here>. The journal is committed to a transparent review process that adheres to the COPE policy. Editors and reviewers are encouraged to join COPE individually and agree to declare any conflict of interest.
The Editors-in-Chief and the editorial board may contribute to the published content. Still, a rigorous review workflow is implemented to ensure the integrity and quality of the review process. If one of the Editors-in-Chief or an editorial board member is listed as a (co)author, they will not be involved in the review process. They will not access the reviewers' identity in the case of anonymous, single-blind or double-masked reviews. When an Editor-in-Chief is a (co)author, selecting the editor who will handle the paper will fall on the (Co)editor-in-chief or another editor to maintain a fair and unbiased review process.
Review Process
- All papers will be subject to at least two reviewers. At least one reviewer will have a relevant scientific/engineering/technological/ethical background for the paper in question. The second reviewer will focus on the validity of the connection of the content to popular culture, in particular the superhero genre.
- All papers will be blind peer-reviewed; the referee will not know the identity of the author and the author will not know the identity of the referee.
- All reviewers will be experts in their field of expertise.
Research Data
TU Delft OPEN Publishing strongly supports that the data underlying the journals are archived in a recognised research data repository in line with the TU Delft Research Data Framework Policy and will support data citation. Please visit this page for more information on policies.
Research Software
TU Delft OPEN Publishing strongly encourages the adoption of the TU Delft Research Software Policy. This policy facilitates best practices on management and sharing of research software and facilitates proper recognition of the contribution of TU Delft researchers to software.
Publication Ethics
Editors, authors, and publisher adopt the guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the fair data principles. The journal adheres to the COPE Core Practices and the principles of transparency described in the Declaration on transparent editorial policies for academic journals.
Code of Conduct
Check TU Delft OPEN Publishing code of conduct and integrity policy.
Similarity Check
A similarity check is part of the TU Delft OPEN Publishing standard publication procedure. Authors submitting their article to the SST should expect their work to go through a similarity analysis at any workflow stage. All articles submitted are checked with iThenticate software. The editor and publisher carefully analyse the reports. In case of suspected plagiarism, the authors will have two weeks to explain.
The journal also checks for AI-generated content. Articles will only be accepted if using AI-generated tools is part of the work.
Use of AI
The use of AI technologies in writing/summarising is gaining popularity and is expanding. When used responsibly and appropriately in research, it can facilitate innovation. However, authors/editors remain fully responsible and accountable for the quality and content of their manuscripts. With this in mind and with reference to the COPE Position Statement of 13 February 2023, authors are required not to list AI tools as a co-author because these tools cannot take responsibility for the submitted work, and they need to be transparent in disclosing in the materials and methods of the manuscript how the AI tool was used and which tool was used (such as ChatGPT and other generative (language-based) AI tools for generation of images, etc.) in the writing of their manuscripts. If applicable, disclosure needs to take place at the bottom of the References section, in the Acknowledgements section, and separately in the cover letter submitted before the review process. This policy is subject to review based on new developments to include the COPE Position Statement.
Complaints and Appeals
Complaints
Complaints such as misconduct, authorship dispute or suspected conflict of interest should be brought to the attention of the publisher (publishing-lib@tudelft.nl) or the editorial board.
Author Appeal
If an author wishes to appeal an editorial decision, the author may contact the journal's Editors-in-Chief. Their appeal decisions are final. This means that discussing or negotiating the final decision will be without effect and can be ignored.
Conflict of Interest
All COIs will be handled as follows by the journal in the first instance, then the publisher:
- Disclosure: Anyone (editors, reviewers, authors and any other relevant parties) involved in the publishing process should disclose any potential conflicts of interest they may have
- Evaluation: After disclosing the potential COI, it needs to be examined to determine its importance and possible impact on the publication process.
- Management: An identified COI requires appropriate steps. Those steps may include stepping back from specific duties or decisions, removal from the publication process, or taking other actions to reduce the conflict.
- Transparency: Any identified conflicts of interest should be transparently disclosed to relevant parties, including readers, authors, and reviewers.
- COI can be mentioned after the section Acknowledgment of the publication
Publication Notices and Changes
Any changes to the published content will be accompanied by a post-publication notice that will be permanently linked to the original content.
Publication notices include errors introduced by the journal (erratum), an author error (corrigendum), adding a (small) document to a published work to provide additional information (addendum), and retraction.
The Editors-in-Chief and the publisher handle publication notices through the following steps:
- Review the proposed changes to the published content to determine if they are necessary and appropriate.
- Preparing a post-publication notice that accurately reflects the changes made to the content.
- Linking the post-publication notice to the original content clearly and prominently.
- Distributing the updated content and the post-publication notice to relevant parties, including subscribers, indexers, and other databases.
- Monitoring the impact of the changes on the academic record and making any necessary further updates or corrections.
Authorship
All co-authors must agree to submit the work to the journal. For authors’ disputes, see the “Complaints and Appeals” section.
How to add extra authors before publication:
- All co-authors must agree to add new (co)authors to the publication
- Agreement must be collected and sent to the editor with an explanation
Guest Editors / Special Issues
SST requires an agreement between the Guest Editor(s) and the Editors-in-Chief where the Guest Editor(s)’s role is clearly defined. Guest Editors are subject to the same rules as journal editors and adhere to TU Delft OPEN Publishing policies.
Metadata
SST grants you the right to publish the metadata of the series, it's issues and articles under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
Indexing
SST with ISSN 2588-7637 is indexed by Directory of Open Access scholarly Resources (ROAD), Sherpa Romeo, The Keepers, Google Scholar, ZDB and WorldCat.
Archiving
This journal utilises the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries. It permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...
Authors can deposit a Submitted version, an Accepted version (Author Accepted Manuscript) and a Published version (Version of record) of their work in an institutional or any other repository they choose.
TU Delft OPEN Publishing is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research. We work in partnership with organisations and maintain our digital archive
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in our published content are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of TU Delft OPEN Publishing.
The responsibility for the content provided is exclusively of the author(s) concerned. TU Delft OPEN Publishing, SST, the editors and reviewers are not responsible for errors in the contents or any consequences arising from the use of the information.
The opinions expressed in the publications of SST do not necessarily represent the views of TU Delft OPEN Publishing and the editors.
We follow an Open Access publishing principle, in which the author(s) are the sole owners of the copyright of the content published. The author(s) of the concerned article are responsible for any omissions or copyright violations. Our responsibility is to remove the concerned article from the journal once the query is raised.
ISSN
2588-7637 online
