Code of Ethics

 

Code of Ethics and Good Practices of Ensayos Pedagógicos¹

 

1. Description

This document has the aim of establishing and disclosing the guidelines that state the good practices and ethical principles to be observed by everyone involved in the editorial processes of Ensayos Pedagógicos, namely authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial boards. Everynone involved directly or indirectly in the editorial processes of Ensayos Pedagógicos must adhere to this code of ethics and follow the guidelines that regulate the journal's activities.

These guidelines are bases on the following documents:

-Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, de Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, 2018).

-Budapest Open Access Initiative.

-Política institucional para promover la ética en la Universidad Nacional (2018).

-Ley N° 6683 sobre Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos y sus reformas en la Ley N° 7979, de la República de Costa Rica.

 

This code responds to the scientific and pedagogical interest of the journal, the protection of the rights of all the participants of the journal, and good publication and editorial practices.

 

2. Definitions

For the purposes of this code, the word manuscript is to be understood as any work submitted to Ensayos Pedagógicos under any of the established publication types: essays, research articles, articles of systematization of experiences, and literature review articles.

The editorial process is to be understood as the set of stages or steps follow by a manuscript for its publication in the journal, which begins by its submission until its official publication or rejection. The steps in the editorial process are described in our Submission Guidelines.

 

3. Principles

3.1. Principle of Transparency: Ensayos Pedagógicos will be open and willing to provide any necessary relevant information about its processes and documents 

3.2. Principle of Excelence: Excellence will be sought in any of the processes and products of Ensayos Pedagógicos by means of on-going assessment and permanent improvement.

3.3. Principle of Ethical Research: In any research project in which human beings have been directly involved, basic scientific research principles are to be followed, ensuring that the research conducted was based on fundamental ethical principles of respect, individual and collective benefit, equity and justice, protecting the life, interests, health, well-being, and dignity of the people involved  (UNA, 2017).

3.4. Principle of Respect to Authorship: A common frame of equality and consideration towards others will be established in terms of dignity, respect, and assertive communication, in which the authorship of the manuscripts submitted to Ensayos Pedagógicos is appropriately attributed and the citation of unoriginal information is ethical and responsible.

3.5. Principle of Open Access: Ensayos Pedagógicos will guarantee prompt, free, universal, and respectful access to the original productions in each of its issues.

3.6. Principle of No Monetary Charges or Monetary Retribution: There will be no article-processing charges for publishing a manuscript in the journal. Likewise, none of our revierwers will be paid to participate in our editorial processes.

 

4. Good Practices

4.1. Management of the Journal: Ensayos Pedagógicos has its own set of regulations, which must be known by all of the Internal Editorial Board members, complying with univesity ethics, transparency, accountability, internal control, and the prevention of unethical conduct (UNA, 2018).

4.2. Authorships and Contributions: By submitting a paper, authors swear under oath that all the names listed correspond to people who made a meaningful contribution to the development of the manuscript. Likewise, the journal will resort to software programs (known and to be known) for identifying plagiarism in the editorial process of each manuscript.

4.3. Intellectual Property: Evey author who wishes to reproduce unoriginal information (tables, figures, research data, and others) in a publishable paper must have express permission from the owners of such information, which must be visible in the manuscript.

4.4. Ethics in the Development of Research: Every publishable research paper submitted to the journal must attest to the ethical considerations taken into account in its development, such as protecting the anonymity of the participants, especially if they are minors or vulnerable populations or not causing any harm (physical, psychological, moral, etc.) to the participants of the study. On the other hand, if consent was obtained to disclose any information from the participants, this must be explicitly stated in the manuscript.

4.5. Reproduction of Data: As a principle of transparency and whenever possible, authors are encouraged to share research data such as databases that may have been used for the purposes of analysis in the development of the manuscript.

4.6. Review Process: The review process of publishable manuscripts in the journal is carried out by means of a double-blind procedure, in which neither the authors nor the reviewers are to know one another. In the review process, one of three decisions will be made: 1. Publish, 2. Publish after the author has made the modifications suggested by the reviewers, and 3. Do not publish. In case of divergent opinions among the reviewers, the Internal Editorial Board will contact an additional reviewer whose criteria allows to make a final decision by simple majority. In any case, the Internal Editorial Board will be in charge of notifying the final decision reached about a manuscript submitted to the journal.

4.7. Conflicts of Interests: In case of any conflict of interests, all the people involved, be it members of the Internal Editorial Board or reviewers, must notify this to the journal with a clear description of the reason(s) why they cannot be part of the editorial process of any given manuscript.

 

Duties of authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the Internal Editorial Board.

Participants	Duties
Authors	-Notifying about any conflicts of interests in the manuscript -Guaranteeing that the manuscript is original and has not been submitted simultaneously to other journals -Committing to follow each of the steps of the editorial process of the manuscript -Knowing and approving the tranfer of right of the manuscript if it is published -Guaranteeing the accuracy of the information presented in the manuscript with special attention to the correct attribution to unoriginal information
Reviewers	-Agreeing to review only those manuscripts that are within their area(s) of expertise -Maintaining the information of the reviewed document and the review process itself, before, during, and after it, in absolute confidentiality -Not using the information provided for purposes other than the review process -Notifying about any conflicts of interests that may be indentified in the review process immediately  -Being objective and making a professional review avoiding the use of hostile or disrespectful language -Meeting the deadlines established for the reviews
Editors	-Guaranteeing the currency of the information published on the journal's web site -Guaranteeing the pertinence of the reviewers selected for such a purpose -Returning the reviewed manuscripts as soon as possible -Ensuring the incorporation of the observations made by the reviewers in the manuscripts as corresponding -Guaranteeing the quality of the papers published by the journal -Maintaining the personal information of the authors and reviewers in absolute confidentiality during the editorial process
Members of the Internal Editorial Board	-Promoting the journal in academic and institutional settings -Recommending the submission of manuscripts to the journal -Recommending people of recognized prestige and knowledgeable about specific topics to be reviewers of manuscripts submitted to the journal. -Reviewing manuscripts submitted to the journal -Approving the final versions of manuscripts and other documents -Attending the meetings of the Internal Editorial Board.

 

6. Conflicts and Disciplinary Actions
6.1. Allegations of Unethical Conducts: The Internal Editorial Board of the journal will deal with any allegations of unethical conducts that may emerge in the editorial process of any manuscript whether they happen prior to or after the publication. The Internal Editorial Board will analyze the alegations and will decide on a course of action.

6.2. Complaints: Any complaints about any of the editors or members of the editorial boards are to be turned in in written form with a detailed description of the case, which should be sent to the Internal Editorial Board. The Internal Editorial Board will analyze the case in an ordinary or extraordinary session depending on the urgency and will issue an official statement. Any members of the Internal Editorial Board who may be involved in a complaint must abstain from participating in the analysis process.

 

References

Committee on Publication Ethics. (2018). Core practices. https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

Ley N° 6683 sobre Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos. (2010). http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/es/text.jsp?file_id=247913

Ley N° 7979 que Reforma de la Ley N° 6683 de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos y sus Reformas, Ley de Patentes de Invención, Dibujos y Modelos Industriales y Modelos de Utilidad, N° 6867 y sus Reformas y del Código Procesal Civil y sus Reformas. (2000). http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/es/text.jsp?file_id=126070

UNA. (2017). Comité Ético Científico de la Universidad Nacional (CECUNA). https://www.rectoria.una.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127&Itemid=797

UNA. (2018). Política institucional para promover la ética en la Universidad Nacional. http://documentos.una.ac.cr/bitstream/handle/unadocs/5542/POL%C3%8DTICA%20INSTITUCIONAL%20PARA%20PROMOVER%20LA%20%C3%89TICA%20EN%20LA%20UNIVERSIDAD%20NACIONAL...doc?sequence=5&isAllowed=y

Budapest Open Access Initiative. (n .d.). Iniciativa de Budapest para el Acceso Abierto
(Spanish Translation). https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/translations/spanish-translation