This page explains how Athena: Journal of Social, Culture and Society identifies sponsorship supporting the journal, an issue, a collection, or another journal activity. Disclosures describe the supporting party, the nature of its support, and its involvement.

Sponsorship includes a specific arrangement through which an organisation or individual provides financial or in-kind support for an identified journal activity. Support may cover operational resources, technical services, a special issue, or a defined publication initiative.

A sponsor is not automatically an owner, publisher, editorial authority, or institutional partner. Any additional relationship must be stated explicitly on the appropriate governance page.

An editor’s institutional affiliation, an indexing logo, or a link to a research tool does not itself establish sponsorship. Ordinary APC payment by an author or their institution is not, by itself, journal sponsorship.

Each disclosed sponsorship arrangement should identify the following information:

No named sponsorship arrangement is currently listed on this page. This statement describes the information published here and should not be interpreted as confirmation that the journal receives no external support. Enquiries about a specific relationship may be directed to the publisher.

Where support relates to a special issue, collection, or defined group of articles, the relevant landing page must identify the sponsor and the nature of support. Article-level disclosure should be included where needed to make the relationship clear.

If a sponsor contributes to topic development or proposes contributors or guest editors, that involvement must be disclosed. Such proposals do not determine editorial appointments or manuscript acceptance.

If an organisation covers APCs for an entire collection as part of a sponsorship arrangement, disclose that arrangement and its coverage without implying that acceptance was purchased. Review arrangements remain governed by Review Model and the other Peer Review policies.

Sponsor acknowledgment must explain the actual relationship and must not imply journal endorsement of all sponsor activities, products, or claims. A logo alone is not an adequate description of support.

Sponsorship does not grant access to confidential manuscripts, reviewer identities, or internal assessment records. Any separate authorised service arrangement must follow the journal’s Confidentiality and privacy rules.

Support must not be conditional on favourable editorial outcomes or suppression of necessary corrections. Detailed protections are defined in Editorial Independence. Sponsorship does not alter Athena’s CC BY 4.0 publication terms.

Material changes to a sponsor’s identity, support, involvement, or support period must be reflected in the relevant disclosure. Historical disclosures should remain associated with the activities they describe.

Governance Transparency governs verification and maintenance of website information. Missing or inaccurate disclosures affecting published articles are assessed under Corrections or, where integrity concerns arise, the relevant investigation policy.