Ethics Policies

STATEMENT OF ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE IN PUBLICATIONS

The Academic and Scientific Journal of Social Sciences – (Sociohumanities) follows strict publishing ethics and guidelines to deal with malpractices. The editors of the journal strictly deal with issues such as data manipulation, plagiarism, undue credit given to authors who contribute virtually no to a manuscript, misuse of images, audio, video recordings or exploitation of personal information of participants and other such unethical practices, with a zero tolerance policy. All manuscripts submitted to (Sociohumanities) are preliminarily screened by the editorial office to examine whether they strictly adhere to the journal’s ethical policy. In case of violation of (Sociohumanities) ethical policy for publishing manuscripts, these will be immediately rejected without proceeding to peer review.

Research Ethics Committee/Review Board Approval. Approval from a Review Board or Research Ethics Committee (REC) must be sought before conducting research involving human participants and this should be described in the Recruitment of Participants section of the Methods section of the manuscript. Participants should be advised that they were enrolled in the study after obtaining written informed consent and that their identity will not be disclosed at any time in the future.

Full protection of data and information of authors who apply for (Sociohumanidades) calls, as their personal or professional lives must not be at risk due to their participation in the research. Any sensitive data must be communicated with the utmost care, anonymity and confidentiality, especially in qualitative studies, in which researchers work closely with participants.

Authors are obliged to protect the data, in whatever form they appear in the manuscript, for at least (3) three years after publication of the manuscript, so that they can be used in case an objection or a violation of the ethical principles of publication is subsequently identified or communicated. If the authors themselves find inaccuracies or discrepancies, they must inform the Editor for urgent rectification. Authors must guarantee the confidentiality and anonymity of the participants, and must be assured that the results of the study will not harm them in any way.

Plagiarism and data manipulation

Plagiarism is defined as producing or reproducing a text, data in any form, or idea without properly citing the original sources. Plagiarism and manipulation of data such as images and audio or video recordings will not be accepted at any cost. A manuscript found to contain plagiarism at any stage during the submission, review, or publication process will be rejected. A manuscript will be withdrawn or retracted by the journal if plagiarism is reported or detected after publication, and the editorial office will notify this on our website. Authors are advised to avoid self-plagiarized content that is not adequately cited, supported, and fitted within one's own research in a substantial way.

According to the COPE Report, “fabrication and falsification of data constitute misconduct.” Images, audios, and videos are prohibited and considered highly unethical if they are subject to falsification or adjustment in any way. Identification of manipulation in any form of qualitative or quantitative data during the review, publication process, or after publication will result in rejection or retracting. Authors must report results in an unbiased manner and remain impartial when discussing them.

Authors are advised to read the journal's Instructions for Authors page before submitting their manuscript. They are also advised to readGUIDELINES ON GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICESdeveloped by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Retractions, corrections and expressions of concern

The journal will consider retractions, corrections or expressions of concern in accordance withCOPE RETRACTION GUIDELINES. The journal follows these guidelines for retracting or correcting manuscripts when necessary. The journal editor will issue a correction or errata if an error is made by the author(s) or the journal respectively. We are always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary during the publication process.

Authorship and contribution

The journal recommends following the four principles of authorship and contribution outlined below in Cambridge University Press' Publishing Ethics: Academic Research (June 2020):

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work.
  2. The acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work.
  3. Draft or critically review the work to determine its important intellectual content.
  4. Final approval of the version to be published.
  5. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions relating to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

This implies that an individual could be considered an author if he or she has made a sustained contribution to a manuscript in terms of conceptualizing the research problem, designing the research, collecting data, analyzing, presenting, reviewing, editing, or writing the manuscript. Authors should clearly indicate the contributions they have made during the research, review, or reporting of the manuscript. According to the COPE Report (1999), “If no task can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship (p. 44).”

A manuscript submitted simultaneously to another journal will be rejected. Translating already published content into English and submitting it to the journal is strictly prohibited. Authors are, however, free to retract or correct errors. They should also provide a list of references, financial support, and acknowledgements if applicable.

The replacement or addition of an author to the list must be supported by all other authors already included in the list, provided that evidence of their contribution is established. The corresponding author must coordinate between the editorial office and all other authors to reach a unanimous decision on the inclusion of another author or the making of a change in the list of authors. An addition or change in the list of authors will not be supported if we cannot find evidence of the contribution of the author in question.

Authors are advised to read the journal's Instructions for Authors page before submitting their manuscript. In addition, they are advised to follow the guidelines given inHOW TO HANDLE AUTHORSHIP DISPUTES: A GUIDE FOR NEW RESEARCHERS,developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Duplicate and redundant publication

Duplicate or redundant publication is considered to be the reproduction of research already carried out, its main part or a self-plagiarized work presented without cross-reference to the original work or without providing a justification of the duplication by the author(s). The journal allows this type of publications as recommended by Cambridge University Press Publishing Ethics: Academic Research (June 2020) in the following lines:

  1. Editorially, this is seen to strengthen academic discourse.
  2. We have the clear approval of the original publication.
  3. We include a quote from the original source.

Conflicts of interest

According to the COPE Report (1999), “Conflicts of interest include those that may not be fully apparent and that may influence the judgment of the author, reviewers, and editors. They may be personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial (p. 44).” Authors must disclose a potential conflict of interest, if any, in the manuscript before submission to the journal. Authors and reviewers must disclose their personal interests, benefits, or relationships that could unethically affect the authorship or evaluation of manuscripts. Conflicts of interest may occur in the form of financial gain such as a monetary grant, fellowship, funding, paid position or employment, and non-monetary benefits such as the promotion of personal relationships, professional development, promotions, or improvement in employment status. Such interests, when relevant, must be declared to the editors by the researchers, authors, and reviewers.

Copyright and access to research

Articles published by JSSSH are publicly and openly available without any payment to the journal. Full-text articles can be accessed without prior permission from the corresponding author or the journal. However, researchers, scholars and authors must properly cite the original author(s) of the published articles. The journal allows the author(s) to retain the copyright and publication rights without any restrictions. For more details, please visit our Open Access Policy page.

Editor's Responsibilities

All manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Office go through a meticulous review process. The Editor hires two independent reviewers for peer review, depending on the specific field of research and the availability of the reviewers. Upon the recommendation of the reviewers, the Editor or an Editorial Board member appointed by the Editor of the journal makes a final decision in case conflicts of interest may influence the decision. The Editor maintains the quality of all publication procedures by coordinating with academic and administrative personnel. He/she approves Associate Editors, Editorial Assistants, and new Editorial Board members. The Editor communicates with the journal's Associate Editors and Board Members when necessary. For more details, please visit our page on the Journal's Editorial Policy.

Peer review

All manuscripts are subject to a thorough peer review process. Initially, the Editorial Office examines a manuscript to assess the minimum acceptable standard of the manuscript and to evaluate whether it fits within the scope of the journal. Then, the Editor or one of the Associate Editors assigns two reviewers to a manuscript, who are expected to provide review reports based on the criteria set out in the evaluation form. The reviewers' recommendation and reports are passed on to the corresponding author if necessary, and the author submits the revised version of the manuscript. The second round of review may be conducted by the reviewer(s), if suggested by the Editor or Associate Editor. The revised manuscript is reviewed by the Editor, one of the Associate Editors, or Members of the Editorial Board if the reviewer(s) did not show willingness to review it again. Finally, the publication decision is made by the Editor after all requirements are met by the corresponding author, the reviewers, and the Editorial Office.

Reviewers should focus on the ethical aspects of publications. It should be noted that the authors have cited the sources using the appropriate citation and referencing method. Reviewers should indicate relevant published work not yet cited in the manuscript and the reviewed manuscript should be treated confidentially before publication.

The editorial office tries to take the necessary measures to avoid any conflict of interest. Nevertheless, reviewers are requested to examine the manuscript to see if they suspect there is a conflict of interest that may cause bias on their part. We expect reviewers to report such manuscripts so that alternative reviewers can be assigned to ensure unbiased review reports and maintain the ethical values ​​of the publication. Reviewers, in any case, should understand that the content of the assigned manuscript must be kept confidential and they should not reveal their identity to the corresponding author, co-authors, or any other colleagues or friends who may know the authors of the manuscript.

Reviewers are encouraged to read the journal's page on Review Process and Policy before reviewing the manuscript. They are also encouraged to readETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR PEER REVIEWERS (ENGLISH)developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Archive

The journal is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and is planning electronic backups and preserving access to its content. We also requested the archiving service of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) and (OJS).

Right of appeal

We consider appeals on editorial decisions. Authors, reviewers and editors have the right to appeal to the Journal Editor. Authors may appeal the rejection of their manuscript by submitting a detailed description of the justification based on the objections raised by the reviewer(s) and/or the editorial office. The Editor may ask the reviewers, any member of the editorial board and the associate editors to reconsider the status of the manuscript. Any decision made at this stage is considered final and cannot be challenged. If you have concerns and wish to appeal or lodge a complaint, please urgently contact the following email addresses:Manager@sociohumanidades.comeitherAddress@ediciencias.com–Ediciencias.info@gmail.com

Handling misconduct

It is the responsibility of the authors, reviewers and the editorial office of the journal to cooperate with each other to discover a violation of any of the above-mentioned guidelines, identify malpractice or any other misconduct that is considered contrary to the ethical values ​​of research, reporting and publication of a scientific manuscript. The editorial office will contact the concerned author, organisation or funding agency so that appropriate action may be taken to rectify the published content or any other action that may be taken by the concerned person or body. Misconduct will be investigated by the editor(s) and the principles for dealing with misconduct, determination of serious and less serious misconduct and possible sanctions that may be applied to address malpractice and misconduct will be guided by the COPE Report.

To address misconduct, the following guidelines will be followed:GUIDELINES ON GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICESdeveloped by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Likewise, the relevant sections of theEXCHANGE OF INFORMATION BETWEEN EDITORS-IN-CHIEF REGARDING POSSIBLE MISCONDUCTdeveloped by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to manage potential misconduct.