Ethical Criteria Policy on the participants of the editorial process

Here are some general considerations about the role of each of the participants in the editorial process: general editor, associate editors, authors, and reviewers.

The evident growth of scientific publications in recent decades has led to the implementation of various strategies worldwide in order to assess the quality of specialized scientific journals, highlighting in most cases, the assessment of criteria based on aspects of form (presentation), content of the journal and editorial management. These last criteria allow assessing and guaranteeing the fulfillment of minimum requirements in the edition of serial scientific publications, such as the formation of an editorial committee, standardization and periodicity, therefore, to be in this direction, the Alconpat journal will take some of the measures that normally evaluate the excellence and quality of specialized scientific journals, in the field of dissemination.

Standards of ethical behavior that are expected from all parties involved in the act of RA publication: the author, the reviewer, the associate editor, the editor-in-chief and ALCONPAT.

 

a)  Duties of the editorial committee and the director (editor in chief) of the journal

In the first instance, all contributions will be evaluated by the director of the journal with the help of members of the RA editorial committee. This evaluation will address the following issues: 

1. That the contributions are adjusted to the topics in which the journal specializes, that they represent relevant contributions to scientific and technological knowledge, and that they comply with the standards and guidelines for submitting originals.
2. The editorial committee will consider the manuscripts submitted for publication, solely based on the academic and scientific merits of each text.
3. All texts must follow the rules for submitting originals established by the journal.
4. Manuscript reviews are carried out through the Associate Editors and the Editor-in-Chief, relying on a portfolio of referees who receive feedback every day. The arbitrations are carried out ad-honorem by renowned peers. The reviewers receive a message of thanks and proof for the arbitration carried out.
5. The responsibility for accepting or rejecting a text rests with the director of the journal, who will be based for the decision on the corresponding anonymous opinions.
6. If the opinions do not coincide, the editorial committee will send the text to a third opinion.
7. The editorial committee will always maintain the principle of double blindness in the review process and may not disclose the names of the reviewers under any circumstances to avoid any type of conflict of interest.
8. In the event of a conflict of interest because the authors are members of the journal's editorial committee, the proposed text will be evaluated by experts outside the journal and the institution to which the authors belong.
9. The responsibility for accepting or rejecting a collaboration will lie with the director and will be based exclusively on the result of the evaluations carried out by each of the bodies in charge of it.
10. The director of the journal and the Editorial Committee reserve the right to disallow published works that contain manifest and proven unreliability derived from bad scientific practices such as, among others, the omission of bibliographic or documentary references, and reproduction without cite the authorship of research by other authors.

 

b) Duties of the reviewers

1. Reviewers will evaluate papers objectively and confidentially. The reviewers should be aware that their task is a fundamental part of a process that guarantees the quality of the publication.
2. Reviewers who notice the existence of a conflict of interest with the evaluated authors must waive the evaluation and report this situation to the journal director as soon as possible.
3. The reviewer who considers not to be qualified to judge a work must return the text to the director of the journal, within a period of no more than ten days.
4. The reviewers will undertake to carry out the evaluation within a period of no more than fifteen days.
5. The reviewer must reason his evaluation based on his knowledge of the matter.
6. Reviewers should not use unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations, contained in a manuscript that they judge, without the author's consent.
7. Reviewers should clearly explain their assessment, so that the editorial committee and the author understand the analytical basis for their comments.

 

c)  Duties of the Authors

1. Authors must follow the "Rules for submitting originals" established by the journal.
2. According to the “Rules for the submission of originals”, the authors may only present original and unpublished research; Research already published will not be accepted. They must ensure that the documentary evidence and the results presented in their articles are the product of an original work. It is mandatory to identify all the published and unpublished works of other authors that were used and that served as background to the article that is submitted for evaluation. (Attaching letter of originality).
3. Authors should not simultaneously submit the same article for publication in other journals.
4. The authors will state in the citations and references, and in the bibliography, the sources used for their research.
5. The authors must cite the authorship and origin of all the images that they include in their texts (tables, graphs, maps, photographs, etc.). If necessary, the authors will be responsible for managing the reproduction permissions.
6. Authors must clearly present the results of their research and its relevance.
7. The authors' texts will not be subject to evaluation until all the requirements established in the "Standards for submission of originals" established by the journal are met.
8. If the evaluations condition the publication of the contributions to making adjustments and corrections, the authors must make these corrections within a period of no more than fifteen days. When the authors send the corrected version, they will attach a letter detailing the changes introduced in the new versions, together with their higher quality figures and original graphics in editable format.
9. The authors, once they have received the notification that their texts will be published, must attend the layout tests, and grant the journal the “copyright” format.

 

d) Plagiarism detection

The RA uses specialized software (Crossref Similarity Check) to detect plagiarism in the contributions it receives.