Ethics Policy
IJSM follows an ethics policy that is inspired by the leading publications and publishers in the field, as well as good practices, followed internationally with an emphasis on Elsevier recommendations and the guidelines of the code of ethics in publication by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Our journal's ethics policy consists of the following rules and recommendations for editors, reviewers, and authors:
Editors' duties:
- Publication decision: Editors are responsible for making decisions about the publication of articles submitted to the journal. Editors must commit themselves to act fairly and care for the quality of the journal.
- Transparency: The editors follow the policies of the journal's editorial board, respecting the legal requirements on defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
- Diversity: The journal values diversity concerning gender, creed, nationality, and ethnicity. Any discrimination based on these characteristics is unacceptable and will be taken to the authorities when appropriate.
- Confidentiality: The editors and members of the editorial team will not divulge information about the articles, except for the authors, reviewers, and collaborators of the journal.
- Fair play: The rules for publication in the journal must always be clear and be followed by authors, reviewers, and editors. Any other situations must be analyzed by the editors, who, in the face of ethical complaints of any article submitted or published in the journal, will take the appropriate measures, participating and cooperating with the necessary investigations.
Reviewers' duties:
- Blind review: Every article must be reviewed by peers. If a reviewer knows the identity of the author, they must decline to review the paper immediately.
- Respect: Every review, as well as any interaction between authors, reviewers, and editors, must be conducted respectfully and cordially.
- Commitment: Reviewers must commit themselves to analyze articles based on their merit, with all the rigor that may apply and respect the established deadlines.
- Confidentiality: Reviewers must keep the confidentiality of the articles they have received and reviewed to protect the authors' intellectual property.
Authors' duties
- Veracity: Authors are responsible for ensuring the integrity of the information contained in their papers. Any fraud is unacceptable.
- Originality and plagiarism: Authors should not submit articles that have already been published in other scientific journals, in whole or in part. Papers under review in other journals cannot be submitted to IJSM, and articles cannot be submitted to other scientific journals if they are under evaluation in IJSM. All articles submitted to the journal go through anti-plagiarism software, and if plagiarism or self-plagiarism is identified, the review process is canceled.
- Co-authorship: The authors commit themselves to report only the co-authors who have effectively made a significant contribution to the article.
- Transparency and conflict of interest: Authors with conflicts of interest must declare this conflict when submitting articles. The sources of financial support for the project should also be disclosed.
- Errors in published articles: If the author identifies an error or inaccuracy in his published paper, the author must immediately inform the journal editors and cooperate to retract or correct the article.
Publisher's duties:
- Ensure that funds from advertising, reprinting, or other commercial revenues do not have any impact or influence on editorial decisions.
- Ensure the scientific quality of publications and oppose unethical practices.
