The LAB Publishing Charter

Part II

The six principles

Articles 1 to 3 are entrenched: they may be strengthened by amendment, never weakened.

• 1

  Entrenched

  Merit Before Money

  Scholarly merit is the sole basis of every publication decision.

  No editorial decision anywhere in the ecosystem may take account of an author's funding, institution or capacity to contribute. That information is not available to the people who make decisions.

• 2

  Entrenched

  Editorial Independence

  Editorial judgement is insulated from finance by structure, not by promise.

  An institutional firewall separates scholarly assessment from financial administration. Contribution matters are raised only after a final acceptance decision has been recorded, and no decision may be revisited because of them.

• 3

  Entrenched

  Universal Access

  Free to read, free to publish; hardship never prevents publication.

  Open access without embargo and without author charge. The Hardship Support Pathway is permanent, uncapped and non-discretionary — a single self-certification, never refused, never means-tested.

• 4

  Scholarly Reciprocity

  Service to the scholarly community is recognised as contribution.

  Reviewing, editing, mentoring and translating sustain the record as surely as money does, and are recognised as contribution in their own right.

• 5

  Mission-Based Sustainability

  Contributions sustain infrastructure; they do not purchase publication.

  Contributions fund DOIs, hosting, preservation, editorial systems, integrity screening, accessibility and the people who maintain them. We report publicly and annually against every commitment made in this Charter.

• 6

  Human-Governed AI

  Machines assist; human beings remain responsible and accountable.

  AI may screen, summarise and surface risk. It may never decide. Every scholarly or ethical judgement affecting a person or a published work is made by a named human being who can be asked to account for it, and every AI output is contestable and logged.

Part III

Governance structure

The Charter is not a policy beneath LAB Press. Publishing operations sit beneath the Charter.

1. 01The LOVE FrameworkThe philosophy of the institution: Linkedness, Opulence, Valory, Equanimity.
2. 02The LAB Publishing CharterThe constitutional instrument. Articles 1–3 are entrenched and cannot be weakened by amendment.
3. 03Policy frameworkEditorial, peer review, AI governance, integrity, access and contribution policies derive their authority from the Charter.
4. 04Publishing operationsLAB Press, JPPAS and future journals operate under those policies — never above them.

Part III

What the Charter binds

• The LAB Institute

  Research governance, ethics review and the open repository.

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• LAB Press

  Books, reports, essays, working papers and every imprint established hereafter.

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• JPPAS

  The Journal of Positive Psychology, Agapology and Spirituality.

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• Future LAB journals

  Every journal founded under LAB Press inherits this Charter on the day it is founded.

• Conferences and dissemination

  Convenings, calls, briefings and plain-language dissemination of LAB scholarship.

Part VI

The Publication Contribution model

Pathways are offered only after a final acceptance decision has been recorded. Every pathway results in publication, and selection is invisible to every editorial role.

• Hardship Support Pathway

  £0

  For scholars without institutional or grant support. Tick one box. That is the whole process. We never ask for evidence and we never say no.

  Authors without institutional or grant support; unfunded, independent, early-career and Global South scholars

• Individual Contribution Pathway

  £100

  If you have modest personal or departmental capacity and would like to support the ecosystem.

  Authors with modest personal or departmental capacity who wish to support the ecosystem

• Institutional Contribution Pathway

  £250+

  Where your university, department or grant covers publication costs. We invoice your institution directly.

  Authors whose university, department or research grant carries publication costs

• Sponsored Publication Pathway

  Varies

  Where a funder, programme or partner supports the work. We disclose the sponsor; the sponsor has no say in anything editorial.

  Articles supported by a funder, sponsor, programme or institutional agreement

• No pathway confers priority, faster handling, editorial advantage or any influence on the decision — the decision has already been made.
• Contribution is never a condition of publication.
• Contributions may be made after publication.
• An author may change or withdraw a selection at any time without effect on the article.
• Contributions may be redirected to the hardship reserve at the contributor's request.

Contributions sustain infrastructure. They do not purchase publication. Your article was accepted before we asked, and nothing about your answer changes it.

Strategic position

How LAB differs

• Traditional publishers

  Readers pay. Access is rationed by subscription, and the public rarely reaches the research it funded.

  LAB: Free to read, permanently, with no embargo.

• APC-funded open access

  Authors pay to publish. Capacity to pay becomes a condition of appearing in the record.

  LAB: No article processing charges. Contributions are invited after acceptance and never condition it.

• Predatory journals

  Money buys publication. Review is nominal or absent.

  LAB: Rigorous peer review, published policies, verifiable decisions and an immutable audit trail.

• Conventional OA with waivers

  Hardship is an exception you must apply for, prove and be granted.

  LAB: Hardship is a standing pathway: one self-certification, no evidence requested, never refused.