Responsibilities of the Editorial Committee

• The description of the peer review processes is hereby defined and made known by the Editorial Committee so that the authors know what the evaluation criteria are. The Editorial Committee will always be willing to justify any controversy in the evaluation process. 

Responsibilities of the Editor and Associate Editors

• The Editor and Associate Editors should be responsible for everything published in the journal. It should strive to meet the needs of readers and authors; to constantly improve the journal; to ensure the quality of the material it publishes; and to promote academic and scientific standards. Also, the Editor and Associate Editors should be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.
• The decision of the Editor and Associate Editors to accept or reject a work for publication should be based solely on the importance of the article, the originality, clarity and relevance that the work represents for the journal.
• The Editor and Associate Editors strive to guarantee confidentiality of the evaluation process, and will never reveal the identity of the authors to the referees, or vice versa.
• The Editor and Associate Editors are responsible for deciding which articles can be accepted to the journal, and will make the final decision about the articles to be published.
• The Editor and Associate Editors assume the responsibility of duly informing the author of the stage at which the editorial process is, as well as of their decisions concerning publication.
• The Editor and Associate Editors must evaluate the manuscripts and their intellectual content regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, or political orientation of the authors.
• The Editor and Associate Editors, as well the editorial team will not disclose any information regarding a manuscript to any person other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers or other editorial advisors
• All unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used in personal research by the Editor or Associate Editors without the express written consent of the author. Information or ideas obtained through peer review is confidential and will not be used for personal gain. Publishers must make fair and impartial decisions and ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process.

Responsibilities of the authors

• Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are the product of their original work and that the data have been obtained ethically. In addition, they must ensure that their works have not been previously published or that they are not being considered in another publication. A work will be considered as previously published when any of the following situations occur:   

 

• When the full text has been published.
• When extensive fragments of previously published materials are part of the text sent to the Journal.
• When the work submitted to the Journal is contained in memoirs published in extenso.
• These criteria refer to previous publications in print or electronic form, and in any language.

 

• Authors should ensure that they have written the original works in their entirety, and if the authors have used the work or words of others, it must be duly cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes an unethical editorial behavior and is unacceptable. Consequently, any manuscript incurring plagiarism will be rejected and no longer considered for publication. The editorial team employs the anti-plagiarism software Ithenticate.
• An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts that describe essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. The presentation of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical behavior and the publication is unacceptable.
• Sources must be recognized properly. Authors should cite publications that have been influential to the work presented. Information obtained privately, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be used without explicit written permission from the source.
• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the study. All those who have made significant contributions must appear as co-authors. The principal author(s) must ensure that all co-authors are included in the article, and that all have seen and approved the final version of the document and have agreed upon its presentation for publication.
• All authors must disclose in their manuscript any conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, that could influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, it is their obligation to immediately notify the Director of the journal, and to cooperate with the Editor to retract or correct the paper.

 Reviewers’ Responsibilities

• Reviewers agree to notify about any unethical conduct by the authors and indicate all the information that may be grounds for rejecting the articles. In addition, they must commit to keeping the information related to the articles they evaluate confidential.
• Every selected reviewer must notify the editor in the shortest possible time if he is qualified to review the investigation of a manuscript or if he is not able to make the revision.
• Any manuscript received for review should be treated as a confidential document. It should not be shown or discussed with other experts, except with the permission of the editor.
• Reviewers should conduct themselves objectively. Reviewers should express their views clearly and with valid arguments.
• All inside information or ideas obtained through peer review must be confidential and will not be used for personal gain.
• Reviewers should not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.