Ethics

The Políticas Públicas journal is committed to carry out a rigorous review by expert peers, who will make sure to enforce the strict ethical standards established in the journal when evaluating the incorporation of scientific works, in order to ensure that they are of high quality, and they contribute in a good way to the field of international academic publishing.

Editorial Team Duties

1.- Evaluate the articles based on purely academic criteria and ensure their adaptation to the objectives of the journal.
2.- Carry out a review of the quality and relevance of the article with the theme and objectives of the journal, also considering compliance with publication standards.
3.- Request all the necessary modifications to the author to adapt the article to the published editorial standards.
4.- In the event that there is non-compliance with the publication rules, the publication of the article will be rejected by the Editorial Team of this journal.
5.- Communicate the result of the evaluation within a period of six months, indicating whether or not the manuscript continues the evaluation process.
6.- Carry out all pertinent measures to avoid or repair bad scientific practices, such as: plagiarism, falsification or invention of data, individual appropriation of collective authorship, and duplicate publication.
7.- Make grammar corrections, style suggestions, and incorporation of figures and tables in the articles to be published.
8.- Maintain permanent communication with authors and peer reviewers, with the aim of clarifying doubts in the different stages of the publication process.
9.- After the publication of each number, make the clarifications, rectifications, or withdrawal of articles in order to solve any inconvenience detected after the publication of the number.

Author Duties

1.- It is the duty of the author to declare conflicts of interest before sending their manuscript to the journal.
2.- The methodology must be precise and detailed in order to allow its replicability in the academy.
3.- The results presented in the article must be precise and reliable, they must be accompanied by details of the methodology used and an objective discussion of the relevance of their results.
4.- Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal will be taken as an unethical practice, even if the manuscript is in different languages.
5.- Plagiarism*, the use of false data, the manipulation of images that alter the reality of the results are totally prohibited. In the case of plagiarism, the reviewers will immediately reject the manuscript.
*It is considered plagiarism to copy text, images or data from another source, or previous own publications, if the corresponding credit is not given to the original source.

Duties of external evaluators

1.- Report potential conflicts of interest to the Editorial Team.
2.- Reject the evaluation of the article in case of not having the necessary knowledge and skills for arbitration.
3.- Public Policies journal will take measures to ensure and protect the identity of the peer reviewers. Any changes on this matter will be promptly informed to the authors.
4.- Maintain the confidentiality of the article during the review process. They cannot spread the content of the document without the consent of the Editorial Team and/or author of the article.
5.- Inform in case of any irregularity in relation to the ethics of research or publication, referring to the refereed article.
6.- Submit the evaluation within the deadlines requested by the Editorial Team, explicitly indicating the recommended alternative for publication.

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Undoubtedly, the misuse of third-party resources or one's own constitutes one of the most serious ethical violations in scientific research and publication. This journal addresses this concern through the following actions:

Electronic detection: Titles of works, author names, and content are reviewed and checked using web search engines (Google; DDG).

Specialized Open Source tools such as plagiarism and turnitin are also utilized, in addition to staying updated with advice and guidance from HTW, a leading initiative in the field.

Style detection: Suspicious paragraphs are cross-checked, a task entrusted to our executive editorial team.

Moreover, suspicions or allegations of (self) plagiarism and other forms of deceptive use of previous work undergo the following steps:

• Assessment of suspicion or wrongdoing by the Editorial Committee of the journal.
• Communication of doubts or evidence of fraud (with data and proof) to the author(s).
• Specified deadline for explanations and/or clarifications. This deadline, unless for compelling reasons, is stringent and will not exceed 30 consecutive days from the moment of communication to the parties involved.
• Consideration, where applicable, of explanations and supporting assurances from questioned authors.
• Resolution and verdict by the Executive Committee regarding the final disposition of the questioned work within a maximum of 60 days. The verdict will be final and not subject to appeal.

All procedures will be conducted in writing and duly documented in the journal's management files. If necessary, the publication's Executive Committee may seek advice or opinions from external experts to ensure a well-informed resolution.

The sole sanction for authors found guilty of plagiarism or self-plagiarism (those who fail to provide clear and conclusive responses to concerns) will be a prohibition from submitting new texts and communications to the journal for a period of three years. Depending on the nature and impact of the issue, the journal reserves the right to publicly disclose results and/or refer the matter to relevant administrative and jurisdictional authorities.

Note: For definitions and assessment criteria related to the detection of these offenses, this journal adheres to the guidelines established by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).