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Policies and Guidelines

Contents

About UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

In the rapidly globalizing world of gaming, UNLV's Gaming Research and Review Journal provides a unique forum for peer-reviewed articles published by the world's leading academic experts. Since 1994, GRRJ has published hundreds of pertinent research papers on casino operations, gaming laws and regulations, management, technology, community relations, responsible gaming, and other important topics.

Suitable Topics

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal is a general gaming journal that publishes in many gaming and gaming-related areas. Past topics include: gaming law and regulation, problem gambling, casino management and marketing, casino customer relations, gaming operations, Internet gambling, Indian gaming, riverboat gaming, lotteries, racing, sports betting, socio-economic aspects of gaming, human resources in gaming, feasibility studies, gaming education, gaming trends and technology. As gaming develops and expands, so too will journal coverage.

Academic Disciplines

Since gaming impacts many facets of life it is anticipated that professionals in many fields may be investigating this topic. Areas of research may include, but are not limited to history, sociology, psychology, business, finance, taxation and revenue, legislation, information technology, intellectual property, leisure studies, casino hotel management, mathematics, and organizational management.

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Article Types

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal accepts scholarly research papers, including empirical and theoretical articles. In addition to scholarly research, the Journal also publishes book reviews and industry expert opinions in short features at the second section of the journal. Supplemental materials such as reviews and opinions are not subject to peer review, but peer review is available on request.

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Who Can Submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

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Preparing Your Manuscript

Manuscripts must be submitted in Word or LaTeX. We recommend using our manuscript template (Word | LaTeX) to ensure proper formatting. Organize your manuscript with the following sections in sequence:

  • Manuscript title
  • Abstract (unstructured, 150-250 words)
  • 3 to 6 keywords
  • Introduction
  • Materials and Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • References
  • Appendices (as appropriate)
  • Acknowledgements (if applicable)

The manuscript’s length should not exceed 6,000 words, excluding abstract, references, tables and captions from the word count.

A cover letter to the Editors that details the contributions of the work should be included in the submission.

Disclosure Policy

When submitting a paper, authors must include the following in their submission form:

  1. Funding Sources. Include a statement from all authors that details the funding sources relevant to the manuscript being submitted. Also state whether the funding body had any involvement in any aspects of the research including, not limited to, the research questions, methodology, research conduct, or analysis of results. If none, indicate this.
  2. Competing Interests. Include a statement from all authors detailing any financial or non-financial competing interests over the last three years. This includes any funding from any government, industry, community, and/or advocacy groups irrespective of whether that funding was in direct or indirect relationship to the manuscript being submitted. If none, indicate this.

References and Formatting

References, citations, and general style of manuscripts should follow the latest edition of The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual). Currently, authors must use the 7th edition. Citation forms for journal articles, books, magazines, newspapers, dissertations, proceedings, audio and visual media, and formats for new media such as electronic publications and Internet sources are contained in the APA Manual and must be adhered to. Formats for tables, figures, and illustrations are also covered. Please refer to APA standards and follow the models and examples in the Manual.

All references must include Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) when available. DOIs should be formatted as complete URLs using the format: https://doi.org/[DOI number]. Do not include library proxy URLs or other institutional access links in DOI formatting. Failure to format DOIs correctly will result in the manuscript being returned to the author(s) for revision, which may delay the review process.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use the free CrossRef DOI lookup tool to verify and obtain correct DOI links before submission. This tool allows you to copy and paste references from your manuscript to automatically locate missing or verify existing DOIs.

See Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for details.

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Manuscript Submission

Submission of a manuscript to UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal represents a certification on the part of the authors that it is an original work. by submitting material to UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal. Prior to final acceptance for publication, authors may withdraw their article by notice in writing to the Editor if they wish to submit it elsewhere.

Manuscripts should be submitted via the “Submit Article” link in the menu on the left-hand side of the Journal’s website. We do not accept articles submitted via email.

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Peer Review Policy

Following a preliminary evaluation to eliminate submissions unsuitable for UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, all papers are sent out for a double-blind peer review to assist the Editors in deciding if an article should be accepted, sent for revision, or rejected. Scholarly articles will be submitted to academic professionals and, if relevant, other stakeholder professionals, for critique and suggestions for improvement. Several reviews may be solicited for each article. Authors will receive anonymous reviewer feedback from the journal Editor to assist in revising or updating the article. Final decision to accept an article will not be rendered until revisions are completed.

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Editorial Fiat

The Journal Editor is ultimately responsible for the final content of this publication and reserves the right to make editorial changes, usually not affecting substantive content. Corrections, deletions and additions may include improving writing style, correcting in-text references and bibliographic citations, fact checking of objective, verifiable data.

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Open Access Publishing

Open Access Statement

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal is an Open Access publication; all articles are freely available online immediately upon article publication. All articles are rigorously peer-reviewed, and brought to publication as rapidly as possible. There is no charge for submitting a paper to UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal.

Publishing Agreement

Articles in UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal are freely available under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The Creative Commons Attribution License allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly cited. For more information, visit the Creative Commons licenses page. Copyright is retained by the author(s). Where an author is prevented from being the copyright holder (e.g., U.S. government employees), the copyright line and license statement in individual articles will be adjusted. Please contact the editors during or immediately after submission of your paper if you are not the copyright holder.

Permissions

It is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission from copyright holders for reproducing illustrations, tables, figures, or lengthy quotations. This includes copyright of the author's own material. Papers without correct permissions will not be published.

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Publication Schedule

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal is published once per year, on a Winter schedule. Individual articles are published and available online immediately after author proof approval, regardless of issue state.

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Disclaimer

All articles, papers, news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Journal, its publisher, or its editorial staff.

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Plagiarism Policy

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and originality in published research. This policy outlines our approach to preventing, detecting, and addressing plagiarism in submitted manuscripts.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use of another person's ideas, words, data, or creative work without proper attribution, whether intentional or unintentional. This includes but is not limited to copying text without quotation marks and proper citation, paraphrasing another's work without attribution, self-plagiarism through reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without disclosure, fabrication or falsification of citations, unauthorized collaboration, and mosaic plagiarism that combines phrases from multiple sources without attribution.

Detection Methods

All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using detection software prior to peer review. Additional manual reviews may be conducted when warranted.

Editorial Actions

The severity of plagiarism determines our editorial response. Minor issues such as missing quotation marks or incomplete citations typically result in requests for revision with proper attribution. Moderate cases may lead to manuscript rejection with opportunity to resubmit after major revision, and authors will be asked to provide detailed explanations of the identified similarities. Severe cases result in immediate rejection without opportunity for resubmission, notification to the corresponding author's institution, and potential permanent exclusion from future journal submissions.

When potential plagiarism in published articles is identified, the Editor-in-Chief initiates a thorough investigation in consultation with the editorial advisory committee. We carefully examine all allegations by reviewing the original submission materials and conducting additional similarity checks when necessary. If substantial plagiarism is confirmed, we will notify the corresponding author's institution, contact relevant funding organizations that supported the research, and issue a formal retraction notice explaining the reasons for withdrawal.

Appeals Process

Authors may appeal plagiarism decisions by submitting a formal written appeal within 30 days of notification. Appeals must include detailed explanations and supporting documentation addressing the plagiarism allegations. When appropriate, appeals may be reviewed by an independent editorial board member not involved in the original decision. All appeals will be reviewed within 90 days, with decisions communicated in writing to the authors. The Editor-in-Chief's decision on appeals is final.

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Artificial Intelligence Policy

Authors should disclose the use of artificial intelligence tools when these contribute substantially to the manuscript writing process. AI assistance for routine tasks such as grammar checking, spell-checking, or formatting does not require disclosure, but is encouraged. However, more substantial writing contributions, including content generation, structural organization, or extensive paraphrasing, should be acknowledged in the manuscript with a brief description of how the AI tool was used. The statement should be placed in a section at the end of the manuscript before the reference list entitled 'Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process'.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

AI tools cannot be listed as co-authors, as authorship requires human judgment, scholarly expertise, and accountability for the work's content and conclusions. Authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and academic integrity of their written work, including any text generated with AI assistance.

Failure to disclose substantial AI use in the writing process may be considered a breach of publication transparency standards and could result in editorial action.

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General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the OAsis: UNLV's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity website and/or software agree not to misuse the OAsis: UNLV's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity service or software in any way.

The failure of OAsis: UNLV's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between OAsis: UNLV's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

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