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Editorial Policy including ethical standards

 
The journal Problemy Polityki Społecznej. Social Policy Issues follows the principles set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved in the publishing process, i.e. the Authors, the journal’s Editor(s), Associate Editors, Guest Editors, members of the International Advisory Board, peer Reviewers and the Publisher, must respect the ethical standards adopted by the journal.

I. Editorial Board Members’ responsibilities

(1) The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief decide which articles submitted to the journal are to be published. When making their decisions they take into account peer reviewers’ comments obtained during the double-blind review process as well as comments from other members of the Editorial Board or Associate Editors, when appropriate.
(2) For particular issues of the journal, an Associate Editor or Guest Editor, after getting his/her consent, to be the Theme Editor. The chosen Associate Editor/Guest Editor is responsible for tasks related to that issue, which would otherwise be incumbent upon the editors.
(3) The editors seek to ensure a fair and appropriate peer-review process. Editors must recuse themselves from considering manuscripts which present them with a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with the author(s) or institutions connected to said manuscripts. In such cases Editors ask another Editor or Associate Editor to consider the manuscript.
(4) The Editors evaluate the manuscripts for intellectual content without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).
(5) The Editors may not disclose any information about a manuscript under consideration to anyone other than: the author(s), reviewers invited to review the manuscript, and, when appropriate, the Associate Editors and members of the International Advisory Board.
(6) Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript cannot be used in an Editor’s research.
(7) The Editorial Board uses a procedure to counteract any violations of academic integrity standards, including plagiarism, ghost-writing and guest authorship. It verifies texts using an anti-plagiarism system and enforces authors’ declarations on, among others, ghost-writing and guest authorship. The Editors will disclose any cases thereof and notify the institutions that employ the authors. If the journal’s Editorial Board finds that the already published article contains unauthorised borrowings, copyrighted material from third parties without their permission, or that the permission was insufficiently confirmed, as well as if the authorship of the article is contested, the Editors reserve the right to take measures including: publication of an erratum or correction; withdrawal of the article; notification of the author's superiors from the institution indicated in the author(s)’ affiliation. The Editors should be willing to publish apologies when required.
(8) The Editorial Board eliminates conflicts of interest by selecting competent peer referees and obtaining appropriate declarations from them. The Editors will pursue any reviewer or editorial misconduct. The Editor-in-Chief will take responsive measures when ethical complaints are presented concerning a manuscript submitted or paper published in this respect.
(9) If the Editorial Board is presented with scientific articles written by a member of the Editorial Board or Associate Editor, procedures are in place to ensure the content of the manuscript is assessed impartially. The procedures include excluding the author from assessing the substance of the work s/he has submitted and anonymising referee details for the author.

II. Reviewers’ responsibilities

(1) Peer reviewers assist the Editors in making editorial decisions, and the Author(s) in improving the manuscript in case they suggest the paper should be considered for publication in the journal after (minor/major) revision.
(2) An referee invited to referee a manuscript must treat the reviewed manuscript as confidential documents. It must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor.
(3) After receiving an invitation to review, the referee should immediately notify the Editor if he/she is able to provide a review on a timely basis. Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the manuscript should also immediately contact the Editor and is kindly invited to suggest a replacement.
(4) Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts in which they believe they may have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the submission.
(5) Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable. Referees should express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments. The reviewers are strongly encouraged to use the form for reviewers provided by the journal.
(6) Reviewers should identify relevant published work not properly cited by the authors. Reviewers should also bring to the attention of the Editors any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other publication of which they are aware. Reviewers should provide the Editors with relevant citations in any such case.
(7) Information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage by the Reviewer.
(8) Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript cannot be used in a Reviewer’s research.

III. Authors’ responsibilities

(1) The authorship of the articles submitted should be strictly limited to the persons that have made an important contribution to the concept of the study, execution of the study and/or interpretation of the study results. Plagiarism, ghost-writing and guest authorship are violations of academic integrity standards and are unacceptable.
(2) Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research reported in the manuscript should be named in an Acknowledgements section. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are listed as the authors of the manuscript, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication to the journal.
(3) The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If they have used the work and/or words of others, it must be appropriately cited or quoted in the manuscript. Authors should also cite publications that are of crucial importance for the reported work.
(4) Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
(5) Parallel submission of the same manuscript to another journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
(6) All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed in the Acknowledgements section or in a dedicated space in the Editorial System at the moment of submission.
(7) If the manuscript presents authors’ research which involved the participation of volunteers, the authors should report that they obtained consent from a relevant ethical commission for conducting this study.
(8) When the Author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work in the journal, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s Editor and cooperate with him/her to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate erratum.

IV. Associate Editors’ responsibilities

(1) Associate Editors assist Editors in making editorial decisions, finding appropriate reviewers for manuscripts submitted to the journal and may function as invited Guest Editors for particular issue(s) of the journal.
(2) Associate Editors must not disclose any information about a manuscript under consideration to anyone other than: the author(s), the reviewers invited to review the manuscript and the Editors.
(3) Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript cannot be used in an Associate Editor’s research.
(4) When carrying out the role of Guest Thematic Editor, the Associate Editor must respect all the rules of conduct that refer to the Editors in I.3-9.

V. International Advisory Board Members’ responsibilities

(1) Members of the International Advisory Board assist the Editorial Board in formulating the strategy of the journal and publication plans for each calendar year, as well as in seeking potential international reviewers for the journal.
(2) Members of the International Advisory Board shall participate in at least one of the on-line or in-person joint meetings of the Editorial Board and International Advisory Board during a calendar year.
(3) Members of the International Advisory Board shall keep track of all published issues of the journal and provide the Editor-in-Chief with an annual assessment of the quality of the published issues.

VI. Publisher’s confirmation:

(1) In cases of proven scientific misconduct, including plagiarism or fraudulent publication, the publisher, in close collaboration with the Editors, will promptly take all appropriate measures to amend (e.g. publishing an erratum) or - in justified cases - retract the article in question.
(2) The publisher ensures the electronic copy of the entirety of the journal’s content in the Open Data Repository at the University of Warsaw as well as preservation of access to the journal content in the event a journal is no longer published (access to archive) for at least 5 years.

 
ISSN:1640-1808
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