The UPB Editorial and the Editorial Committee of Cuestiones Teológicas Journal state an ethical commitment of all the members of the editorial processes.

The directions stated are the result of the analysis of mechanisms and strategies consigned in the international policies established by the Committee of Publication Ethics – COPE- (s.f.a), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors –Icmje- (s.f.a), the Council of Science Editors (2012), among others. Also, by the World Organization of Intellectual Property (WOIP), the norms established by the Colombian Political Constitution, the National Direction of Author´s Rights, and the internal directions of Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (2015).

 

Ethics Policy in Publications

The editorial production of Cuestiones Teológicas is followed by an academic and research process that states the transparency and honesty as indispensable principles for the pertinent management and projection of knowledge. The members of the editorial committee will pay attention not to admit contributions that are not exclusive or original; that fabricate, forge or manipulate data; fragmented, duplicated publications, self plagiarism, excess of self-quotations, and not consulted references, based on the good faith of the authors and these being responsible for the infringement of these obligations. 

General Criteria

• Fraud and plagiarism, in any of its modalities, is considered as a violation of the integrity of scientific research, the intellectual property rights stated by the international norms, and the Colombian legislation regarding intellectual property.

• There is a conflict of interest when the members of the editorial team of the Journal (Editorial Board or reviewers) have any relation to the contribution presented, and this may negatively influence their judgment capacity.

• All authors must guarantee that the contribution presented to Cuestiones Teológicas is not under course of evaluation nor has it been accepted or published in other journals and not to withdraw it until the process is over. For reasons of benefit to the research, a previously published contribution may be published again in another language or other countries, if:

- The authors have the free consent of both editorial teams and they comply with the agreed-upon time intervals.

- The second publication is be destined for a different group of readers.

- The second publication includes a footnote with the credits for the first publication.

• The author is always informed about the status of the article.

• The author always has the moral and intellectual rights over the article published in the Cuestiones Teológicas Journal.

• As soon as a manuscript is submitted through the Cuestiones Teológicas website, it will be automatically notified of its reception. In the following three (3) working days, the manuscript will be reviewed by the Editorial Board, who will consider aspects of form and substance of the text and will recommend whether or not to continue the evaluation process.

• The peer review process will take approximately 60 days. A publication response will be given to the author within 90 days.

 

Ethical Responsibilities of the Editorial Management Team

Authors:

- Authors of the Cuestiones Teológicas Journal undertake when submitting their manuscript that their manuscripts are original, result of research, with clear and adequate use of data, and that sources are free of any form of fraud or plagiarism. In addition, authors should authorize the journal to publish the submitted manuscript both in digital and print format.

- Authors guarantee that their submitted manuscript is not simultaneously under evaluation in another journal, nor does it have editorial commitments in another publication. If this situation is detected, the manuscript will be withdrawn from the evaluation process and the parties will be notified in writing.

- By submitting their manuscript, authors assign their economic rights and guarantee that the content is their own and that they safeguard the intellectual property rights of third parties.

- Authors request permission to use, reproduce and print material that is not of their property or authorship (charts, graphs, maps, diagrams, photographs, etc.).

- Accept responsibility in writing for the use of images, photographs and other materials accompanying the article or any other content published in the journal.

- The authors authorise that the manuscripts submitted, in whole or in part, individually or collectively, may be included in future special editions of the Cuestiones Teológicas Journal or catalogues, databases, bibliographic, printed or digital indexes, whether these are freely accessible or subject to payment of royalties; as well as indexing in national and international indexes to which the journal is subscribed and in which it may be subscribed in the future. Finally, it may also be included in any educational product or material used by the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

- The author must guarantee his timely availability for the tasks derived from the editing of the journal (arbitration, correction, and publication).

- Declare all sources of funding for their research and the group or institution from which it is derived.

- Recognize as authors all the participants in drafting the article and undertake not to include those who have not participated.

- In case a previously published article shows depth errors detected by the author and that attempts against the scientific quality, the author can request its withdrawal or correction. If third party plagiarism, a previous publication, unethical conduct or error is detected, it is an obligation and responsibility of the author to apologize publicly, and with this, the withdrawal or public correction will proceed immediately, which will be done in the following edition of the Journal.

- Cuestiones Teológicas uses Turnitin software to detect cases of superposition and similar text in the presented contributions. The results of the tool will be checked and will be used to make an editorial decision. If plagiarism is detected before the article is published, it will be rejected. 

 

 Journal Editor:

- To ensure a transparent arbitration to the author, defined by the clarity, originality, and pertinence of the submitted contribution.

- To contact the author directly when he suspects or there is proof of inappropriate conducts against the ethics policy of the publication.

- To guarantee a clear instruction for the authors, that enables the compliance of the scientific-editorial quality and the fulfilment of the ethical policy of the publication caring for the detection of plagiarism or inadequate manners for data management.

- Make the final decision on the acceptance or rejection of content, taking into account the recommendations derived from the evaluation process and the editorial review, as well as criteria of quality, importance, originality and contribution to the discipline.

- Identify and act upon any conflict of interest that may arise in the evaluation process.

- To carry out the search for reviewers, taking into account their academic background, knowledge and production in the subject to be reviewed.

- Guarantee the anonymity of authors and reviewers during the evaluation process.

- When a member of the journal submits content for review, he/she is removed from the evaluation and selection processes.

- Respects the intellectual position and ideas put forward by the author in their manuscript.

- Does not use information from manuscripts received or in the process of evaluation or selection for the benefit of its own research, until that content has been published.

 

Editorial Board Member:

- It is a direct responsibility of the Editorial Board of the journal to choose and contact the peers for the evaluation of the contributions.

- The Editorial Board must use the channels and assertive means for the communication with the authors.

- All the members of the Editorial Board have the responsibility to comply with due confidentiality about the received contributions. They shall not use data, arguments, or interpretations without due authorization by the authors.

- Any of the members of the Editorial Board must report to the editor any inappropriate conduct detected in the received contributions.

- The Editorial Board shall have advisory functions on scientific aspects, dissemination, visibility and impact when requested to do so.

 

Reviewers:

- The evaluation by peers will be done with the double-blind methodology.

- Every reviewer has the responsibility to review manuscripts only in areas and topics of their expertise and related to their research. If the submitted manuscript sent for review does not fall within the field of expertise of the reviewer, they are expected to inform of the situation to Journal Editor.

- Inform the Editorial Team in case of identifying a personal or professional conflict of interest that could affect the decision on the article.

- Inform the Editorial Team if they detect similarities between the peer-reviewed article and another article that is in the process of publication or has already been published.

- Accept to review an article when they consider they have the academic strengths to issue a comprehensive concept about the contributions of the text and the aspects that need to be improved.

- Undertake to evaluate the article in an impartial and respectful manner.

- Based on their expertise, offer sufficient guidelines for the author to strengthen the text.

- Agree not to use the contents of the article under evaluation for their own benefit or for the benefit of third parties until the text is published.

- Notify the Editor-in-Chief any suspicion that the manuscript under evaluation is plagiarized or contains false data so that the Editorial Team can carry out the necessary verification.

- Once peer reviewers accept the request for evaluation, they will have 60 days to submit their opinion.

- If, during the evaluation process, it becomes evident that the agreed upon deadline will not be met, reviewers must inform the Editor in order to modify the initially established time period.

- By accepting to evaluate an article, commit to deliver a concept within the deadlines agreed with the Cuestiones Teológicas Editorial Team.

 

Procedure for settling disputes arising from unethical conduct

- Identify, before asserting that unethical conduct is involved, the nature of the misconduct and the corroborating evidence.
- Do not make any judgment or comment associated with particular situations under consideration until all evidence has been gathered and the existence of the misconduct is fully established.
- Submit to the editorial board the evidence relevant to the case so that it can be considered, according to the nature of the misconduct, the actions to be taken in response to the misconduct.

Actions that could be taken, depending on the nature of the misconduct, include the following:

- Informing the author of the misconduct, correcting it and drawing attention to it so that it does not occur in future publications.
- Formal retraction with the publication of an editorial note stating the reason for the retraction and drawing attention to the importance of good ethical practices.
- Withdrawing of the article with the publication of an editorial note stating the reason for withdrawal and drawing attention to the importance of good ethical practice.
- Inform funding bodies, academic or commercial, of the misconduct and the implications of the misconduct in order to promote good ethical practices among their researchers.