Ethics Policy and Guidelines for Good Publication Practices

Ethics Policy and Guidelines for Good Publication Practices

Suprema – Revista de Estudos Constitucionais is committed to ethics and the quality of its publications, observing the best practices established internationally, including the recommendations presented by Elsevier and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

As a result, ethical conduct is expected from all those involved in publishing the journal, who, in addition to following the practices listed below, have a duty to report any deviant behavior.

Duties of the Editorial Team:

• Publication decision: The journal's editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal will be published. Their decisions must be guided by the journal's editorial policy. In making their decisions, the editors may consult the members of Suprema's Boards.

• Isonomy: The editors must evaluate the articles submitted to the journal for their content and academic merit, without discriminating against the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality or political philosophy of the authors.

• Confidentiality: The editorial team must not publicize any information about the papers submitted to the journal, except to the authors themselves, the peer reviewers, and the board members. Privileged information or ideas obtained from reading the articles must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
• Conflict of interest: Editors must refrain from evaluating articles in which they have a conflict of interest, due to competitive, collaborative or other forms of connection with any of the authors or institutions involved in the articles.
• Cooperation: Editors must take appropriate action when ethical grievances are made about a paper submitted to or published by the journal.
• Duties regarding unethical behavior: Any unethical manifestation identified in scientific papers published in Suprema - Revista de Estudos Constitucionais must be reported to the editors at any time by anyone, as long as they provide sufficient information and evidence for a verification procedure to be initiated. In any case, the editors must give the author(s) the right to reply to any allegations. Editors have a duty to inform or notify the author or reviewer when there is a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards. At the end of the verification procedure and once unethical behavior has been identified, the editors may formally withdraw the publication from the journal and notify the author(s).

Duties of peer reviewers:

• Collaboration: Peer review helps editors make editorial decisions and can also help authors improve the papers submitted to the journal.

• Commitment: Any reviewer who does not feel qualified to evaluate the article assigned to them or knows that their immediate evaluation will not be possible should notify the editorial team as soon as possible. Fast communication between reviewers and the editorial team facilitates the continuity of the necessary editorial workflow.

• Standards of objectivity: Opinions must be conducted objectively. Reviewers must express their opinions in a clear and reasoned manner.

• Confidentiality: All articles received for evaluation must be treated as confidential documents. Their content must not be shared or discussed with others. Privileged information or ideas obtained from reading the articles must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.

• Conflict of interest: Reviewers should refrain from evaluating papers for which they know they have a conflict of interest, due to competitive, collaborative or other forms of connection with any of the authors or institutions involved in the articles.

• Cooperation: Reviewers should alert the editorial team to any similarities between the paper being reviewed and any other published work of which they are aware.

Authors' duties:

• Authorship: Authorship of the manuscript should be restricted to those who have made significant contributions with regard to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the study presented. All those who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. The lead author must ensure that all co-authors are duly listed in the paper. They must also ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission to the journal. Other people who have participated in the work should be listed as collaborators in the acknowledgments. The contributions of the people mentioned in the acknowledgments must be described and their consent to publication must be documented.

• Content: Authors should present in their papers a precise account of the work carried out and an objective analysis of its relevance. Complementary data must also be accurately addressed. The documents must contain sufficient detail and references to enable others to replicate the work. The submission of fraudulent or intentionally inaccurate statements constitutes unethical and unacceptable editorial behavior.

• Originality and Novelty: Authors must ensure that their works are entirely original. If they have used the works of other authors, they must provide proper references. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical and unacceptable editorial behavior. Authors must also ensure that their works are unpublished, meaning they have not been previously published either in full or in part.

• Multiple or redundant publications: Authors should not publish papers describing essentially the same research in more than one journal. Publishing the same paper in more than one journal without the consent of the editorial team constitutes unethical and unacceptable editorial behavior.

• Simultaneous publications: Authors should not submit the same paper simultaneously to more than one journal, because, when submitting a scientific paper, the journal mobilizes human resources, time and workforce for all stages of the editorial workflow.

• Acknowledgement of source: Authors must cite the publications that were relevant to the preparation of the paper submitted to the journal. Information obtained privately, such as in conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be reported without the express written permission of the respective sources. Information obtained on a confidential basis, such as, for example, when evaluating papers or grant proposals, should not be used without express written authorization from their respective authors.

• Prior approval by an Ethics Committee: If the research involves human beings, the authors must ensure that the paper contains a statement that all procedures were carried out in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) approved them.

• Conflict of interest: Authors must indicate in their articles any possible conflict of interest, whether financial or otherwise, which could be considered as a possible influence on the interpretation or conclusions presented in their papers. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.

• Notification of errors: Authors who discover a significant inaccuracy or error in their published work must immediately notify the editorial team and cooperate with the editors to have the article withdrawn or corrected.
• Violation of submission rules: By submitting an article, the author(s) express(es) agreement with the Editorial Policy and the Editorial Instructions for Authors, commit(s) to the unpublished manuscript clause, and are aware that if any irregularities or violations of the Ethics Policy and the Best Practice Guidelines on Publishing are identified in the publication, submission or even after approval and publication of the article, review or translation by the Journal, the text will be immediately removed from the online version of Suprema and, instead, information will be included stating that "the article has been removed for violation of the Ethics Policy and the Best Practice Guidelines on Publishing", and an errata will be published in the physical version with the same information.