Code of Ethics

This code of ethics is guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. It is necessary that all parties involved - authors, editors, publishers, and reviewers - know and agree to the following ethical requirements.

​DUTIES OF THE EDITOR AND EDITORIAL STAFF

Publication decisions
The Editor-in-Chief of the journal is responsible for deciding whether or not to publish proposed articles. The Editor reports to the journal's Editorial Board and Scientific Committee and is bound by the requirements of applicable laws regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor may speak with other editors or referees in making his/her decisions.

Correctness
The Editor evaluates articles proposed for publication based on their content without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political orientation of the authors.

Confidentiality
The Editor and any staff member must not disclose any information about a manuscript submitted for review to anyone other than the corresponding author, referee, potential referee, editorial advisor, and publisher, as appropriate.

Conflict of Interest and Disclosure
Unpublished material contained in a submitted manuscript should not be used in the research of the Editor or any member of the editorial staff without the express written consent of the author.

DUTIES OF REFEREES

Contribution to editorial decision
The practice of peer review helps the Editor make editorial decisions and through editorial communication with the author can also help the author improve their text.

Timing
A referee who does not feel adequate for the proposed task or who knows that he or she will not be able to do the reading in the required time frame is required to notify the Director promptly.

Confidentiality
Any text assigned for reading must be considered confidential. Therefore, such texts should not be discussed with others without explicit permission from the Director.

Objectivity
Peer review must be conducted objectively. Any personal judgement on the author is considered inappropriate. Referees are required to give adequate reasons for their judgments.

Indication of texts
The referees commit themselves to indicate with precision the bibliographical references of fundamental works that may have been neglected by the author. The referee must also point out to the Director any similarities or overlapping of the text received in reading with other works known to him.

Conflict of Interest and Disclosure
Confidential information or indications obtained during the peer-review process must be considered confidential and cannot be used for personal purposes. Referees must not accept articles for which there is a conflict of interest due to previous collaborative or competitive relationships with the author and/or his/her institution.

AUTHORS' DUTIES

Data access and retention
Authors of original research must also make available the sources or data on which the research is based so that they can be retained for a reasonable period of time after publication and possibly be made accessible to others who wish to use the work. False or inaccurate statements constitute ethically unacceptable behavior.

Originality and plagiarism
Authors must ensure that they have written wholly original work, and if authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately indicated or cited.

Multiple, repetitive, and/or competing publications
The author should not publish articles describing the same research in more than one journal. Simultaneously submitting the same text to more than one journal constitutes ethically inappropriate behavior.

Indication of sources
The author must always provide the correct indication of the sources and contributions mentioned in the article.

Work authorship
Authorship should be properly attributed and all those who made significant contributions to the design, organization, implementation, and revision of the research underlying the article should be listed as co-authors. If others have participated significantly in some phase of the research, their contribution should be explicitly acknowledged. In the case of contributions written by several hands, the author submitting the text to the journal is required to state that he or she has correctly stated the names of all other co-authors, that he or she has obtained their approval of the final version of the article and their consent to publication in the journal.

Conflict of Interest and Disclosure
All authors must indicate in their manuscript any financial or other conflicts of interest that could be interpreted to affect the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financial support for the project must be indicated

Errors in published articles
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her published work, he or she is obligated to notify the journal editor or publisher promptly and work with the editor to withdraw or correct the text.