Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

 

1. Introduction to Ius Ecclesiae’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Ius Ecclesiae (henceforth also: “the journal”) is a “double-blind peer-review” journal, established in 1989, as an expression of the research at the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The journal, with the collaboration of canonists and experts in other interconnected disciplines from various countries around the world, aims to offer an international and interdisciplinary view of ecclesial juridical experience through doctrinal research, the study of jurisprudential activity, the analysis of administrative practice, and the presentation and examination of legislative, executive, and adjudicative data, at the level of both universal and particular ecclesial law. In addition, the journal publishes the results of research in the areas of legal philosophy, legal theory, and state law pertinent to the ecclesial juridical experience and religious phenomenon in general.

The journal encourages and implements at all levels of its activity the following basic ethical principles regarding research and publication: 1. academic intellectual honesty and transparency of scientific research, 2. the highest standard of diligence and expertise (excellence) in research and writing, 3. fairness and precision in the determination of authorship and respect for intellectual property, 4. the personal responsibility of author(s) for their research, data analysis, and published arguments, 5. professional collaboration and respect for mutual roles between the journal and authors in all preparatory, executive, and post-publishing stages regarding the manuscripts submitted for publication, 6. the highest standard of expertise and independence of the journal’s peer-reviewers, 7. the highest professional academic standard of independent and unbiased editorial evaluation of research submitted for publication.

 

2. Policy regarding the acceptance of articles and the conflicts of interests

Ius Ecclesiae is committed to editorial independence and unbiased evaluation of proposals of papers submitted for publishing. Accordingly, in the selection of publishable research our journal is guided only by the standard of competence, high quality and originality of the academic research and data analysis, as well as pertinence to the subject-matters defined by the scientific scope of the journal. The journal encourages proactive consideration of papers submitted for publications that meet the aforementioned standards but challenge previously published works in the journal or report certain negative or critical results in their research.

The journal does not accept previously published articles.

Authors are responsible – as a prerequisite for the acceptance of a submitted article – for correctly and exhaustively citing the sources (whether appropriately paraphrased or literally quoted) used in their research.  The authors are likewise responsible for obtaining the appropriate permission, when applicable, to reproduce material (text, tables or figures) of other publications. Any material received without the aforesaid citations or permissions will be assumed to originate from the authors, though the Editorial Team or the peer-review experts may establish otherwise.

In order to maintain the highest standard of transparency, academic honesty, and unbiased editorial evaluation, the journal expects authors to declare in advance any position or activity that might represent a conflict of interest (personal, academic, financial, or other) regarding the submitted article.

The members of the Editorial Board may not in any way use the unpublished material received in the journal without the permission of the corresponding authors.

It is up to the Editor, in agreement with the Editorial Board, to assess whether a submitted scientific contribution, whose subject-matter is pertinent to the scientific scope of the journal, will be ultimately accepted for publication in the journal, after having received the appropriate professional opinions from two double-blind peer-referees and, if so, to decide in which volume and number of the journal to publish it.

 

3. Authorship and contributorship

Only those who have actually participated in the intellectual conception and development of the text should appear as the author or authors of a contribution. In addition, to feature as an author, the following (alternative) requirements must be met: 1. the person has substantially participated in the ideation and realization of the work leading to the article in question, 2. the person has significantly participated in the drafting or in the possible substantial revisions of the text.

If two or more persons have contributed to distinct sections of the submitted paper, it should be clearly stated in the paper which person is the principal (or exclusive) author of a determinate section of the paper. Where two or more persons are to be credited as authors of a paper submitted for publication, and it is possible to otherwise distinguish their respective inputs in the joint scholarly effort, this state of affairs should be duly noted and briefly explained in the text of the paper itself.

The authors take public responsibility for the content of their paper or their respective research input in the paper in the case of distinguishable inputs of multiple authors. The judgements and opinions expressed in the articles published in the journal are thus those of the authors and in no event shall the journal, the Editorial Board, or the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross be responsible for them.

The journal assumes no responsibility for potential conflicts arising from the authorship of works published in the journal.

 

4. Data analysis and style

Authors of papers submitted for publication are invited to appropriately analyze, with scholarly precision, the scientific data and to transparently reveal their sources, explain their methods of analysis, as well as to distinguish carefully between their original findings and previously researched arguments.

The journal encourages that papers submitted for publication be written in a manner that is appropriate for scientific analysis and scholarly dialogue, and thus strongly discourages any style that represents a rejection of this standard. 

 

5. Anti-plagiarism policy

Plagiarism, which includes especially the unreferenced use of others’ published and unpublished arguments and ideas in a paper submitted for publishing, is contrary to the journal’s basic ethical principles regarding research and publication and is accordingly not tolerated. The journal reserves the right to check all submissions through appropriate anti-plagiarism checking tools for various languages. The assessment of similarity will always be subject to the decision of the Editorial Board. The control of possible plagiarism will be carried out before the peer review begins, but it may also be established in the peer-review process. Submissions containing suspected plagiarism, in whole or part, will be rejected.

If plagiarism is discovered in a post-publication moment, the procedures outlined in the “Retractions and Corrections”section of this statement will be applied. We encourage our readers and reviewers to inform the journal of any suspicions of plagiarism, either by contacting the Editor or by sending an e-mail to iusecc@pusc.it.

 

6. Redundant publication or “self-plagiarism”

The journal considers redundant publication or “self-plagiarism” – namely, the case when a submitted paper, or a significant part of a paper, is previously published by the author(s) without appropriate cross-referencing or explicit justification, even in a different language – to be contrary to the journal’s basic ethical principles regarding research and publication.

Parts of a previously published scholarly text may be published in the journal only when all of the following conditions are met: 1. the explicit approval of the Editor, 2. when such publication is assessed to be necessary for academic discourse (e.g., in case of a translation from another language), 3. with the explicit permission from the journal of original publication, and 4. with a corresponding citation of the original source is included, which explains all the relevant circumstances of the present conditions.

Similarly, the scholarly paper (or parts thereof) submitted for publication or already published in this journal may not be submitted, considered, or accepted for publication in another academic journal or other type of scholarly publication without previous consent of the Editor of this journal, who may grant said consent once the aforementioned conditions are verified and provided that the subsequent place of publication does not maintain an exclusive submission policy.

 

7. Peer-review

The articles and doctrinal notes are submitted by the Editorial Board to the process of “double-blind” evaluation of two peer-review referees. The journal guarantees the highest academic quality of the peer-reviewers for a determinate subject that is treated in the scholarly submission for publication. The criteria for evaluation in the peer-review process may be found here: http://www.iusecclesiae.it/Peer-review. The journal also guarantees the confidentiality of authors and reviewers at all stages during evaluation and after eventual publication of a submitted paper. The reviewers must treat the anonymous material received as confidential documents.

Within three months, the author will be informed whether his contribution has been accepted for publication and if some changes (anonymously formulated) have been deemed necessary after the peer-review process. In the case of a negative outcome suggested by the peer-reviewers and/or by the Editorial Board, the author is provided with a (anonymous) summary of the referees’ opinion. In case of disagreement between the two referees, it is up to the Editor, after having heard at least one member of the Editorial Board, to evaluate whether to proceed with publishing the submitted contribution.

In exceptional cases, such as the case of a published lecture delivered on occasion of a solemn academic act or a written homage, the Editor may assume responsibility for the publication of an article without submitting it to the prior evaluation of the peer-reviewers, expressly mentioning the circumstance and the reason in a note on the first page of the contribution.

 

8. Retractions and corrections

In the case of serious flaws discovered after a paper has been published, the journal will issue an adequate statement, depending on the significance of the flaw in question.

Corrections will be published in the case of an error of the author (corrigendum) or of the journal (erratum). If an author finds relevant errors in one of his or her contributions, he will promptly inform the Editor or the Secretary of the journal and provide all the information necessary to identify the necessary correction.

If the journal becomes aware that a published article contains a serious flaw that constitutes a breach of the provisions of this statement – especially data falsification, citation manipulation, plagiarism, “self-plagiarism”, or extreme cases of subsequently discovered lack of scholarly accuracy – a retraction or an expression of concern may be published in subsequent volumes of the journal and it may be simultaneously decided that the article will be removed from online publication. Prior to publishing the retraction or expression of concern, however, authors will be given the opportunity to respond to the arguments that point to a possible or probable serious breach of the provisions of this statement.