Following the best international practices in the evaluation and publication of scientific studies, the Sustainable and Responsible Management Magazine aims to follow a Code of Ethics inspired by the Core Practices that the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) has determined in order to support and develop good practice in editorial processes. In this regard, the Sustainable and Responsible Management will activate a process of evaluation and selection of the contributions destined for publication based on the following ethical requirements shared by all the actors of the process (Publishers, Management, Auditors and Authors)1 .
1. Duties of the Bodies of the Journal
The Scientific Director and the Responsible Director are responsible for choosing the contributions to be published in the Journal. This choice is based on an anonymous double blind peer-review entrusted to one or more expert auditors belonging to the Journal Reviewers Committee.
The Scientific Director and the Responsible Director undertake to carry out their duties in order to guarantee a high profile to the Journal, acting on the basis of the principles of diligence and professionalism, and taking care that the selected contributions are characterized by high scientific rigor.
Decisions to accept or reject a contribution for publication will be based solely on the importance, originality and clarity of the contribution itself and the relevance of the study with respect to the objectives and editorial line of the Journal. Therefore, we will always guarantee the availability to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies where necessary.
For this reason, the Scientific Director and the Director in charge will supervise the regularity of the entire process of reviewing the contributions, guaranteeing the anonymity of the auditors and undertaking to avoid any conflict of interest, discrimination by gender, sexual or religious orientation, personal or political beliefs, geographic origin and ethnic origin.
2. Authors’ duties
By submitting their contributions to the Journal, the Authors must ensure their originality and also ensure that they are unpublished and have not been subjected to evaluation by another scientific journal.
The Authors must guarantee that there are no conflicts of interest that have in any way influenced the content of the contribution presented to the Journal.
With reference to the quality of the contributions submitted to the Journal, the Authors undertake to guarantee high quality standards, respecting the obligation to correctly cite the sources of the contents reported in the contribution and to obtain the necessary permits for the inclusion of images or other material protected by copyright.
The authors must also guarantee the truthfulness of the data reported in their contributions, as well as obtain the necessary permits, if human beings are involved in the study.
The contributions presented to the Journal that have been composed by several hands must clearly indicate the names of all the subjects who actually contributed to the drafting and approval of the work. These subjects will appear as Authors of the contribution and the division of labor within the same must be clearly identifiable.
If errors or significant inaccuracies are found in the contributions already published by the Magazine, the Authors are required to promptly notify the Journal by providing any incorrect corrigues.
3. Duties of the Reviewers
Reviewers play an important role in ensuring the quality of contributions to be published in the journal. The review process largely depends on the trust and voluntary participation of the scholars involved who must follow responsible and ethical behavior.
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), has devoted ample space to revision models and, in any case, reiterated important rules of conduct that auditors must follow to ensure an impartial and quality evaluation of the contributions submitted for evaluation 2 .
In particular, among the main duties of the Reviewers are:
- Carefully read the manuscript, as well as any additional files and / or auxiliary materials (e.g. instructions for auditors, required ethics and political declarations), if something is not clear, it is important to request missing or incomplete elements that you need to complete the review.
- Do not contact the authors directly without the Journal’s permission.
- Respect the confidentiality of the review process and refrain from using information obtainedduring the review process to your advantage or to the advantage of others, or to disadvantage or discredit third parties.
- Do not involve anyone else in the revision of a manuscript.
- To remain impartial in relation to the nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors..
- In the event of a conflict of interest that could prevent a correct and impartial review, notify the Magazine and ask for advice.
- In case of suspected violation of the ethics of research and publication, report to the Magazine.
- Follow the instructions of the Journal to write the review (format or method of attribution of scores, advice on publicity or not of the contribution).
- Prepare a review report that is objective and constructive, providing feedback that can help authors improve their manuscript.