Editors’ duties
Decision to publish: The editors and members of the Scientific Committee of the journal are responsible for deciding whether to publish any article submitted to the journal. In order to make that decision the editor and the Scientific Committee shall make use of at least two independent reviewers (double-blind peer review). The Editorial Office shall refer to the editorial policies of the journal and current legislation on defamation, copyright violation and plagiarism.
Fairness: The Scientific Editorial Office shall value all articles on the basis of their scientific content only, without any kind of discrimination.
Confidentiality: The Scientific Editorial Office and editorial staff may communicate information on articles submitted to the authors, reviewers and the editor only. Any unpublished material contained in articles submitted to the journal cannot be used by members of the Scientific Editorial Office without the authors’ consent.
Disclosure and conflicts of interests: Editors and members of the Scientific Committee must respect the confidentiality of all information or ideas gleaned from reviewing the manuscripts and shall not use them for personal gain. Reviewers are furthermore obliged to pay attention to ethical issues, to ensure the originality of published contributions, to identify any redundant or plagiarised publications and to highlight any possible conflicts of interest which may arise from any competition, collaboration or other type of relationship with authors, companies and institutions connected to the subject of the manuscript.
Involvement and cooperation in checks: If the editors or Scientific Committee identify or are notified of an issue regarding an error, conflict of interest or plagiarism in a published article, they must deal with it by notifying the authors and taking all necessary measures in order to settle any issues arising.
Reviewers’ duties
Contribution to editorial decisions: reviewers actively participate in the decision to publish contributions in the journal, even if the final decision remains with the editors.
Willingness: reviewers who do not deem themselves qualified or capable of carrying out the review in the required timeframe must withdraw from the review process, giving timely notification to the editorial office.
Confidentiality: The confidentiality of any information and ides gleaned from the review of the manuscripts must be respected and shall not be used for personal gain.
Objectivity standards: reviewers should encourage clarity, thoroughness and accuracy of any research submitted, providing authors with suggestions and comments in reference to objective parameters.
Recognising sources: reviewers must express their opinions precisely with the aid of clear arguments documented with references to appropriate bibliographical sources. Furthermore, reviewers should provide relevant bibliographical material for the work under evaluation which has not been cited by its authors.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest: reviewers are obliged to pay attention to ethical issues, to ensure the originality of published contributions, to identify any redundant or plagiarised publications and to highlight any possible conflicts of interest which may arise from any competition, collaboration or other type of relationship with authors, companies and institutions connected to the subject of the manuscript.
Authors’ duties
Accuracy in presenting manuscripts: Authors must present their work with clarity and precision and objectively discuss its meaning. Data must be presented accurately. Manuscripts must be sufficiently detailed to enable responses to the research carried out. Presenting false or deliberately inaccurate claims is considered unethical and therefore unacceptable.
Data access and storage: Authors of manuscripts may be asked to present any data gathered in order to help the editorial process. Data must be kept by authors for a reasonable period of time even after publication of the article.
Originality and plagiarism: Authors must submit original articles; any parts taken from other works must be duly cited. The work of another author may not be presented as an author’s own work, nor can parts of other works be copied or paraphrased without due citations. Such behaviour is treated as plagiarism and is therefore wholly unacceptable.
Multiple, redundant or simultaneous publications: Authors must ensure that any manuscripts sent to the journal have not been previously published and have not been simultaneously submitted to other journals. All manuscripts must be original and contain no parts deemed redundant with regard to other publications.
Recognising sources: Authors must clearly identify sources, citing any publication they may have referenced and any source that may have influenced the nature of the research presented in the manuscript. The work of others must be clearly acknowledged. Any information obtained confidentially or through correspondence cannot be cited unless the source provides consent
Contribution authors: All those who physically and effectively contributed to the conception, design, realisation or interpretation of the research shall be named as authors of the work. All co-authors must contribute to the drafting of the manuscript, agree on its publication and approve the final version. The names of those who carried out part of the research should be cited in the thanks section.
Ethics regarding the participation of people and animals: Work which involves research or experiments on people or animals must contain a declaration stating that research was conducted in line with current legislation. In the event of research on people, a declaration clearly stating that informed consent from the participants was obtained must be provided. The protection of personal data must be guaranteed, according to privacy laws.
Conflicts of interest: All authors must declare any conflicts of interest which may influence the results obtained or their interpretation. All sources supporting the research from a financial point of view must be identified.
Errors in published documents: Should an author identify a substantial error or inaccuracy in a published work, he or she is under the obligation to promptly notify the Editors and cooperate in its correction. Similarly, should the Editors be made aware of a substantial error or inaccuracy in an already published work, they shall undertake to contact the authors, who shall be responsible for making the appropriate corrections in a timely manner.
For more information please refer to COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors: http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines
Click HERE to download a PDF version of our ethical guidelines.
