Video abstracts are an optional service available to all authors.  Following acceptance of your paper for publication by the journal's editorial decision-maker you will be invited to prepare and submit a video abstract if you wish.  We have recently upgraded this service and started charging a small processing fee.  If you received an email from us inviting you to contribute a video before we introduced the fee then it will be waived.

Providing a video abstract will increase readership of your article.  A video abstract also allows you to discuss topics not covered in your paper. 

Libertas carried out a survey of readers to assess what topics they were interested in seeing discussed in video abstracts. 

• 75 % told us it was likely that they were interested in viewing a video abstract if an article had one.  

• 88% favoured or strongly favoured the video containing the findings in the article and their broader importance

• 80% favoured or strongly favoured the video containing discussion of the aims of the author’s research

• 77% favoured or strongly favoured the video containing highlights of the article

• 67% favoured or strongly favoured the video containing future directions of the author’s research

• 55% favoured or strongly favoured the video containing an introduction to the authors, their colleagues and their place of work

• 51% favoured or strongly favoured the video discussing contributors to the article

Your video can be produced simply and quickly by you alone using a standard camera and recording software.  Alternatively your employer may offer a video production service.  If it does then we encourage you to use it, but it isn’t necessary to achieve a good result.  Here are some suggestions on how to create your video abstract:

• Your video should be between 2-5 minutes duration and should be in one of these common formats: MPEG4, 3GPP, MOV, AVI, WMV

• Any camera that can record an unblurred, stutter-free video is fine.  HD video is not recommended because of resulting large file sizes

• Consider the background for your video: we recommend a neutral background, but don’t use a window as a background during day-time to avoid shadowing your face

• Ensure that the lighting is good enough to make your face visible without making you look pale, normal office lighting is usually fine

• Speak in clear English

• With your camera in position create a short trial video before commencing recording of your video abstract

• Ensure that your face is not too close to the screen and that the audio is clearly audible at normal volume

• Use the free video editing software supplied with most PCs to add titles, figures etc if you wish

• At the beginning of your video abstract you must state your name and institution, and the title of your paper

There are numerous free file transfer services available on the web.  We have some experience using Dropbox and have found it to be reliable, although we do not endorse any particular service. If you experience difficulties transferring your video contact us and we will assist. Send us the details we’ll need to download your video.  Please do not upload your video to YouTube or other video sharing services: we need to be able to download a copy of the video file. Do not make your video abstract publically available: it must be evaluated by the journal's editorial decision-maker before it can be added to your paper.

Your video abstract will be reviewed by the Editor in Chief or Associate Editor prior to acceptance for inclusion with your paper.

Your video abstract will become one of the supplementary files associated with your article.  It will be downloadable from our website like any other supplementary file.  

Your video abstract will be added to Libertas Academica's YouTube channel, and an embedded version will appear below the abstract on your article's metadata webpage.  

Your article PDF will contain a hyperlink to the embedded video abstract on the article's metadata webpage.

To ensure readers are aware of it we will announce your video’s availability through email newsletters, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr.  

Video abstracts are reviewed by the journal's editorial decision-maker (the editor in chief or associate editor).  The assessment criteria are identical to the principles of peer review.  Consideration will also be given to the quality and clarity of the video, audio and spoken English. 
Authors will be informed of the outcome of the assessment.  If the video abstract is not accepted after the first assessment authors may revise the video.

Video abstracts that are accepted for inclusion are subject to a US$95 fee to recover processing costs.  This fee is charged only if the video abstract is accepted for inclusion.