ETHICAL CODE Bérénice
The entire Management and Scientific Committee of the Magazine are in line with the spirit of the recommendations of this ethical code in order to adopt all possible measures against negligence and ensure good ethical practices in the publication process. In particular, it is expected that all the parties involved – Management, Scientific Committee, Authors and Reviewers – know and share the following ethical principles, published on the magazine website:
Duties of the Management and the Scientific Committee:
- Publication decisions
The Management and the Scientific Committee are responsible for deciding whether or not to publish the articles proposed to the Magazine based on an anonymous single blind peer review made by an expert reviewer (referee). The article is sent anonymously to the reviewers. In case the article was written by one of the Directors, it will be the other director together with the Scientific Committee who will be responsible for choosing the referees for the review and evaluation and subsequent decision to publish the article. In case of conflict, the Directors will decide how to proceed. In its decisions, the Management is required to respect the strategies and editorial approach of the Magazine.
- Fairness and non-discrimination
The Directors decide exclusively on the basis of the scientific value, relevance and originality of the article content without discrimination of sex, race, gender, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and political orientation of the authors.
- Confidentiality, conflict of interest, and prohibition of use or disclosure
The Editors and Editorial Board agree not to disclose information about articles proposed for publication to persons other than the author, reviewers, and publisher or printer.
The Magazine adopts the single-blind peer review process to ensure that submitted material remains strictly confidential during the review process. The Directors and the Scientific Committee, or the Director and the Scientific Committee in case the article is written by one of the two Directors, identify the referee on the basis of competence and trust in order to have an adequate evaluation of the article for the purpose of publication.
Duties of Authors of Articles Submitted to the Magazine
The Author guarantees that the article submitted for evaluation is unpublished, scientifically original, and not submitted simultaneously to other magazines, books, or periodicals, except with the express consent of the Management. If the article is subsequently published in other periodicals or books, the magazine Bérénice must be informed and consent,without prejudice to the express reference to the publication in the same. The Author is also bound to comply with the applicable legal provisions on defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
The Author is also bound to properly cite the texts used following the editorial rules indicated for publication in theMagazine, taking care that the work and/or words of other authors are properly paraphrased or quoted literally with appropriate evidence of sources. Authors are required to follow the editorial rules of the Magazine, failure to comply may cause exclusion.
- Integration of the work
The Directors may ask the Authors for corrections and additions they deem appropriate, even following the anonymous judgment of the reviewers. In certain cases, the Management may bring the aforementioned judgment to the Author’s attention anonymously. Authors may express their comments or objections in this regard, on which the Scientific Committee will then decide.
The Management reserves the right to make changes according to editorial rules after the first proofreading, for the homogeneity of publication of the Magazine.
- Authorship of the work
The authorship of the work must be clearly apparent: all those who have made significant contributions to the production of the article must appear as co-authors. The contribution made by others in a significant way to some stage of the research must also be explicitly acknowledged. In the case of multi-handed contributions, the share-part of each Author must be correctly disclosed with clarity
- Conflicts of Interest
The Author must have no conflicts of interest that might have conditioned the results achieved, theses advocated or interpretations proposed.
- Remedy for article inaccuracies.
If an Author identifies a major error or inaccuracy in one of his or her articles, he or she must promptly inform the Magazine prior to publication and provide all necessary informations to modify the article. If the article has already been published and in the judgment of the Directors and Scientific Committee the seriousness of the error needs correction, an errata corrige will be published in the next issue.
Referee Duties
- Contribution to editorial decision
Peer-review is a process that helps the Management and the Scientific Committee of the Magazine to evaluate the scientific quality of proposed articles and also allows the Author to improve his or her contribution.
- Respect of deadlines
The Referee who does not feel adequate or sufficiently qualified for the assignment required to review the research reported in the manuscript or who feels that he or she is unable to review it within the specified timeframe is required to notify the Magazine Management as soon as possible and withdraw from the review process.
- Fairness and objectivity
Peer-review must be conducted fairly and objectively. Referees are asked to justify their evaluations of the article sent to them in an appropriate and documented manner.
- Possible indication of texts
The Referent is invited to indicate the bibliographic details of basic works neglected by the Author in the article.
- Conflict of interest and disclosure
Manuscripts received for review should be treated as confidential documents. They should not be shown or discussed with anyone. Confidential information or guidance obtained during the peer-review process must be held in confidence and trust: it cannot be used for personal benefit.