Ethic Statement

Policies on Publishing Ethics of Rómula

 

1- The journal's policies on authorship and contributions.

The rules for submission of manuscripts to the journal (size, format and resolution of images, the system for bibliographical references, etc.) are public. The authors of the texts submitted for publication in Rómula are primarily responsible for their content.

Published research papers are evaluated by two specialists in the field, and the editorial team is responsible for ensuring that this process is fair and impartial. This review willbe double-blind (anonymity of those who have carried out the work and the evaluation) and the evaluators must reason their judgment on the work for its scientific importance, originality and clarity of exposition. It is the responsibility of the editorial team to accept or reject a paper for publication, based on the evaluations received. The editorial team should be grateful for the contribution of the evaluators. The editorial team maydirectly reject the papers received without resorting to an external consultation process if it considers that they lack the minimum level of quality, for inadequacy to the thematic and scientific objectives of the journal or for presenting evidence of plagiarism.

 

2- How the journal will handle complaints, claims and appeals.

In the event of a complaint or appeal conflict, the journal's editorial team will ask the author for the pertinent explanations and evidence for its resolution. Complaints, claims or appeals will be dealt with within the editorial team and the scientific committee ofthe journal, communicating at all times with the complainant. If necessary, the journal will propose two external evaluators, different from those who have already acted, so that, acting as blind peers, they can give their opinion. In the event that the complaint results in the disavowal of a paper already published, the journal will publish a notice of the disavowal, stating the reasons for such action, as soon as possible. The journal will notify the disavowal to those responsible for the institution to which the author belongs.

 

3- The journal's policies on conflicts of interest / competing interests.

The members of the Editorial team should abstain from the direct management of an original when they are related to the author, or are part of the same research group, orhave a contractual relationship or share funds or national or international research projects in recent years. The editorial team will also refrain from selecting reviewers who are affected by these situations. Since the evaluation is carried out by the blind method, the editorial team will include the reasons for exclusion in the evaluation form, so that the evaluator can abstain if he/she considers that he/she is involved in thesecases.

When there is any commercial, financial or personal link that may affect the results and conclusions of the work, a statement to this effect will be included in the text of thework.

 

4- The journal's policies on data sharing and reproducibility.

The texts submitted for publication must be the result of original research. They must include the data used and present an objective discussion of the results, as well as sufficient information to confirm or refute the interpretations defended in the work, indicating the origin of the ideas or literal phrases taken from other published works. When images are included as part of the research, it should be conveniently explained how they were created or obtained. In the case of total or partial reproduction of graphic material  (figures, photos, maps, etc.) previously published, the source should be citedand permissions for reproduction should be provided.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the data and results presented in the work are original and have not been copied, invented, distorted or manipulated. Plagiarism in all its forms, self-plagiarism without citing the source, multiple or redundant publication, as well as the invention or manipulation of data, constitute serious ethical misconduct. However, it is admissible to publish a work that expands on another that has already appeared as a communication or abstract in the proceedings of a congress, citing the texton which it is based and provided that the modifications involve a substantial modifications of what has already been published. They are also acceptable if the work is published in a different language, always specifying this circumstance and citing the original publication, which the evaluators will consider in its relevance.

In the case of multiple authorship, the person responsible for the work will guarantee recognition to the rest of the authors, considering that all signatories share responsibility for the work presented.

The publication will indicate, if any, the sources of funding granted for the study, mentioning the entities of origin.

 

5- The journal's policy on ethical oversight.

Authors of texts submitted for publication are obliged to apply an ethical standard to ensure their originality and authorship. Inappropriate behavior may result in the disallowance of their publication. In the event of inappropriate behavior, the Journal reserves the right to take appropriate legal action.

Reviewers must consider the work to be reviewed as a confidential document until its publication, both during and after the review process. They may not disseminate or use the information contained in the text. The reviewer will judge objectively the quality ofthe work, the information on which it is based, the hypothesis, the data and its interpretation, as well as its presentation and writing. He/she must be constructive in his/her comments and argue them. It should warn the editorial team of the journal of any relevant similarity between the work to be evaluated and other published works, indicating possible plagiarism, falsifications or manipulations.

The evaluators will adhere to the established deadlines, and if any of them considers that he/she is not qualified to judge the work, he/she should communicate this fact as soon as possible to the editorial team. Conflicts of interest may arise when the work tobe evaluated is closely related to the work that the evaluator is developing at thatmoment. In these cases, the evaluator must resign from the task and return the work tothe editorial team, indicating the reasons.

 

6- The journal's policy on intellectual property.

The editorial team of the journal is responsible for the published contents, so they must ensure their scientific quality, avoid bad practices in the publication of research resultsand manage the edition of the papers received once they are approved. They will scrupulously respect the intellectual property of the authors, pointing it out at all times.

The editorial team must be necessarily impartial when managing the works proposed for publication and must respect the intellectual independence of the authors, who must be recognized the right to reply in case they have not been positively evaluated. Likewise, no member of the editorial team may use data or conclusions contained in the submitted papers for their own research, at least until their publication, and always citing their original, their authorship and respecting the intellectual property of their authors.

 

7- The journal's options for post-publication discussions and corrections.

The editorial team will always remain at the disposal of the authors for any post-publication editorial discussion, studying in each case the steps to follow and always bymutual agreement.

 

 

The journal Rómula adheres to the Code of Good Scientific Practices approved by the Spanish Scientific Council (CSIC) in March 2010 and to the good practice agreements adopted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).