Code of Conduct

STATEMENT ON PUBLICATION ETHICS AND EDITORIAL BEST PRACTICES

Políticas de la Memoria and its publishing institution, CeDInCI, adhere to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing and to the international standards issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

In order to ensure transparency both in the publication of contributions and in procedures for resolving related conflicts, the journal also follows the best-practice guidelines for journal editors and the Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK).

The Editorial Team of Políticas de la Memoria is committed to ensuring that all parties involved —editors, peer reviewers, and authors— follow ethical standards and best practices throughout the editorial process.

The following summarizes our code of conduct for editors, reviewers, and authors, as well as our procedures in cases of academic misconduct, in accordance with publication ethics and policies on malpractice.

This guide to good editorial practice will be reviewed periodically.

Responsibilities of editors

Ensure transparency in submissions and in the review and publication processes.
Ensure objective communication and confidentiality among all parties involved in the editorial process.
Respond promptly and respectfully to questions and notifications.
Act fairly, objectively, and impartially, carrying out editorial responsibilities without discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, or the ethnic or geographical origin of authors.
Treat submissions to special issues or supplements according to the same standards as regular submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on the basis of academic merit.
Adopt and follow reasonable procedures in cases involving ethical concerns or disputes. Authors must be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to any concerns raised. All such concerns will be investigated regardless of when the original publication was approved, and all related documentation will be retained.
Ensure compliance with international standards of research and publication ethics throughout all scientific and editorial processes related to the journal.
Any call for manuscript submissions will be conducted appropriately, in a targeted and discreet manner, and will provide clear and accurate information about the journal and its review process.
Likewise, any marketing or advertising activity related to the journal will be conducted appropriately and will provide accurate information.

Responsibilities of reviewers

Declare any conflicts of interest or circumstances that could affect their ability to review the manuscript.
Adhere strictly to the journal’s peer-review policies.
Respond to review requests and submit their evaluations within the agreed time frame.
Conduct reviews rigorously and systematically.
Respect the confidentiality of all information related to the editorial process.
Contribute to editorial decision-making and help improve the quality of published work by evaluating manuscripts objectively and in a timely manner.
Maintain the confidentiality of all information provided by editors or authors. Reviewers must not retain or copy the manuscript.
Alert editors to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to the manuscript under consideration.
Address any potential conflicts of interest —financial, institutional, or arising from other relationships between the author and reviewer— and notify the editors, withdrawing from the review process when necessary.
For detailed guidance for peer reviewers, please consult the following COPE guidelines.

Responsibilities of authors

Ensure that the submitted manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere and has not been accepted for publication by another journal. If any part of its content overlaps with previously published or submitted material, that material must be disclosed and properly cited. Authors must also provide the editors with a copy of any related submitted manuscript containing overlapping or closely related content.
Ensure that all work contained in the submitted manuscript is original and properly acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. Where necessary, authors must obtain permission to reproduce material from other sources.
Disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could improperly influence their responsibilities at any stage of the publication process.
Immediately notify the editors of Políticas de la Memoria if a significant error is identified in a published work. Authors must cooperate with the editors in publishing an erratum, addendum, or corrigendum, or in retracting the work when necessary.

Authorship and contributions

Authorship is limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work. To qualify as an author, an individual must have participated significantly in the conception or design of the research, the collection, analysis or interpretation of sources or data, and/or the development of its arguments; contributed to drafting the manuscript or critically revising it; approved the final version for publication; and accepted responsibility for the content of the work.

All individuals who meet these criteria should be listed as authors, and no individual who does not meet them should be included as an author. Contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship may be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section.

For works with multiple authors, all authors must agree on the order of authorship and approve the final version of the manuscript. Any addition, removal, or change in authorship after the editorial process has begun must be communicated and justified to the Editorial Committee and approved by all individuals involved.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Committee

The Editorial Committee of Políticas de la Memoria ensures that good editorial practices are maintained in accordance with the standards described above.

Plagiarism detection

Submissions must be original and must not involve any form of plagiarism. Prior to peer review, the journal checks submitted works using the plagiarism-detection software iThenticate and Duplichecker. If plagiarism is detected, the manuscript will be rejected immediately and the corresponding evidence will be provided to the submitting author. The author may submit any explanations they consider appropriate; however, the journal reserves the right to reject the submission definitively after reviewing and responding to those explanations.

Procedures in cases of academic misconduct

> Identification of unethical conduct

Misconduct or unethical behavior may be identified and reported to the editors at any time by any person.
Any person reporting such conduct to the editors must provide sufficient information and evidence to initiate an investigation. All allegations will be taken seriously and treated consistently until a satisfactory decision or conclusion is reached.

> Investigation

The editors will make an initial decision, which may be discussed or agreed upon with the Editorial Committee.
The necessary evidence must be gathered while maintaining confidentiality and avoiding disclosure of the allegations beyond those who strictly need to be informed.

> Minor breaches

A minor breach may be resolved without further consultation. In all cases, the author must be given an opportunity to respond to any allegation.

> Serious breaches

A serious breach may require notification of the accused person’s employer. The editors, with the agreement of the Editorial Committee, will decide whether the employer should be involved, either by reviewing the available evidence themselves or by consulting a limited number of experts.

> Consequences (in increasing order of severity; they may be applied separately or in combination)

Informing or explaining the issue to the author or reviewer when there appears to have been a misunderstanding or incorrect application of accepted standards.
Sending a formal written communication in a more serious tone to the author or reviewer, identifying the misconduct and warning against similar conduct in the future.
Publishing a formal notice describing the misconduct.
Publishing an editorial describing the misconduct.
Sending a formal written communication to the author’s or reviewer’s department head or funding body.
Formally retracting the publication from the journal, together with notification to the author’s or reviewer’s department head, indexing services, and readers of the journal.
Imposing a formal embargo on submissions from an individual for a defined period.
Reporting the case and its resolution to a professional organization or higher authority for further investigation.

Access COPE resources and guidelines on editorial best practices.

The official communication channel for ethical issues related to this code of conduct is: politicasdelamemoria@cedinci.org