Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Introduction

The JCS&T publication is the collective effort of work of authors, editors and reviewers, who are interested in the science development for social and cultural development. Additionally, the JCS&T support the Open Access policy that is spread worldwide nowadays, ensuring that the articles will be available in open access.

This section outlines the practices principles that the JCS&T applies. The editors and the editorial team will consider guidelines used worldwide to solve specific problems of the scientific editorial practice. Particularly, the instructions given by the COPE | Committee on Publication Ethics will be taken into account.

Authors, researchers and reviewers are invited to embrace the international guidelines related to publication ethics, particularly the aforementioned, to avoid any fault in the future.

Peer Review

Peer review is critical to maintaining the standards of publication. The JCS&T:

  • Provide appropriate support to facilitate rigorous, fair and effective peer review for the publications.

  • Encourage editors and reviewers to familiarize and act according to the COPE guidelines. This includes raising any concern regarding fraudulent or manipulated peer-review.

  • Protect the confidentiality of all reviewers and ensure that no conflict of interests exist with authors.

Authorship

Authorship provides credit for a researcher's contributions to a study and carries accountability. To be an author, a researcher should:

  • Have made substantial contributions to the conception OR design of the work; OR the acquisition, analysis, OR interpretation of data for the work; OR the creation of new software used in the work; OR have drafted the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content

  • AND to have approved the final version to be published

  • AND to have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The JCS&T assumes that the corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors, and it expects the corresponding author to confirm this at the beginning of the publication process. Any authorship disputes will be managed following COPE guidelines.

The JCS&T endorses transparency in authorship integrating ORCID standard to its publications.

Duplicate and Redundant Publications

Duplicate or redundant publication happens when an article, or a large part of it, is published more than once by the author(s) of the work, independently from the language. In addition, it also includes significative overlapping between two or more works without appropriate cross-referencing or justification for the overlap.

The JCS&T does not support this kind of publications, unless the editors consider that this will contribute to a good cause (e.g., spreading an innovative work). In these exceptional cases, the JCS&T will have approval from the original publication and a citation to it will be included.

Finally, the JCS&T team expects that readers, reviewers, and editors contribute to duplicate/redundant publications detection contacting the corresponding editor or the editorial team.

Plagiarism

The journal´s policy is to publish original works written by those who claim its authorship and unpublished Works. These Works must not have been published previously in any other printed or electronic media, except for those articles invited by the journal which will be clearly identified.

In order to respond to the most common plagiarism practices-such as translations, result fragmentation or ‘salami slicing’, duplication, etc.-the journal uses a specific procedure to avoid them:

  • By the time an article is submitted, the author/s must state that it has not been published in or sent to any other journal for the review process. Moreover, they are asked to state that they are following the author guidelines, where it is stated that the articles must be original.

  • Before the review process takes place, internet search tools are used in order to track other documents of the author/s and check the title, fragments of the abstract, methodology and results sections of the article submitted, so as to verify originality and avoid plagiarism.

  • When the article is sent to the journal reviewers, they are asked to pay special attention to possible signs of plagiarism, since they know the sources and literature of the subject matter.

In addition, the JCS&T may use Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate)  to screen the submissions.

The authors who indulge in plagiarism or malpractice could be blacklisted. Submissions containing suspected plagiarism, in whole or part, will be rejected. If plagiarism is discovered post-publication, the JCS&T will follow the guidelines outlined in Section “Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern”.

Finally, the JCS&T team expect that readers, reviewers, and editors contribute to plagiarism detection by contacting the corresponding editor or the editorial team.

Ethic Aspects, Conflict of Interests and Funding

The journal editors assure that they will avoid any conflict of interest between the actors that participate in the production. Any sent text will be reviewed according to its intellectual content preventing any ethnic or national interference or any other related to their gender, sexual orientation religion, political preference or personal position.

The authors and reviewers are requested to state the relevant and possible conflicts of interests beforehand, since they can be taken into account when the evaluation tasks are assigned. If any conflict arises after the publication, this situation will be reported if necessary.

The concept ‘conflict of interests’ is defined as the situation in which there is a divergence between the personal interests of an individual and his/her responsibilities about the scientific activities he/she carries out, (either as authors, editors and members of the editorial committee), that can influence his/her critical judgment and the integrity of his/her Works. The conflicts can be:

  • Financial conflicts: when the participants (authors, reviewers, editors) have received money due to activities related to research and its dissemination.

  • Academic conflicts: when the reviewers or editors have a specific methodological or ideological principle in a way that they can be biased when reviewing other people’s work. For that reason, they must state their position beforehand.

  • Personal or work relationship conflicts: when the participants (authors, reviewers, editors) have some kind of special bond, enmity or working relation. To avoid this, the editors must keep in mind the financial sources and the authors’ affiliation in order to choose reviewers that do not belong to those specific circles.

All authors must declare potential conflict of interests and funding sources. Both declarations are included in the publications.

Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern

COPE’s Retraction Guidelines will be followed by editors when considering retractions, corrections or expressions of concern. The journal will issue:

  • A corrigendum if an author is found to have made an error.

  • An erratum if the editorial team found to have made an error.

  • A retraction if the articles involved are so seriously flawed that their findings or conclusions should not be relied upon.

Ethical Business Practices

The JCS&T seeks for a fair access to all its content, adhering to the Open Access Movement. All articles are available online in a free manner. In addition, no Article Processing Charges (APC) are required, so academics from all countries can publish in JCS&T.

The JCS&T will never be complicit in censorship and is fully committed to the principle and promotion of freedom of speech and expression.

Universidad Nacional de La Plata is a non-profit organization. The JCS&T will communicate through e-mail ensuring the integrity of the content.

The JCS&T will only support advertising related to scientific and academic events, in both online platform and printed publications

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes established in it and will not be provided to third parties or for their use for other purposes.