Audio & Video

Accepted video formats are AVI, MOV, and MP4. Accepted audio formats are MP3, WAV, or AIF. 

Submitting a video or audio alongside an article is a great way to promote it. Using an additional toolset to explain complex ideas might enhance the clarity of research results and spark a collaboration not imagined possible. We encourage authors to experiment with different ways of sharing and engaging with the audience. Authors can do so by supplementing an article or publishing a stand-alone video/audio free of any charges.

Video and audio publications are not peer-reviewed (but are screened within a few days) before assigning a DOI for citation purposes. The files will be available (permanently stored) on our website after publication. However, in case the video or audio was plagiarized, forged, or in breach of our terms and conditions, we reserve the right to remove it and contact third parties involved if necessary.

If the content of the video or audio was previously presented at a conference or in a paper published in a journal, authors should ensure they have the consent of the copyright owner before completing the submission.

Video and audio files are licensed under CC-BY 4.0 license and are freely accessible to copy, distribute, and use under the condition that no copyrights are claimed, and the original document is properly cited.

Posters & slides

Accepted formats are PDF, PPT, or PPTX.

Aside from paper publications, we publish posters and slides free of charge to provide authors with citable reference of their work or teaching material. The posters and slides can only contain information of scientific and scholarly character. Publishing posters and slides and is useful for future reference, or sharing with colleagues and students. Conveniently located on our webpage, authors instantly access their posters or slides anywhere and anytime.

Posters and slides are not peer-reviewed (but are screened within a few days) before assigning a DOI for citation purposes. The files will be available (permanently stored) on our website after publication. However, in case the poster or slides were plagiarized, forged, or in breach of our terms and conditions, we reserve the right to remove it and contact third parties involved if necessary.

If the content of the poster or slides was previously presented at a conference or in a paper published in a journal, authors should ensure they have the consent of the copyright owner before completing the submission.

Posters and slides are licensed under CC-BY 4.0 license and are freely accessible to copy, distribute, and use under the condition that no copyrights are claimed, and the original document is properly cited.

Data

Frelsi is committed to improving the repeatability of results published in papers while minimizing the research waste because of a large number of papers lacking a direct way to verify the results they present. Therefore, we require authors to provide underlying data, models, code, or any other support material. If authors fail to provide the data, it will likely result in a rejection of their paper (see exceptions to this requirement).

Where to store the data

The preferred way of sharing data is to use an open access repository. Authors should upload the data to the repository before submitting the paper. The name, link, and DOI of the data should be included in 'Comments' section of the submission form. Otherwise, authors can upload the data alongside the paper in the 'Supporting files' section of the submission form.

How to share the data

The data should contain an equivalent of a 'readme' file, explaining the background and connection of the data to your paper. Authors should attach a description of how to use the data, how have they obtained it and give an example scenario (e.g., including the name and version of software used to generate/process the data). If the author is uploading code or a model, example script or simulation settings should be provided to enable reviewers and readers to reproduce the results with ease.

Every paper should contain a statement about the data (the templates have a specified place to select the data status). Authors should select one of the following options:

• Data stored in a public repository – include a link, name, and DOI of the data
• Data is available on the article page in Frelsi.
• There is no data associated with this paper.
• The author cannot share the data due to a non-disclosure agreement with a sponsor.

If the reason why the author cannot share the data does not fall into these categories, please let us know at info@frelsi.org.

Exceptions

Following reasons will be considered if authors cannot share the data supporting the paper content:

• The third party licensed data - if the author is under a non-disclosure agreement or confidentiality contract with the sponsors of the research or other contracts, they should clearly state this during the submission in 'Comments' section. The author should provide direct contact information (name and email of a representative) of the organization which owns the rights to the data so that readers and reviewers can obtain the access to the data similarly as authors.
• Personal data - if the data includes personal information, such as results of medical tests and so on, whenever possible, data should be made as anonymous as possible unless the subjects of the tests have given written consent that their data can be publicly accessible.

Repositories for the data

Authors should upload their data before the paper submission to one of the following repositories. During the submission, please specify DOI and the title of the data in the 'Comments' section. While there are many specialized open access depositories, we recommend using one of the following:

Zenodo

Open Science framework

Dataverse

Each of these options accepts multiple outputs across all fields of research and assigns DOIs to data shared. In case authors wish to use a specific repository pertinent to the nature of their data, an excellent place to start the search is here.

Reviewer selection

Part of our mission is to let authors lead the publishing process, instead of the journal editorial boards. Frelsi acts as an intermediary between authors and reviewers. Authors are asked to recommend five potential reviewers before publication of a paper. If suggested reviewers meet the criteria listed below, Frelsi invites them to do a rigorous peer-review. The main difference compared to traditional journals is, that Frelsi uses post-publication peer-review and the comments of the reviewers, as well as the replies of the authors, are public.

Reviewer requirements

The main requirements on the potential reviewers are:

• Research knowledge - Reviewers have proven expertise in the area of the topic of a paper proven by having at least five papers as main authors in international journals, or having a public track-record in the given field.
• Formal experience - Reviewers have proven competence in an area of electrical engineering. They must have graduated as M.Sc., or Ph.D. from a recognized higher education institution. Reviewers must have an affiliation with an organization or university. Authors should clearly explain the grounds for selecting a reviewer if his/her expertise does not fit directly in the area covered by the particular paper.
• Conflict of interests - Personal, professional (working at the same institution, or having co-authored a publication in recent years), or financial relationship with the reviewers implies a conflict of interests. Reviewers should not have any ties to the authors or their colleagues and must disclose a possible conflict of interests when submitting a review of an article.

Where to search

Authors can find potential reviewers among the authors of the articles referenced in their paper. As our user database grows, there will be more potential reviewers authors can select from directly on our webpage. Otherwise, staff and postdocs of labs at public institutions and their webpages is a suitable place to start.

Review progress

The progression of review from the authors' point of view is as follows:

• First submission - after submission, we verify the affiliations of the authors, as well as originality of the paper.
• Publishing and reviewer search - if the paper passes the initial check, authors are asked to suggest potential reviewers. After the paper is published - assigned DOI and marked expecting review - Frelsi invites potential reviewers who fit the criteria on behalf of the authors.
• First review - Reviewers who accept the job, submit their review and select an acceptance status from three options: Accepted, Accepted with restrictions, or Not accepted. The review is considered completed if at least two reviewers assign the article 'Accepted' status, or two 'Accepted with restrictions' and one 'Accepted' status. Frelsi then indexes the article in external bibliographical databases.
• Continued review - in case the article does not receive critical acceptance, review rounds follow. Authors are encouraged to review their paper based on the reviewer suggestions. Reviews and responses of authors are public. Each version of the article is assigned a separate DOI. Review rounds continue until the article is Accepted. 

Detailed explanation of the publishing model is here.

Submitting revised versions and review responses

After the authors upload a revised version of the article, it can take several days to edit the online version and the download file, depending on the extent of the edits. Authors are responsible for submitting the responses to the reviews during the resubmission. We will notify authors once we publish the revised version of the article (and assigned a DOI).

• How to view the reviews - scroll down on the article page to the Peer review section, or click the ✖, ?, or ✔ in the review table to view the appropriate review.scroll down on the article page to the Peer review section, or click the  in the review table to view the appropriate review.
• How to respond to the reviews - once logged in, click the resubmission button in author account (submissions, published). A resubmission dialogue will prompt authors to upload the updated files and reply to the reviews at the same time.

Processing fee

There is a processing fee (PF) for each paper publication. We do not charge any fee for publishing any other media (slides, posters, video, audio) up to a 20 MB for audio and 200 MB for video files.

The PF is based on the number of pages the paper contains using our templates (font size, line spacing, and paragraph size). Counted pages include only the main body of the article excluding the heading, abstract, and references.

No additional fees are required when submitting updated and revised versions of an article.

Using our templates, the PFs are:

¹We will apply additional 1000 USD charge in case your article will be longer than 10 pages because of substantial additional processing. Data is hosted in several repositories, which might have restrictions on maximum amount of data stored without any fees.

When authors pay the PF

Once the article passes the initial screening and editing stage, we will notify the corresponding author with a link redirecting him or her to a payment dialogue. The accepted form of payment is credit cards.

Discounts and waivers

All registered and active reviewers and Advisory board members receive 50% discount on all publishing charges. We consider a reviewer active when he or she did at least one review in the past 12 months.

Authors receive a full waiver if the non-profit organization they work for is based in a country from Group A.

Authors from countries included in the Group B receive a 50% discount on publishing in accord with Research4Life principles.

Additionally, we are considerate to the geo-economical situation of authors. If authors have reason to believe they are eligible for a discount or waiver they should let us know during the submission process.

Combining the discounts is not possible. Out of all the discounts authors might be eligible for, the highest one will be applied.