Ethics policy

Content quality and rigour are the two fundamental aspects of Metode Science Studies Journal. Therefore, the journal believes it is essential to ensure that the process of evaluation and publication of papers depends on a transparent process, supported by independent reviewers.

Metode Science Studies Journal promises to keep the following ethical rules during every stage of the publication process, following the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We present Metode Science Studies Journal’s good practice ethical code, concerning the different individuals and stages of the publication process.

Editor’s Responsibilities

The editors promise:

  1. To ensure the quality of the journal's content. To certify that the acceptance of papers depends only to the academic merit of the text.
  2. To act objectively and without discrimination based on the origin, place of work, gender, sexual orientation or religious or political beliefs.
  3. To keep the review process confidential, and assure the anonymity of the author during the whole process until the publication of the paper, as well as the anonymity of the reviewers during the process of evaluation and afterwards.
  4. To guarantee that the content is original and has not been previously published. For this, the journal uses specific software to detect any possible plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected during the review process, the document will be automatically rejected.
  5. To pay attention to complaints from the authors complaints and to justify conflicts regarding editorial decisions. Complaints will be dealt with as soon as possible.
  6. To offer authors the possibility to respond to any complaint concerning them. Any document referring to complaints will be kept.
  7. To promote the correction or removal of an article if necessary.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

  1. After receiving an invitation by the editor or coordinator to review the article, reviewers may only accept if they think they are qualified to to carry out the revision, and whether they agree to deliver it within the indicated deadline.
  2. Reviewers commit to evaluate the manuscripts objectively in order to improve the quality of journal content. If the reviewers think that they cannot carry out the review objectively, because of meddling economic, academic or personal interests, they should inform the editor, renouncing to the review if necessary.
  3. Reviewers cannot use information obtained during the review process for their own benefit or to discredit others.
  4. The comments of the reviewers must be constructive and respect the intellectual and academic capacity of the author. Metode Science Studies Journal reserves the right to edit comments if they can be considered disrespectful or harmful to the authors.
  5. Reviewers should inform about the most relevant research in the field that are not cited in the article.
  6. The review process is anonymous. The reviewers must respect confidentiality during and after the expertise. The reviewers should destroy documents after the evaluation of the paper.
  7. Reviewers must inform the editor if they have previously assessed the article for another journal. In this case, they shall renounce to the review.
  8. Reviewers must inform the editor if they detect content that is substantially similar to another paper under review.

Authors' Responsibilities

  1. The authors ensure that the document is original and not being reviewed for other publication.
  2. All the authors signing the document must have contributed in the research.
  3. Authors will ensure the veracity of their sources.
  4. Authors must keep a copy of all data associated with their research and share it with institutions or researchers that are interested in the matter.
  5. The authors are responsible for asking permission to publish any non-original additional material (figures, tables, images, etc.) and provide the source to the editor. They must always ensure that the material is royalty-free.
  6. Authors must specify if the research has received private or public funding of any kind and declare any possible conflict of interest.
  7. Authors will also notify the editor about any errors detected in the article. Likewise, they must cooperate in its correction.

Dealing with Unethical Behaviour

  1. Anyone can report unethical behavior to the editor. The journal will be attentive to any claim, whatever the stage of publication. Allegations must be supported by evidence to initiate any investigation.
  2. All complaints and allegations against unethical conduct of the journal will be considered.
  3. Firstly, the author will be given the opportunity to answer the submitted allegations.
  4. In the event of serious misconduct, if the author's answers are not satisfactory, the editor may consult a group of experts in the field.
  5. In any case, the editor will persist in obtaining a resolution to the problem.
  6. If the paper is found to be fraudulent after proper investigation, it will be retracted in an identifiable way from the journal and from the indexes.

Text and images generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The use of text or images generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) must be duly justified for the purpose of the article and be explicitly specified to the editors. Thus, the paragraph(s) or graphic material generated with these models should be indicated in the main manuscript, and the documentation showing the process (prompt and returned answers) should be attached as an appendix. In this regard, users must acknowledge the software used and provide clear explanations of how the content was generated.

Attributions of AI software should not appear as author or co-author of any submission or in the list of bibliographic references, but rather in the introduction of the article or as an endnote to the article.
Given the rapidly evolving nature of the field, this policy will be reviewed regularly. In any case, we advise authors to contact the editors (metodessj@uv.es) if they have any questions on this aspect.