Editorial Statute

Aims and Identity

Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences (RDJ) is a peer-reviewed, e-only journal that publishes data papers. These are scholarly publications of medium length that comprehensively document a deposited dataset and put the data in a research context. By publishing data papers, RDJ contributes to the transparency of research, accelerates dissemination and fosters the reuse of scholarly data in compliance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). Papers are published in Diamond Open Access: all content is freely accessible online and authors do not incur an APC.

 

Organization

The organization of Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Science consists of an editorial board and one or more editors. Editors are full executive members of the editorial board. The editorial functioning and publication of the journal is organized through the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. The journal is hosted through Openjournals. The editorial board is responsible for the content and, together with the IISH, for the financial sustainability of the journal.

 

Composition Editorial Board

The editorial board consists of at least five members and is chosen from scholars who are active in the Humanities and Social Science domains and are or have been affiliated with an academic institution. The actual number of members is to be decided by the board. The term of the board membership is three years and is renewable once. The board will elect its own members in case of vacancies.

 

Meetings Editorial Board

The editorial board meets at least once a year. The meeting will be prepared by the editor(s). Members will be invited at least four weeks beforehand. The agenda will be sent out at least one week before the meeting. The minutes of the meeting will be made and circulated to the editorial board by the editor(s) within two weeks of the meeting.

 

Decision Process Editorial Board

All decisions, including the membership of the board, the position of editor(s) and the editorial statute, will be taken by the editorial board by a simple majority of votes. In case of an equal division of votes, the editor(s) will make a decision. It is allowed to discuss and decide on all matters in between board meetings (e.g. by way of email) on the condition that all board members agree with this procedure.

 

Amsterdam, 12 December 2025

This statute has been based on the editorial statute of Historical Life Course Studies (17 April 2013).