DECLARATION OF ETHICS AND NEGLIGENCE

The journal Iberoamerica de Estudios Municipales (RIEM) bases its editorial processes on the ethical code of the Publications Ethics Committee (COPE). It therefore sets out the following commitments:

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board 

The peer review process is performed by double-blind and is declared by the Editorial Committee so that the authors know what the evaluation criteria are.  The Editorial Board will always be willing to explain and detail any controversy in the evaluation process.

Responsibilities of publishers 

Ensure the selection of highly qualified reviewers with the least possible bias.
Evaluate exclusively on the basis of the scientific merit of the contents, without discrimination of any kind (ethnic, political, economic, institutional, etc.).
Not to disclose information about articles received to persons outside the editorial process.
Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, their authors and reviewers, ensuring the anonymity of the process.
Not to use the contents of the articles for own research without the express consent of the authors.
Strictly comply with the published times for the editorial process and a maximum number of gaps between acceptance and publication, that is, no accepted article can remain unpublished two issues in a row.
Take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of articles in which there have been cases of misconduct in the investigation.
Editors shall never encourage any inappropriate conduct or knowingly allow such inappropriate conduct to occur.
Treat allegations of misconduct in the investigation appropriately.
Availability of editors to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.

Responsibilities of the evaluators

Make a critical, constructive and honest review of the scientific quality of the article received.
Inform the editor in case of conflicts of interest, refusing to perform the review due to possible bias.
Decline to make an assessment if it does not correspond to your area of knowledge or specialization.
Evaluate the work in a timely manner, immediately informing the editor in case of impossibility of performance at the time of receiving the request.
Consider each assigned manuscript as confidential, and these texts cannot be discussed with other persons without the express consent of the Editor.
Evaluate objectively, without establishing personal judgments about the authors of the contributions.
Justify their assessments according to the guidelines established by the journal (available on the journal’s website).
Warn publishers if substantial parts of the work have already been published or are under review for another publication.
Indicate with precision the bibliographical references of fundamental works possibly forgotten by the author.
Inform the editor of any similarities or overlaps of the manuscript with other published works.
Consider the information obtained during the peer review process as confidential, and may not use it for personal purposes.
Responsibilities of the perpetrators 
Present an original work, which does not contain parts of other authors or other fragments of works without the corresponding reference.
Present true and unaltered data.
Do not publish articles that repeat the same results in more than one scientific journal, nor submit a manuscript simultaneously in more than one journal.
Provide a rigorous indication of the sources and contributions mentioned in the article.

Include those people who have made a real contribution to the article, classifying the authors according to their level of responsibility and involvement in the document.
Do not include other authors in the editorial process. It is not permitted by RIEM’s editorial policy.
Make available the sources or data on which the investigation was based, if duly justified by the publisher.
Explicitly state that there are no conflicts of interest that may have influenced the results obtained or the proposed interpretations and indicate any funding of agencies and/or projects from which the research article is derived.
All authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of errors, in case of detection.

Errata, retractions, clarifications and apologies 

The answer to a published error depends on the nature of the error and the person or organization that draws attention to the problem.  When a lack of research is detected, the editors have the duty to inform the editorial committee so that the necessary measures are taken: retractions, corrections, apologies, clarifications.  Editors and editors should always be ready to post corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.

For peer-reviewed content, error types can be classified as:

Errata: If the journal makes a significant error that can affect the work or reputation of the authors, the published notification is called errata.  Correction of errors: if the author or authors make a major error, all authors must approve and sign the corrections (correction document) or the journal must be informed of their opinions in disagreement.
Retraction: if the results are not valid, all co-authors must sign a retraction explaining the error and how it affected the conclusions.  This will be sent for publication and is the most consistent type of error.
Annex : If additional information on an article is published, it may include an Editorial Expression of Concern .  It is attached to documents that the personal editor considers require additional explanation for understanding.  Once the communication has been received from the editor, the Editorial Committee is convened to take a joint decision on the resulting measure, which, when decreed, is communicated to the author and carried out as soon as possible.

All determinations are made while maintaining the integrity and prestige of the journal and its authors. RIEM follows COPE standards when developing these processes in editorial practice.

The editorial process of the Ibero-American Journal of Municipal Studies is managed through the Open Journal System platform with the aim of recording, providing traceability and making the editorial flow transparent.