PUBLICATION ETHICS
PUBLICATION ETHICS, FRAUD AND PLAGIARISM
Magister follows the standard for Ethics and Publication Malpractice set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore 2010. It is therefore committed to ensuring ethics in publication and quality of articles.
REUNIDO as publisher of Magister takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and recognizes its ethical and other responsibilities. The publication of an article in the peer-reviewed journal Magister is a process of permanent knowledge improvement. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them.
We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.
AUTHORS’ DUTIES
Data access and retention:
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Reporting standards:
Authors reporting results of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism:
Authors should adhere to publication requirements that:
- submitted work is entirely original,
- is not plagiarized
- has not been published elsewhere, and
- if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication:
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgement of Sources:
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, for example in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.
Authorship of a manuscript:
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be named in an Acknowledgement section.
The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list of the manuscript, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Hazards:
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible.
Fundamental errors in published works:
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.
DUTIES OF EDITORS AND EDITORIAL BOARD
Publication decisions:
The Editor is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The publication decision should be guided by the policies of the journal’s Editorial Board and should be based exclusively on the academic merit and the decision of the reviewers. The Editor must stick to the contemporary regulations pertaining to libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism that are effective. She is entitled to carry out decision-making in consultation with reviewers or members of the editorial board. An editor must not use unpublished information in the editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Editors should take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.
Fair play:
An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality:
The Editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest:
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
Editors should excuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers.
Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
It should be ensured that the peer-review process for sponsored supplements is the same as that used for the main journal. Items in sponsored supplements should be accepted solely on the basis of academic merit and interest to readers and not be influenced by commercial considerations. Non-peer reviewed sections of the journal should be clearly identified.
Involvement and cooperation in research:
Magister will respond to all allegations or suspicions of research or publication misconduct raised by readers, reviewers, or other editors. Cases of possible plagiarism or duplicate/redundant publication will be assessed by the journal. In other cases, the journal may request an investigation by the institution or other appropriate bodies. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
REVIEWERS’ DUTIES
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author. It may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication, and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Magister shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to publications have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.
Promptness:
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse him/herself from the review process.
Confidentiality:
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editor.
Standards of objectivity:
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of sources, fraud and plagiarism:
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge. For this purpose the urkund system will be used. New resources to avoid plagiarism will be soon incorporated to the Journal system too.
Disclosure and conflict of interest:
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers.
DISCLAIMER
Neither the editors nor the Editorial Board are responsible for authors’ expressed opinions, views, and the contents of the published manuscripts in the journal.
The originality, proofreading of manuscripts and errors are the sole responsibility of the individual authors.
All manuscripts submitted for review and publication in Magister go under double-blind reviews for authenticity, ethical issues, and useful contributions. Decisions of the reviewers are the only tool for publication in the journal and will be final.