Publishing Ethical Standards
It is of great importance to both the Editorial and Advisory Boards of EFAJ to maintain high ethical standards over the entire publication process. All parties involved in the publication process are expected to maintain professional and ethical behaviour, notably with respect to:
1. Editors/Publisher
- Confidentiality over the whole decision-making process
- Avoidance of conflict of interest within the review process
- Objectivity in the final publication decision
- Detection of plagiarism
The publisher and editors strictly observe privacy throughout the review and editing process, i.e. anonymity of the individual authors. The publisher should do its best to constantly improve the quality of the journal and support the freedom of expression. During the review process, it is emphasized that reviewers are not in conflict of interest and that their report is objective. The whole review process is carried out in accordance with the predetermined rules (see EFAJ-process.pdf) and based on an objective assessment of the quality of the reviewed article. Editors, when assessing an article, also examine its originality and try to detect any potential plagiarism or other misconduct. In the case of a suspicion, the issue is first communicated with the relevant authors and then it is preceded in accordance with the COPE flowchart, where applicable. In case an error or a misleading statement is detected, editors promptly discuss suitable remedies and publish any necessary corrections as early as possible.
Both the publisher and editors should follow the integrity of an academic record (the concept of honesty and originality) and ensure that it is possible, upon approval by the Board of Editors, to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and/or apologies as needed. Articles are selected based on the focus of the journal, their relevance and originality. In case of the change of editors, findings of the previous processes will be respected. Editors shall give sufficient space to relevant criticisms brought by published articles along with corresponding space for any response by the original authors.
If authors disagree with the decision of the Board of Editors, they may ask the Editor-in-Chief or the Chairman of the Advisory Board for an assessment of their objections. Editors are prepared to deal promptly with suggestions for improvements and complaints. Authors or other stakeholders may also send their suggestions for improvements or complaints to the Chairman of the Advisory Board.
Currently, the journal does not offer any special space for advertising and commercial statements.
2. Reviewers
- Confidentiality over the whole review process
- High standards for assessment of articles
- Objectivity in review decision
Beyond observing privacy, reviewers objectively evaluate the quality of articles, their contribution to the scientific community as well as the publication focus of the journal. Reviewers are selected and approved by the Editor-in-Chief and the Board of Editors, respectively, based on their professional focus in order to ensure a high quality of the whole process and its objectivity. Each article is assessed by at least two reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief and it has to be approved by the Board of Editors.
While evaluating review articles, editors and reviewers are independent and by no means under influence of the publisher. The procedure and criteria for evaluation of articles are stipulated by the format of the report and the corresponding standards.
3. Authors
- High quality in methodology and reporting standards
- Responsibility for originality of the article
- Reproducible research
With respect to the research subject, every article under consideration by the journal is required to clearly describe the state of the art within the given field of research, methodology and data used, the results and related comments. Each article is required to contain a precise and correct work with literature and data, so that the process and results could be verified, if necessary (reproducibility of research). By the Copyright Transfer Agreement, authors declare the originality of their articles and agree with a free on-line access of their articles on the website of the journal (www.vse.cz/efaj/).
Articles are organized into sections according to their standards and aims (e.g. research articles, discussion, review articles, reviews).
Unpublished conference papers may be submitted for the review process. Papers published in proceedings from the conference may be submitted only following significant changes of the original content (at least 1/3 of the content). From the text of the paper, it has to be clear that the paper follows up the conference contribution.
Articles, when applicable, shall always provide the source of funding of the research they have been based on (while maintaining anonymity in the review process). If relevant, special confidentiality attention will be given to individual information (data).
These standards shall be understood and interpreted in the context of the current COPE Code of Conduct.
Editorial and Advisory Boards
1/1/2014