Interstitium is an independent publication series developed and published by CRAI – Centro Rausenbach de Análisis e Investigación (Rausenbach Foundation).

These policies describe the principles and procedures that apply to the selection, editorial assessment, publication and post-publication handling of contributions to Interstitium. They reflect the present scope and editorial structure of the publication and will be reviewed as Interstitium develops.

Scope and Publication Model

Interstitium currently publishes Scientific Essays, Research Commentaries and Responses. These formats are intended to develop evidence-based arguments, examine published research and support constructive scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries.

Complete manuscripts are considered only following an explicit written invitation. Preliminary proposals may be submitted for editorial consideration, but an expression of interest or invitation does not guarantee publication.

Every invited manuscript is subject to editorial assessment and may be accepted, returned for revision or declined. Contributions are not presented as original research articles and do not undergo formal external peer review.

Where a manuscript raises a technical or disciplinary question beyond the expertise of the handling editor, confidential advice may be sought from an appropriately qualified specialist. Such consultation supports editorial judgement but does not constitute formal external peer review unless a publication is explicitly submitted to and identified as having undergone such a process.

The editorial status of each contribution is communicated transparently.

Editorial Assessment and Decision-Making

Editorial decisions are based on:

• relevance to the aims and scope of Interstitium;
• suitability for the designated article type;
• clarity and originality of the central contribution;
• accuracy and appropriate use of scholarly evidence;
• fair representation of the research discussed;
• distinction between evidence, interpretation, hypothesis and speculation;
• proportionality of the conclusions;
• completeness of relevant disclosures;
• scholarly tone and accessibility.

An invitation reflects interest in the proposed subject or argument, not a commitment to publish the resulting manuscript.

Editors may request revisions concerning the argument, structure, evidential support, terminology, title, abstract, references, disclosures or presentation. Acceptance occurs only when the handling editor is satisfied that the contribution meets the applicable editorial requirements.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by financial considerations, institutional status, personal relationships, sponsorship or an author’s position within Interstitium or CRAI.

Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose any personal, professional, institutional, financial or research-related interest that could reasonably be perceived as affecting their editorial judgement.

An editor must not handle a contribution when that editor:

• is an author or co-author;
• participated directly in the research or publication under discussion;
• has a close personal, professional or financial relationship with an author;
• has a recent or continuing collaboration that could reasonably affect impartiality;
• or has another relevant interest in the subject or outcome of the contribution.

The existence of a professional relationship does not automatically establish a conflict. The relevant consideration is whether the relationship could reasonably call the independence of the editorial decision into question.

An editor with a relevant conflict takes no part in the assessment, revision process or publication decision.

Editor-Authored Contributions

Members of the Editorial Team may contribute to Interstitium as authors. Editorial position does not confer preferential consideration or publication.

A contribution authored or co-authored by an editor must be assigned to an uninvolved editor who has full authority to:

• determine whether the proposed contribution should be considered;
• assess the manuscript;
• request revisions;
• obtain specialist advice where appropriate;
• decline the contribution;
• or approve it for publication.

The author-editor takes no part in these decisions and does not direct the editorial assessment.

If no member of the Editorial Team can act without a relevant conflict of interest, Interstitium will seek a suitably qualified independent guest editor to assume responsibility for the manuscript. If appropriate independent handling cannot be secured, the contribution will not proceed to publication.

Every editor-authored publication includes a disclosure identifying the author’s editorial role and the editor or guest editor responsible for the assessment and publication decision.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who made a substantial intellectual contribution to the conception, development, analysis or writing of the contribution, approved the version to be published and accept responsibility for its content.

Funding, professional position, institutional authority, general supervision or administrative support alone does not justify authorship.

All authors must:

• approve the manuscript and author order;
• agree to its consideration and publication by Interstitium;
• disclose relevant competing interests and funding;
• take responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their contribution;
• cooperate in addressing questions or corrections that arise after publication.

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship may be acknowledged with their permission. For multi-author contributions, Interstitium may request a contributor statement based on the CRediT Contributor Role Taxonomy.

Changes to the author list after an invited manuscript has been received require a written explanation and the agreement of all affected authors. Interstitium does not adjudicate unresolved authorship disputes and may suspend consideration while the authors or their institutions seek an appropriate resolution.

Originality and Prior Publication

Contributions must be original works that have not been published in substantially the same form and are not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere.

Authors must disclose relevant:

• preprints and publicly available manuscript versions;
• translations or adaptations of previous work;
• substantial overlap with their own publications;
• related manuscripts under consideration elsewhere;
• previous public presentation of the central argument;
• reuse of text, figures, tables or other material.

Prior dissemination does not necessarily prevent publication, but it must be disclosed and considered by the editors before acceptance.

Research Commentaries may examine work authored or co-authored by the commentary’s authors. Such contributions must extend beyond summary or promotion, identify the author’s relationship to the research and provide a genuinely interpretative or critical contribution.

Plagiarism, unattributed reuse, fabricated sources, undisclosed redundant publication and material misrepresentation are incompatible with publication in Interstitium.

Accuracy, Evidence and Research Integrity

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all factual statements, quotations, references, figures and representations of other authors’ work.

Contributions must:

• cite evidence appropriate to substantive factual claims;
• use primary sources where they provide the most direct evidence;
• represent findings and opposing interpretations fairly;
• distinguish reported results from subsequent interpretation;
• acknowledge evidence that materially limits the argument;
• avoid presenting association as causation;
• avoid presenting hypotheses or extrapolations as established findings;
• avoid selective quotation or omission that materially changes the meaning of a source;
• refrain from citation manipulation or the inclusion of irrelevant references;
• avoid promotional, defamatory or unnecessarily adversarial language.

Scientific criticism should address evidence, methods, assumptions or conclusions rather than the character or motives of individuals.

Fabricated or falsified data, manipulated documentary material, deceptive images and knowingly inaccurate citations are not permitted. Images may be adjusted only in ways that do not obscure, remove, invent or misrepresent scientifically relevant information.

Interstitium does not currently publish reports of original experimental research. Contributions discussing research involving humans, animals, clinical material or sensitive data must represent the ethical and methodological status of the underlying work accurately.

If a manuscript introduces previously unpublished observations, data or analyses, the editors may request information concerning their origin, ethical status, consent, permissions and methods. Material that would more appropriately constitute an original research report may be considered outside the present scope of Interstitium.

Claims concerning medicine, health or clinical practice must reflect the strength and limitations of the available evidence and must not be presented as established recommendations when the evidence does not support that interpretation.

Competing Interests, Funding and Relevant Relationships

Authors must disclose financial, professional, institutional or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the contribution.

A competing interest does not necessarily prevent publication. Its disclosure allows readers and editors to evaluate the contribution with appropriate context.

Authors must identify:

• relevant research funding and grant numbers;
• employment, consultancy, advisory or commercial relationships;
• intellectual-property interests where relevant;
• institutional or professional relationships connected to the subject;
• direct involvement in the research or publication being discussed;
• other relationships that could reasonably affect interpretation.

Research Commentaries discussing work authored, co-authored, funded or otherwise directly influenced by the commentary’s authors must state that relationship explicitly.

Where no relevant competing interests or external funding exist, an appropriate declaration should be provided.

Editors and specialist advisers are subject to the same expectation of disclosure and must withdraw when a relevant interest prevents independent handling.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Artificial-intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot approve the final contribution, accept responsibility for its content or respond to questions concerning its integrity.

Authors remain fully responsible for all material submitted or published under their names, including material produced, translated, analysed or modified with the assistance of an AI system.

Substantive use of generative AI must be disclosed when it contributed to:

• drafting or substantial rewriting;
• literature identification or synthesis;
• development of arguments or interpretations;
• translation beyond routine linguistic correction;
• data analysis or coding;
• generation or substantial modification of figures or images.

The disclosure should identify the tool, its version where known, its purpose and the way in which the resulting material was reviewed and verified. Routine spelling, grammar and formatting assistance does not normally require disclosure.

AI output must not be cited as scholarly evidence. Authors must independently verify every factual claim, quotation and reference. Fabricated, inaccurate or unverifiable citations may result in rejection, correction or other appropriate editorial action.

Generative AI must not be used to fabricate or misleadingly alter data, documentary evidence, scientific images or representations of research findings. AI-generated illustrative material requires editorial approval and must be clearly identified. It must not be presented as experimental or documentary evidence.

Any editorial use of generative AI must remain subject to human judgement and appropriate confidentiality safeguards. Editorial decisions are made by human editors and will not be based solely on automated assessment or AI-detection tools. Unpublished manuscripts will not be submitted to an external AI system for substantive editorial evaluation without informing the author.

Confidentiality

Preliminary proposals, invited manuscripts, editorial correspondence and information supplied in connection with a complaint or integrity concern are treated as confidential to the extent reasonably possible.

Editors and specialist advisers must not:

• disclose unpublished material without appropriate justification or permission;
• use unpublished arguments, information or ideas for personal advantage;
• share manuscripts beyond those involved in their legitimate editorial handling.

Specialist advisers are expected to preserve the confidentiality of the material supplied to them.

Confidentiality may need to be limited where disclosure is required to investigate a serious integrity concern, obtain legal or institutional advice, protect affected persons or comply with a legal obligation. Where possible, only information necessary for that purpose will be disclosed.

Personal information is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy published on the Interstitium website.

Copyright, Licensing and Permissions

Authors retain copyright in their contributions and grant Interstitium the right to publish, distribute and archive the accepted work.

Unless otherwise stated on the publication, contributions are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). This permits sharing and adaptation provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is supplied and any changes are indicated.

Authors must confirm that they have the authority to license the material included in their contribution.

Third-party material is not automatically covered by the Creative Commons licence applying to the contribution. Authors are responsible for:

• identifying the copyright status of third-party material;
• obtaining any necessary permission;
• supplying appropriate attribution;
• observing licence conditions;
• indicating material to which different terms apply.

Material found online must not be assumed to be available for republication.

Corrections and the Published Record

Authors should inform the Editorial Team promptly if they identify an error after publication. Readers may also report suspected errors through the editorial contact details provided on the website.

The response will depend on the nature and significance of the issue.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect meaning may be corrected without a separate notice. Material errors are addressed through a dated correction notice linked to the original contribution.

A correction should explain what has changed and whether the change affects the interpretation or conclusions of the publication.

Where a serious concern cannot immediately be resolved, Interstitium may publish an editorial note or expression of concern while further information is sought.

A contribution may be retracted when its findings or central argument are no longer reliable because of serious error, fabrication, plagiarism, material misrepresentation, unethical conduct or another substantial breach of publication integrity.

A retracted contribution will normally remain accessible as part of the publication record but will be clearly identified as retracted and linked to a notice explaining the reason. Content will be removed entirely only in exceptional circumstances, such as compelling legal, privacy or safety considerations.

Corrections, retractions and editorial notices are made freely accessible and linked to the publication concerned.

Post-Publication Discussion

Interstitium welcomes specific and evidence-based notifications concerning possible errors or material omissions.

Scientific disagreement does not in itself establish an error or misconduct. Where the matter concerns interpretation rather than factual correction, the editors may consider an invited Response or another appropriate form of scholarly discussion.

Responses do not replace corrections or retractions where the accuracy or integrity of the published record requires formal action. Publication of a Response is an editorial decision and is not automatic.

Complaints and Appeals

Complaints may concern editorial procedure, conflicts of interest, accuracy, conduct or the application of these policies. They should be submitted through the editorial contact details provided on the website and should identify:

• the contribution or decision concerned;
• the specific nature of the complaint;
• the relevant policy or procedural issue;
• any supporting information or documentation.

Complaints are considered by an editor who is not directly implicated in the matter. Individuals whose conduct or decisions are questioned will normally be given an opportunity to respond before a conclusion is reached.

An editorial decision may be appealed where the author can provide material evidence of a procedural error, relevant factual misunderstanding or undisclosed conflict of interest. Mere disagreement with the editor’s scholarly judgement is not normally sufficient grounds for reconsideration.

Where a complaint directly concerns all available members of the Editorial Team, a suitably qualified independent adviser will be asked to review the handling of the matter and recommend an outcome.

Interstitium will seek to address complaints fairly and proportionately. Submission of a complaint or appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

Allegations of Misconduct

Allegations of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, undisclosed conflicts, authorship misconduct, rights infringement or other serious breaches will be assessed carefully and without a presumption of guilt.

Interstitium may:

• request clarification or documentation from the persons concerned;
• compare the questioned material with relevant sources;
• seek confidential specialist or legal advice;
• temporarily suspend editorial consideration;
• publish a correction, expression of concern or retraction where warranted;
• contact a relevant institution, employer, funder or publisher when the issue requires investigation beyond Interstitium’s authority.

Interstitium is not an investigative institution and cannot determine matters that require access to employment records, laboratory documentation or institutional evidence. Where appropriate, responsibility for formal investigation may therefore be referred to the relevant organisation.

Anonymous concerns may be considered when they contain sufficiently specific and verifiable information. The identity of a complainant will be protected where reasonably possible, but absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed if disclosure is required for fair examination or by law.

Access and Publication Fees

All published contributions are freely accessible.

Interstitium does not charge authors any fees at any stage of the inquiry, editorial assessment or publication process.

Policy Review

These policies apply to the current publication model of Interstitium and may be revised as its scope, editorial structure or publication procedures develop.

Material changes will be dated and communicated on this page. Revisions will not retrospectively alter the licence under which an existing contribution was published.

Questions concerning these policies should be addressed to the Interstitium Editorial Team through the contact details provided on this website.

Last updated: 3 August 2026.