Ethic guidelines

1. Duties of the authors 

In submitting their work for publication, the author declares: 

• that the submission is original, the result of their own research, and that the contents of other sources are cited correctly; 
• that the contribution is unpublished. 

The author also undertakes: 

• to declare any conflicts of interest; 
• to accept the anonymous review of their submission; 
• to correct the draft of their submission in agreement with the editorial staff and in a timely manner. 

2. Duties of reviewers 

The reviewers undertake: 

• to maintain confidentiality on the content of the proposed contributions; 
• to evaluate the text beyond any personal influences, with the sole purpose of enhancing research and the scientific dissemination of the results; 

The reviewers must also report if they are aware of: 

• potential conflicts of interest or moral conflicts related to the articles submitted; 
• potential cases of unfair practice in the event that a contribution has already been published or can be considered the result of plagiarism. 

3. Duties of the editors 

The editors of the journal agree: 

• to evaluate, read and check the contributions submitted to the journal; 
• to standardise the submissions according to the internal norms of the journal and the press, in line with the history of the journal; 
• to guarantee the anonymity in the phase of external review, adopting the criteria of a double-blind peer review.

4. Duties of the scientific committee: 

The journal’s scientific/editorial committee must: 

• guarantee the quality of the proposed contributions by carrying out its own reading and evaluation;
• verify the dedication to the journal’s mission with respect to the proposed contributions;
• ensure that the journal’s mission is to disseminate knowledge and the results of scientific research.

The journal’s scientific/editorial committee also agrees: 

• to report eventual conflicts of interest in the selection, evaluation and proposal of submissions; 
• to collaborate with the editorial staff and director to guarantee a fair evaluation process, free from any personal conflicts. 

5. Duties of the director 

The director undertakes: 

• to exercise their functions fairly and objectively; 
• to ensure that the journal and its collaborators do not discriminate against authors based on gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, or their geographical origin. 

6. Duties of the publisher

L’ERMA di Bretschneider undertakes: 

• to ensure that good practice is maintained according to the standards indicated above; 
• to adopt appropriate procedures in the event of ethical or moral complaints, for which the documentation will be properly preserved. 

Procedures in the Event of Malpractice 

1. Identification of malpractice 

Malpractice (including but not limited to: serious errors, situations of conflict of interest, plagiarism) can be identified by anyone but must be brought to the attention of the director, editorial staff or publisher in writing and with the necessary information and/or proof to initiate an internal investigation. 

This investigation will be conducted by the director, who may or may not involve L’ERMA di Bretschneider, at his/her discretion, in the event that the report does not directly involve the publishing house. If the report concerns L’ERMA di Bretschneider directly, the publishing house will necessarily be involved. 

2. Violations of a minor or major degree 

In the event of minor violations concerning the editorial staff, collaborators of the journal or publishing house, an internal investigation will be carried out, providing interested parties with all the documentation on the accusations made against them and giving them the right to respond.

In the event of major violations, the academic and institutional bodies of the interested parties may also be  involved, entrusting the examination of the evidence to an external committee of experts.  

In the event of violations of the civil order, the director or editorial staff will report to the competent  authorities on the matter.  

3. Consequences in the event of well-founded accusations 

In the event that the perpetrators of the violations are members of the journal, their position within the journal will be revoked, and those responsible will be warned in writing. 

In the event that those responsible are authors, the scientific committee or the director may invite them to formally withdraw their contribution or decide to revoke its publication. A formal embargo on future contributions can be imposed on these authors. 

On a case by case basis the sending of a formal letter to the department or body to which those responsible for the violation belong will also be evaluated, by which to inform them of the unfair practices conducted by the subject. 

In accordance with the Scopus guidelines 

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