Ethics & co-responsibility |

LUMEN is committed to support and increase the integrity of the materials we publish and we consider value of academic publishing relies on everyone involved behaving responsibly. We believe in the ethical meaning of all research undergone in order to improve the knowledges in the researched field, therefore we discuss about trust in the results of the researchers. In order to justify the trust of the academic community in the results of the research, a series of ethical rules target the honesty of the researcher:

  • honesty and fairness in elaborating research proposals, in the process of research and reporting the results obtained;
  • accuracy and fairness in presenting the contributions of each author to the research proposal and the research reports – including obtaining data, where this contribution is really significant;
  • spirit of collegiality, accompanied by the availability towards communication and sharing results, but where appropriate, also in cases specific to the research institution and the resources destined for research;
  • disclosure and avoidance of potential conflicts of interest;
  • the protection of the participants in the research;
  • the care for the animals used in the research;
  • assuming the mutual responsibility of the research team coordinator and researchers, but also of the coordinator and the researcher in training – MA, PhD student, etc. (ORI, n.d.)

The above points are only intended to give a broad overview and are not exhaustive. LUMEN encourages its authors and editors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website

We believe deeply in maintaining an accurate academic record and follows COPE’s Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

LUMEN is paying significant attention to issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication. We do our best to protect the rights of the authors who publish with us; therefore, we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. For us, both the authors and the journal reputation are equally important, we do our best to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Articles submitted for evaluation may be checked with similarity-checking software. In case of an article is found to have plagiarised other work/s or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, LUMEN reserves the right to take action. In such cases, the action is including, but not limited to: publishing a correction on the web address of the article or/and within the PDF version of the article; retracting the article from both website and data bases the article was indexed in; initiating communication with the representative in charge of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies

Before evaluation of the article, the author/s should disclose any prior distribution and/or publication of any portion of the manuscript to the Editor for the Editor’s consideration. The author/s should ensure that appropriate attribution to the prior distribution and/or publication of the material is included (using specific acknowledgements)

LUMEN shows no tolerance to fraudulent activities; these might include: manipulating the peer review process and the use of submission farms (not legitimate third-party submission agencies). Where we have suspicions or evidence of such activities, unpublished contributions will be automatically withdrawn from evaluation process, regardless the evaluation stage, and will be disqualified from further consideration in the journal. As member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), where is the case of on a published paper resulted from any fraudulent activities, LUMEN will do all the necessary actions for the paper to be re-reviewed, in accordance with guidance from the COPE. As follow-up of such intervention, the editorial decision will be made based on the re-reviews and this may result in correcting the academic record.  For such matters, LUMEN reserves the right to inform the relevant institutions or affiliations.

LUMEN is committed to and provides support for:

  • the journal editors to enjoy their editorial independence;
  • the journal editors to run their journals ethically and transparently;
  • the academic record to be accurate and transparent (where the case, publishing corrections and retractions)

Authors

Authors should ensure that:

  • they submit an original work which is written by them only
  • they didn’t previously publish their work and they submitted their work only to our journal 
  • in case of material is taken from other sources the source is clearly cited and that where appropriate permission is obtained (including their own published writing)
  • their work does not bring any infringements on any rights of others (including privacy rights and intellectual property rights)
  • their data used in their work is true and not manipulated
  • they own the data used in their work or that they have permission to use data reproduced in their paper
  • they clearly state any real or apparent conflicting or competing interest on submission of their paper (this would include funding information)
  • they adhere to all research ethics guidelines of their research area, especially where human or animal subjects are involved
  • they act proactively and contact the Editor to identify and correct any material errors upon discovery, whether prior or subsequent to publication of their work
  • they expose accurately the authorship of the paper, by ensuring that: all individuals credited as authors participated in the actual authorship of the work; all who participated are credited and have given consent for publication; all the contributors who agreed to be mentioned in the work as contributors are listed
  • they are transparent and well-intended – in communication with the editor on its work, prior publication.

 

Reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • respect and maintain the confidentiality of the review process
  • urgently alert their journal editor of any real or potential competing interest that could affect the impartiality of their reviewing and decline to review where appropriate
  • conduct themselves fairly and impartially

Editors

Editors should:

  • respect, maintain and promote consistent ethical policies for their journals
  • act to enforce those policies as needed in a fair and consistent manner
  • ensure the confidentiality of the review process
  • exercise the highest standards of personal integrity in their work as editor of the journal
  • work with authors, reviewers, and Editorial Board members as necessary to ensure they are sufficiently advised regarding their journals’ ethics and publishing policies

Ethical Guidelines Resources