Code of ethics

Materialismo Storico. Journal of Philosophy, History, and Humanities

Preface

Materialismo Storico (MS) adheres to the principles of the ethics code developed by COPE (Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors). Hence, this journal takes all necessary decisions against possible fraud or improper practices during the publication of a paper in the Journal itself. It is essential that all parties involved – Editorial Board, Editorial Committee, Scientific and Referee Committee, Editor, authors, referees – are aware of and share the following ethical requirements.

Section I - DUTIES OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD AND EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

  1. Publication decisions
    The editor-in-chief is responsible for deciding to publish the submitted articles after considering the comments of the referees. The editor-in-chief and the Editorial Board are bound to the laws that regulate defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor-in-chief can consider consulting with other members of the Editorial Board or Editorial Committee or referees in making their decisions.
  2. Fairness
    The editor-in-chief and the Editorial Board evaluate the submitted articles for publication based on their content alone without any discrimination of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political orientation of the authors.
  3. Confidentiality
    The editor-in-chief and any member of the Editorial Board or Editorial Committee must not disclose any information about a manuscript undergoing evaluation to anyone other than the corresponding author, referees, potential referees, or editorial consultants.
  4. Conflict of interest and disclosure
    Unpublished material must not be used in the research of the editor-in-chief or a member of the Editorial Board or Editorial Committee without the express written consent of the Author.

Section II - DUTIES OF THE REFEREES

  1. Contribution to editorial decisions
    Referees assist the editor-in-chief in decisions regarding the submitted articles through peer review and are allowed to suggest changes to the Author in order to improve the work.
  2. Timeliness
    A referee who doesn’t feel adequately qualified for the assigned task or is aware they cannot complete the review within the specified time frame must immediately inform the editor-in-chief of their inability to conduct the peer review inside the timeline.
  3. Confidentiality
    Texts assigned for peer review are considered confidential. These texts must not be discussed or shared with others without the explicit permission of the editor-in-chief.
  4. Objectivity
    Peer review must be conducted with objectivity. Any personal judgment of the Author is inappropriate. Referees must understand that the purpose of peer review is not to impose their personal preferences or beliefs on the Author but only to provide an assessment of the suitability of the paper for dissemination and discussion within the scientific community. Referees are required to adequately justify their judgments.
  5. Citation of works
    Referees are committed to accurately citing the bibliographic details of fundamental works possibly overlooked by the Author. Referees must also notify the editor-in-chief of any similarities or overlaps between the text under review and other works known to them.
  6. Conflict of interest and disclosure
    Confidential information or indications obtained during the peer review process must be considered confidential and cannot be used for personal purposes. Referees are required not to accept articles for review in which a conflict of interest exists.

Section III - DUTIES OF THE AUTHORS

  1. Acknowledgment of sources
    Authors must provide correct citations of the sources and contributions mentioned in the paper, so that they can be consulted for a reasonable period of time after publication. Fraudulent or knowingly false claims represent unethical conduct, therefore they are unacceptable.
  2. Originality and plagiarism
    Authors must ensure that the work is the original product of their own thinking, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately indicated or cited.
  3. Multiple publications
    Authors must not submit or propose identical contributions and final form to articles already published or proposed by themselves to other journals or publishers, unless this is done to increase the level of scientific dissemination of the paper at an international level. This must be subject to agreement with the previous journals or publishers or in a manner that does not violate existing copyrights or third-party rights.
  4. Authorship of the work
    The authorship of the work must be correctly attributed, and all those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, organization, implementation, and reworking of the research underlying the paper must be indicated as co-authors. If other people have significantly participated in some phases of the research, their contribution must be explicitly acknowledged. In the case of jointly written contributions, the Author submitting the text to the journal is required to declare that they have correctly indicated the names of all other co-authors, obtained their approval of the final version of the article, and their consent to publication in the journal.
  5. Conflict of interest and disclosure
    All authors must indicate in their manuscript any financial conflict or other conflict of interest that could be interpreted in a way that influences the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financial support for the project must be indicated.
  6. Errors in published articles
    When an Author discovers a significant error or inaccuracies in their published work, they are obliged to promptly notify the editor-in-chief of the journal and collaborate with the latter to withdraw or correct the text.