R&D Board · Authors
Guidelines for authors
Everything you need to prepare and submit a paper. Submit and track your paper in the R&D & Journal portal - there are no fees.
Workflow
From submission to publication
Stage 1 · Author
Submitted
The manuscript is submitted through the portal (or the public form) with an anonymised file and declarations.
Stage 2 · Editor
Editorial screening
A handling editor checks scope, format, originality and ethics within 14 days, then sends it to review or declines it.
Stage 3 · Peer reviewers
In review
At least two independent reviewers with no conflict of interest assess the paper under double-blind review, normally within 21 days.
Stage 4 · Author
Revision requested
The author receives anonymised reviewer comments, uploads a revised manuscript and a response letter.
Stage 5 · Editor
Accepted / Rejected
The handling editor decides on the basis of the reviews. Reasons are given to the author in every case.
Stage 6 · Author
Galley proof
The editor sends the typeset proof in the GCSB Journal layout. The author confirms the proof checklist and approves it, or returns corrections, within 3 working days. Only spelling, grammar and typesetting errors may be corrected at this stage.
Stage 7 · Editor
Published
Papers with an approved proof receive a GCSB-J reference number, are published in the archive and deposited in the GCSB Zenodo community, and the author receives a free certificate of publication.
R&D Board · Authors
Guidelines for authors
1. Copyright and open-access licensing
- Authors retain copyright and grant GCSB a non-exclusive licence to publish. Published Journal articles are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
- You may share and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercially, provided you give appropriate credit, link to the licence and indicate any changes. You must not imply endorsement or impose additional legal or technological restrictions. Third-party material identified as excluded in a credit line requires separate permission where applicable. This licence does not apply to confidential submissions or unrelated GCSB materials.
- Before publication, all authors must authorise publication under these terms and obtain permission for any third-party material they include. Include the authors’ copyright notice and CC BY 4.0 licence link in the final article. A confidential review manuscript is not publicly licensed merely by submission.
2. Publication prerequisites
- Aligned with the GCSB standards and limited to converged security domains and closely related topics.
- Directly relevant to converged security. Engagement with the GCSB Converged Security Framework is welcome but not required, and critical evaluation is encouraged.
- High community and industry value: practical, evidence-based findings that security professionals and organisations can apply.
- Not considered: medicine and health sciences.
- Not considered: agriculture and food sciences.
- Not considered: general it or general security topics without a converged security focus.
3. Before you submit
- Check the paper meets the publication prerequisites above.
- Make sure it is original, not published and not under review elsewhere.
- Agree the author list and order with all co-authors.
4. Preparing the manuscript
- Article types: original research (4,000-8,000 words), review article (5,000-9,000), practice paper (3,000-5,000).
- Structure: title, abstract (150-300 words), 4-6 keywords, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion, references.
- Use APA 7th edition referencing.
- Upload PDF, DOC or DOCX, up to 20 MB.
5. Anonymising for double-blind review
- Remove names, affiliations, acknowledgements and funding from the manuscript file.
- Cite your own earlier work in the third person.
- Remove author details from the file properties.
- Give your name, affiliation and ORCID only in the submission form. An ORCID iD is required for the corresponding author and encouraged for all co-authors.
6. Declarations
- Conflicts of interest, funding, ethics approval for research with people, and any AI use.
- Any preprint of the manuscript, and a data availability statement.
- Confirmation that the work is original and free of plagiarism.
7. After you submit
- Track every stage in the R&D & Journal portal.
- If revisions are requested, upload the revised file and a short response to each reviewer comment within 30 days.
- You can withdraw a paper at any time before acceptance.
Open access
Copyright and reuse
Authors retain copyright and grant GCSB a non-exclusive licence to publish. Published Journal articles are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
You may share and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercially, provided you give appropriate credit, link to the licence and indicate any changes. You must not imply endorsement or impose additional legal or technological restrictions. Third-party material identified as excluded in a credit line requires separate permission where applicable. This licence does not apply to confidential submissions or unrelated GCSB materials.
Zenodo repository and DOIs
Final approved publications are deposited in the GCSB Zenodo community, where all Converged Security Framework standards, procedures and playbooks are already published with registered DOIs. Eligible articles without an existing DOI receive a free Zenodo DOI when the deposit is published following community acceptance. Articles with an existing DOI retain it. No submission, review or publication fee is charged. A reserved DOI is not yet registered, and deposit does not guarantee external indexing. Confidential submissions and private drafts are excluded.
Read the CC BY 4.0 licence