CODE OF ETHICS

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES RECOMMENDED BY COPE, APPLIED IN THE JOURNAL "ACTA NEOPHILOLOGICA"

In order to maintain the high quality of published articles as well as academic integrity, the editors of the scholarly journal "Acta Neophilologica" adhere to and enforce compliance with ethical principles, with respect to both the authors of scholarly publications and the reviewers.

The ethical principles have been developed based on:

- the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE),
- the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors,
- COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers,
- the study: Good Practices in Reviewing Procedures,
- ethical principles applicable in other scholarly journals.

Guidelines for the authors

Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to the conception and implementation of research and the interpretation of published research results.

Before submitting an article to the editor, please make sure that all the authors have been indicated and have approved of the final version of the text.

The authors are obliged to submit a Statement that specifies the individual contributions of each co-author in a multi-author paper (available on the journal's website).

Duplicate publication, plagiarism, data fabrication, a false list of authors, guest authorship, a conflict of interest are manifestations of scientific misconduct and transgressions of ethical principles.

A false list of authors is when the name of the researcher who has made a significant contribution to the paper is not mentioned as one of the authors or is not included in the acknowledgments attached to the publication.

Guest authorship denotes a situation in which a person’s participation in research is negligible or nonexistent, and yet he/she is listed as the author/co-author of the publication.

The author should disclose all the sources of project financing in his/her paper, the contribution of scientific and research institutions, associations and other entities as well as any significant conflicts of interest which may affect the results or interpretation.

Deliberate use of false information / providing untrue data is regarded as unethical.

The author should not publish materials describing the same research in more than one journal or original publication (duplicate publication). Submitting the same paper to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behaviour and is not allowed.

It is also considered unethical to submit a scholarly article which is a translation of the published text.

If, after submitting the article, the author discovers an error or inaccuracy in the text, he/she is obliged to promptly notify the editors of this fact.

The author should make sure that the names of the authors quoted in the paper and/or the excerpts from the works cited have been properly described.

Plagiarism is treated as unethical and unacceptable behavior.

Any violation of the abovementioned ethical principles is a reason to reject the submitted paper.

Guidelines for the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief of the journal decides whether the submitted article will be published.

The decision to publish the article is based on the reviews as well as the opinions of language editors and the Scientific Council.

In the process of making decisions about the acceptance or rejection of a given scholarly paper, coherence with the thematic scope (profile) of the journal is important, not the author’s background, affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, political views, gender, race or religion.

The editors do not disclose any information about the authors to the reviewers; the reviewers’ identity is never disclosed to the authors.

Information obtained in the process of paper evaluation, as well as rejected articles, or fragments thereof, must not be used by the editors or the reviewers in their own research, without the express written consent of the author.

The Editorial Office does not designate persons who are in a relation of direct business subordination or other direct personal relations with the authors of the texts to become the reviewers of these texts (conflict of interest).

The Editor-in-Chief is obliged to comply with the legal requirements as are currently in force regarding defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism.

Having received the information about violations of ethical standards by the author of the text, including any significant similarity or partial overlapping of the reviewed paper with any other text known as previously published, or about the suspicion of plagiarism, the Editor-in- Chief is obliged to take action to verify the validity of the allegations presented.

In the case of a violation of ethical principles by the author of the text (regarding, for example, duplicate publication, plagiarism, fabrication of data, a false list of authors, guest authorship), the Editor-in-Chief is obliged to:
a) reject the text,
b) gather complete documentation with evidence,
c) inform the author about the outcome of the proceedings and the actions taken by the editors,
d) contact the author’s institution and inform his/her superiors and/or other persons responsible for supervising the research,
e) inform the reviewer about the actions taken.

Guidelines for reviewers

The reviewer who cannot review a given paper at all or within the time period specified should immediately inform the secretary of the editorial office.

Reviews should be conducted objectively, in accordance with ethical standards, based on academic arguments.

Personal criticism of the author is considered inappropriate.

All the reviewed texts are treated as confidential documents. They should not be shown to others or discussed outside of the Editorial Board. They must not be used for personal gain by the reviewer.

All reviews are conducted anonymously. The identity of authors is never disclosed to the reviewers.

Reviewers should not review the papers in which they have potential conflicts of interest resulting from relationships with the authors, companies or institutions.

The reviewer should inform the editorial secretary about violations of ethical standards by the author of the text (if any), including any significant similarity or partial overlapping of the reviewed paper with any other text known as previously published, or about the suspicion of plagiarism, or guest authorship, or a false list of authors.