Policies
IDENTITY & MISSION
EDITORIAL PROCESS
- Peer Review and Publication Process
- Referees
- Anti-plagiarism Screening
- Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
PUBLICATION AND ACCESS POLICIES
- Publication Frequency
- Articles and Submissions Processing Charges (APC)
- Funding Sources
- Open Access Policy
- Privacy Policy
DISTRIBUTION AND PRESERVATION
Focus and Scope
“XY” is a multidisciplinary, critical journal focused on architecture and issues of representation from historical, theoretical, and operational perspectives, with particular attention to scientific experimentation and design research. The journal aims to stimulate and disseminate studies in the fields of drawing, surveying, visual perception, and graphic communication, as well as to foster connections with other areas of knowledge related to the bidimensionality of the image — a concept evoked by the Cartesian coordinates referenced in its title.
Classification
“XY” is a scientific journal listed by ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes) in area 08 ‘Civil Engineering and Architecture’ (ISSN print 2499-8338 until 2020, ISSN electronic 2499-8346).
Section Policies
With the exception of the ‘Editorial’ and ‘Cover Image Competition’ or 'Iconographic Exposition' sections, all contributions published in the ‘Articles’ section are subject to scientific double-blind peer review. Each issue may include one invited article, which is evaluated by the Scientific Committee and published immediately after the editorial.
Accepted Languages
English (UK), Italian, Spanish, French, and German.
Peer Review and Publication Process
The publication of an article is subject to the scientific assessment of experts selected for their specific competencies and follows a double-blind peer-review procedure. It is also contingent upon the full editorial revision of all materials and is managed entirely through the OJS platform, according to the sequence described below.
1. Authors send the full paper (including abstract, keywords, bibliography, images with captions and credits), in accordance with the procedures set out by the OJS platform, the models and the publishing standards available on the XY website and OJS platform; Authors shall also submit a freely formatted, anonymised PDF file of the full paper.
2. The Editorial Board checks compliance with the requirements in point 1 - including image quality - and records the outcome in the editorial review form, with any requests for integration or correction. Failure to comply may result in rejection.
3. The Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Team, and any Guest Editors jointly select two reviewers with specific expertise to whom the complete essay is sent anonymously; up to issue XY17 2026, these experts may be internal and/or external to the Scientific Review Committee; from issue XY18 2026, the review process is entirely entrusted to individuals external to the journal’s boards and committees.
4. Each Reviewer assesses the scientific quality of the contribution and provides their evaluation using the scientific review form.
5. In the event of conflicting opinions, the Editorial Board and any Section Editors may appoint a third reviewer or, alternatively, assume responsibility for the final scientific assessment.
6. The Editorial Team collects the results of the anonymous review process, verifies full compliance with editorial standards, and communicates the final outcome to the authors (publishable, publishable with revisions, publishable with revisions and further review, or not publishable), sending the corresponding two/three review reports, which are also disclosed to the reviewers.
7. (if required) Authors modify and resubmit the paper according to the reviewers’ comments and suggestions. If a further round of review is necessary, the paper will be published only upon a positive outcome of the second evaluation.
8. Authors submit the final paper in English and in second chosen language, the signed License to Publish form, and their biographical details using the online form.
9. The Editorial Team proceeds with the production and publication of the issue.
Timeline
- Call for papers
- Full paper submission deadline: 10 weeks
- Notification for acceptance/request for revisions: 5 weeks
- Submission of final paper: 4 weeks
- Issue production: 5 weeks
Referees
From 2026, the scientific evaluation of essays is entrusted to two external experts who are independent of the journal’s boards and committees, in accordance with the double-blind peer review model.
Anti-plagiarism Screening
The publication release form adopted by the journal assigns to authors the responsibility for the originality of the submitted materials. In any case, “XY” applies plagiarism checks to all published articles, using Dupli Checker and TextGuard. In cases of suspected plagiarism, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Team consult the Ethics Committee and follow the recommendations set out in the guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). If plagiarism is discovered after publication, “XY” may correct or retract the original contribution depending on the extent of the plagiarism, and will provide clear notice of this on the journal’s website.
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
All parties involved in the publication process – The Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Team, Scientific Committee, Scientific Reviewers, Authors, Publishers, collaborators and consultants – are expected to know, share and uphold, throughout their work, the principles set out in the ‘Code of Ethics’, which is drafted and periodically updated on the basis of the Core Practices developed by COPE. Reference should be made to this document for further details on the following matters: duties of The Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board, the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Reviewers (publication decisions, integrity and transparency, confidentiality, disclosure and conflicts of interest); duties of authors (compliance with publication procedures, integrity, originality and plagiarism, disclosure and conflicts of interest); breaches of the ‘Code of Ethics’ and the sanctions that may result.
Publication Frequency
From 2026, the journal “XY” is a periodical that publishes two issues per year.
Articles and Submissions Processing Charges (APC)
The journal “XY” does not charge authors for submissions or for the publication of articles.
Funding Sources
From 2026, the journal “XY” is financially supported by the Roberto de Rubertis Foundation ETS, as is the entire XYdigitale publishing project to which it belongs. The RdR Foundation covers the costs of editorial review and page layout, as well as the maintenance of the website and the publishing platform.
Open Access Policy
“XY” is a diamond open-access journal which, in accordance with the Statute of the University of Trento, publishes online without charging editorial fees to authors; it is hosted on the University’s platform, powered by OJS software, which employs specific bibliographic standards and protocols to ensure free dissemination and reuse for all readers (University Policy on Open Science, updated 7 July 2025). From 2025, the journal is published under a Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-SA 4.0), which permits copying, modification, the creation of derivative works and the unrestricted redistribution of content, on the sole condition that the author is credited and the same type of licence is applied. The journal’s license to publish allows authors to choose alternative CC licences, as well as to retain copyright over their work without any restrictions and the freedom to enter into additional, separate agreements for its subsequent republication. The free use of material published in the journal must always include proper attribution to the source, specifying the title of the journal (“XY”), the DOI of the article and the exact address of the webpage on which it appears.
Privacy Policy
Mandatory personal data (first name, last name, email) entered on the TESeO-OJS platform and on the “XY” journal website are provided by the user at the time of registration. Personal data are private, are not transferred to third parties, and are not processed for purposes other than those indicated. Users may update, modify, or request the deletion of their personal data at any time.
The data provided by users are used for access to and operation of the editorial platform, and to promote the journal’s various scientific and cultural activities through informational material. Data are processed using appropriate security measures to minimise the risk of destruction or loss, unauthorised access, or processing that does not comply with the purposes of the collection.
Indexing and Abstracting
ACNP – Catalogo Italiano dei Periodici - https://acnpsearch.unibo.it/journal/3196595
Google Scholar - Web search engine of scholarly literature - https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=XYdigitale&hl=it&as_sdt=0,5
WorldCat – Catalogo online del progetto Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) - https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=issn%3A2499-8346
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Assignment
“XY” uses DataCite for the attribution and registration of DOI.
DataCite Commons - https://commons.datacite.org/doi.org?query=xy®istration-agency=datacite&resource-type=text&language=it
Distribution
The journal “XY” addresses both academic and scientific communities of faculty members and scholars, as well as the field of applied research, encompassing professional and institutional contexts, as well as schools and education at various levels.
Archiving
“XY” is managed on the TESeO-OJS platform by Archimede Informatica on behalf of the University of Trento. This ensures the electronic deposit and permanent preservation of published documents.
The publication release forms are stored in the PITre system, in the DICAM folder.
The journal is also included in the PKP Preservation Network (PN), which provides long-term archiving and perpetual access.
The journal’s contents are also archived on the XYdigitale website, managed with WordPress on the Aruba platform.
Author Self-Archiving Policy
After the online publication, the journal encourages authors to deposit the published version of their contribution into institutional and/or disciplinary repositories.
Interoperability Protocol
The metadata for the journal “XY” are accessible via the OAI-PMH protocol (Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting). The system utilises the Dublin Core standard to ensure the maximum visibility and interoperability of the content across the Web.
Database and Libraries
The journal “XY” is indexed in major databases and in the catalogues of leading national and international libraries.
Authors' Nationality
The journal “XY” publishes contributions by Italian and international authors.
