Publications and quality standards
Our publications turn research and practical experience into knowledge that can inform policy and practice. We choose the format that best fits each audience and purpose, and follow a rigorous quality-assurance process to ensure that every publication is accurate, credible and useful. We are also committed to open access, responsible publishing and the careful use of artificial intelligence.
A wide range of publications
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In our Working Papers, experts from the Basel Institute and beyond analyse critical issues relating to corruption, financial crime, asset recovery, public governance and business integrity in depth.
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Our Policy Brief series provides concrete recommendations for policy professionals and practitioners, based on case studies and research.
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Our Quick Guides offer brief introductions to specific topics in which we have particular expertise – for a broad audience including readers with little prior knowledge.
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Our Case Studies analyse a particular corruption or asset recovery case and draw out important lessons.
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Our short Research Case Studies summarise a particular anti-corruption research project or area.
Other knowledge products include research reports, commissioned studies, best practice guides or lessons learned. Basel Institute members also regularly write articles and chapters for external publications, including peer-reviewed academic journals.
Open access
Publications of the Basel Institute on Governance are generally open access: all content is immediately and freely available with no fees for authors or readers, and no registration required.
Unless otherwise indicated, our publications are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Within these terms, users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the publications, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
Copyright
Copyright arrangements depend on the author’s relationship with the Basel Institute. For publications authored by Basel Institute personnel, copyright is held by the Basel Institute on Governance in accordance with their employment terms. Typically, external authors retain copyright in their work.
Subject to the above regarding copyright, authors are allowed and encouraged to deposit their work in an institutional or other repository of their choice.
Quality control process
All our publications follow the Basel Institute’s publication and quality-assurance process.
Quality starts right at the beginning, when authors put their ideas into a structured concept note that is then thoroughly discussed and reviewed.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the content, accurate referencing of sources, research integrity and the overall quality of their work, with substantive oversight and final content approval from the relevant line manager. The Communications and Publishing team provides professional copy-editing and final proofreading.
Peer review is required for all publications and is conducted by internal or external subject-matter experts who are independent of the respective project.
Working Papers and Policy Briefs
Our Working Paper and Policy Brief series are published as Diamond Open Access Journals, hosted on the Basel University Library’s open publishing platform eterna.
The Basel Institute does not have a conventional standing editorial board for these journals, due to the broad variety of subjects that we cover. The Basel Institute’s Communications and Publishing team manages the editorial process, supported by experts that oversee editorial quality depending on the subject matter.
The Specialist, Publishing and Communications oversees the editorial team, reporting to the Team Lead, Communications and ultimately to the Executive Director. Key editorial leads in each of our substantive areas of expertise include:
Use of artificial intelligence for publications
At the Basel Institute on Governance, we are committed to providing accurate, high-quality content. This includes using artificial intelligence responsibly. This is particularly important as we are working on cutting-edge research, field experiences, new analysis and sensitive subject matter.
The following red lines are built into our policies and publishing processes:
- No unchecked AI output. Any AI-assisted content is thoroughly reviewed by a human (“human in the loop”). Authors take responsibility for the accuracy, validity and quality of the content.
- No AI-sourced facts or citations. An AI summary or output cannot be cited or relied on as a source. Claims are cross-checked against the original material, and the original material is cited. Automated tools cannot be credited as authors.
- No sensitive or confidential information in prompts. Confidential, personal and/or other sensitive information, or copyrighted material, must not be pasted into AI tools that may potentially use or leak this information.
- No outsourcing of judgement calls. Decisions on framing, sensitive content and messaging remain with the author, line manager or other relevant senior staff member.
- Peer reviewers are requested not to rely on generative AI tools to create their assessments due to risks such as breaches of confidentiality, superficial and non-specific feedback, bias and false information such as fake references.
We disclose whenever we use AI tools in preparing a publication beyond straightforward language correction, editing and formatting. AI-generated images are clearly labelled as such.
Explore our publications
Research papers, case studies and quick guides