Ethics

Journal Code of Ethics

Based on the code of ethics herein, the journal ZER sets forth in this document a declaration of transparency and best practice in academic publishing to which authors, reviewers, editors, and the journal itself are subject. All members who participate in the process of publishing scientific articles in this journal must honour and comply with this declaration.

Principles and obligations of the journal:

  • Open access: Open, inclusive, free access to scientific knowledge is encouraged and supported through each of the publications of this journal.

 

  • Quality: The journal guarantees the production and publication of articles based on the principles of scientific rigour, originality, coherence, relevance, accuracy, veracity, and ethics, which are characteristics of academic research. The contributions received will be analysed using the Turnitin software to determine the percentage of duplication and plagiarism with other texts and authors. In the event that a submitted paper receives an anti-plagiarism report with a total of more than 20% duplication with previous texts, it will be sent back to the author along with the corresponding report in order for the text to be corrected.
  • Integrity: The journal pledges to comply with the ethical principles of academic research and its publication in order to avoid any malpractice in scientific publishing. Therefore, the journal will ensure that it adheres to the policies of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing described in the code of ethics herein, as well as those included in ethical codes such as COPE (or its equivalents).
  • Authorship and co-authorship: The intellectual production of each author is acknowledged and honoured, and the responsible use of information and its citation is endorsed as well. With regard to indicating co-authorship, the order of the authors' signatures shall be determined by the degree of involvement, engagement, and contribution in the different preparatory phases of an article (conception, planning, interpretation, writing, and revision). The lead author is the one who will take public responsibility for the content of the article and will be responsible for contact with the journal. In the event of an authorship conflict, the journal will apply the COPE protocol (or its equivalents).
  • Publication: The publication of papers in the journal ZER does not involve any payment nor contribution whatsoever to the journal by the authors. An author may not publish more than one article per issue, either individually or collectively. Likewise, there must be at least two issues between one publication and another.
  • Response: The journal pledges to inform authors as to whether or not their article has been included in the peer review process within 30 working days of receipt of the text.
  • Digital archives and preservation: In addition to the usual procedures of multiple and versioned backups, the content of the journal is also stored in the institutional repository of the University of the Basque Country (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea), using Dspace, https://duraspace.org/dspace/. The main page of the journal in the repository is as follows: https://addi.ehu.es/handle/10810/40589

Principles and obligations of authors:

  • Moral and ethical responsibility
    • Original work: Authors shall ensure that the work is original, unpublished, and accurate. Likewise, they shall guarantee that the article submitted is not simultaneously in the process of publication in any other medium, nor has it been manipulated, altered or falsified. Moreover, authors shall assure that they have complied with the policies of intellectual property by duly referencing the sources used in the text.
    • Scientific and bibliographic rigour: The research must use analytical methods that are clear, specific, and validated. Moreover, it must be properly written and presented as a one entire unit, both in the theoretical as well as the empirical parts. Authors must provide the sources mentioned in the article, which shall be indicated properly and rigorously, while always adhering to the style guidelines stipulated by the journal. Likewise, they shall carry out a current, relevant review of the scientific literature related to the subject under study.
    • Transparency: If the submitted work has received funding for its development, this must be clearly stated by the authors in the text.
    • Responsibility: The authors shall accept responsibility for everything written and stated in the article, and they shall adjust their text to the publication standards established by this journal and collaborate effectively with the corrections and suggestions of the reviewers.
  • Authorship and co-authorship: The authors pledge to include those persons who have made a significant scientific contribution to the research and development of the article submitted (conceptualisation, planning, interpretation, writing and revision). The order of authors shall be established according to their level of involvement and responsibility in the work.
  • Authors’ rights: Copyright and publication rights are established through an open access policy by way of the Creative Commons system of free access and public intellectual property (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
  • Research databases: At the request of the editors, authors must provide the journal with the collected data on which the study is based, as well as the tools used.
  • Corrections in the published text: If the authors identify a serious error or inaccuracy in their article, they should inform the journal editors and provide them with all the relevant information necessary so they can include the corrections at the bottom of the article.
  • Conflict of interest: When submitting their papers, authors shall attach a cover letter indicating the existence of any conflict of interest.
  • Complaints and appeals: Authors may exercise their right to complain to the journal's Editorial Board by submitting a well-founded letter stating the reasons for their disagreement with the evaluation received. The Editorial Board will consider the complaint and issue a reasoned decision. If inappropriate practices are identified in the evaluation, the text will be referred to other evaluators.

 

    

Principles and obligations of the editors:

  • Review: The Editorial Committee pledges to choose reviewers who are experts in their field and qualified to issue judgements. A minimum number of two scholars shall be selected from the journal's pool of reviewers to carry out the review, and they will have a period of 30 days to issue a response. If there are discrepancies between the two reviewers, the editors will request a third opinion to help clarify the decision.
  • Publication: Only peer-reviewed papers will be published in order to maintain a criterion of scientific quality.
  • Integrity: The Editorial Board will accept submitted papers into the evaluation process based exclusively on their content and scientific contribution, without discrimination according to gender, race, political views, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, and/or the ethnic origin of the authors.
  • Open access: The Editorial Board shall ensure that the articles published in this journal are open access and free of charge.
  • Relationship with authors: The Editorial Board pledges to inform the author or authors of the status of their evaluation from the moment it is received until its rejection or final acceptance, with or without modifications.
  • Confidentiality: The Editorial Board shall ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of the articles, their authors, and the reviewers throughout the entire process. It also pledges not to disseminate information to persons other than the authors, reviewers, and/or editors regarding papers received and submitted for publication.
  • Conflict of interest and disclosure: If the Editorial Board becomes aware of allegations of research malpractice related to an article published in their journal, the protocol stipulated by COPE (or its equivalents) for addressing the allegations shall be applied.

Principles and obligations of reviewers:

  • Review: Reviewers pledge to evaluate the assigned papers and report their assessment in the shortest time possible in order to comply with the deadlines, which shall not exceed 30 days from the notification and acceptance of the review. In the event that a person assigned considers that the text to be evaluated does not fall within their area of research, or that they cannot meet the established deadline, they may reject the review.
  • Objectivity: Reviewers pledge to evaluate articles objectively, honestly, constructively, and critically, without personal judgement, bias, or any other type of discrimination against the authors, and they shall assess the scientific, academic, and editorial quality of the text in their field of knowledge. Moreover, they shall endeavour to provide and indicate bibliographic references they consider relevant to the study that have not been included in the initial version. Peer review is a process that enriches the final result of submitted work and encourages independent, impartial evaluations.
  • Integrity: Reviewers shall complete and submit a full report with their assessments and contributions, duly reasoned and justified. They pledge to warn the editors and journal if they suspect possible duplication or plagiarism with other texts, or if they find that the article is under review in another journal.
  • Conflict of interest and disclosure: Reviewers must honour the confidentiality of the articles received. Therefore, they must not share or discuss them with others. Likewise, information obtained during the peer review process is confidential and cannot be used for personal matters. In the event that there is a conflict of interest between the reviewer and the text, the review will be invalidated, and the Editorial Board will suggest another person to carry out the evaluation of the article.