Ethical publication and research policies

CUJournal publishes according to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) research publication ethics guidelines, which apply to authors, peer reviewers, the editorial office, and the journal. Anyone who believes that these guidelines have not been followed should raise their concern with the Editor.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES                      

Author's responsibilities

  1. The authors are responsible for offering original works not published, even partially, in another journal. Thus, to confirm/assert that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere.
  2. The author(s) are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes, and authors should provide a list of references and financial support.
  3. Authors should accurately describe any relevant data related to their work's results. To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
  4. Authors commit to mentioning all the people who have collaborated and contributed to the research and its results so that they appear as co-authors or collaborators.
  5. Authors must recognise and provide all the sources used; therefore, they must use the proper citation style. It is understood that the authors know perfectly well that plagiarism is not accepted.
  6. The authors must indicate any conflict of interest or financial interest that could interfere with the results or interpretations of the research. Therefore, every author must commit to describing the source of funding for the project or research.
  7. The authors must notify any significant error noticed after sending the article; it must be reported as quickly as possible so that it can be corrected.
  8. Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process.
  9. To promptly notify the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the Editor and publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, or corrigendum notice or to retract the paper where necessary.

Reviewers' responsibilities

  1. Reviewers should contribute to the decision-making process and assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively and on time.
  2. Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the Editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.
  3. To alert the Editor to any published or submitted content substantially similar to that under review.
  4. Reviewers should make objections or corrections in a neutral tone and duly reasoned and argued. Criticism of a personal nature is considered inappropriate. Judgments should be objective.
  5. Reviewers must be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and alert the Editor to these, if necessary withdrawing their services for that manuscript.

Editors' responsibilities

  1. Editors should act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, or ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.
  2. Editors are obliged to handle submissions for sponsored supplements or special issues in the same way as other submissions so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
  3. The editorial committee will ensure that reviewers refrain from attempting to have the author cite irrelevant texts from journals and authors to fraudulently increase the prestige of such journals and authors.
  4. The editorial team will not disclose information about the authorship of the articles to reviewers or potential reviewers.
  5. Editors should always adopt and follow reasonable procedures in case of complaints of an ethical or conflicting nature. To give authors an excellent opportunity to respond to any complaints. No matter when the original publication was approved, all complaints should be investigated. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained. Editors should always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
  6. Editors are obliged to treat plagiarism as an objectionable act. If plagiarism is detected, editors must reject the article immediately.

Plagiarism detection

The authors of the collaborations are fully responsible for their content and guarantee that they are original and unpublished.

As a policy for preventing plagiarism, CUJournal reserves the right to review, with the specialised anti-plagiarism software iThenticate, all the texts sent for publication, using the usual criteria to detect such practices.

In case plagiarism is detected, the manuscript will be discarded for publication.

(Last update: July 2023)