Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
General
In its editorial policy the "ACCESS: Access to science, business, innovation in digital economy" journal complies with the international standards for publication ethics.
The publisher of the journal follows the recommendations and core practices regarding ethical policies and dealing with misconduct of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
The code of ethics refers to all participants in the publication process: publishers, editors, authors and reviewers. The rules concern ethical issues like: objectivity of reviewers and equal treatment of all articles and authors, originality and plagiarism, confidentiality, fraudulent citation and data, possible conflict of interest.
"ACCESS: Access to science, business, innovation in digital economy" is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice.
Authors who submit papers to "ACCESS: Access to science, business, innovation in digital economy" attest that their work is original and unpublished, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Editors’ responsibilities
Publication decisions
The Editor-in-chief decides which of the papers, submitted to the journal, are published.
The decision to accept or reject a manuscript is based on the importance, originality and clarity of the paper and its relevance to the scope of the journal as stated.
Manuscripts will be evaluated without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
When making a decision, an editor may consult other editors or peer reviewers.
Confidentiality
The Editor-in-chief and the editorial board members must not disclose any information concerning the submitted manuscript except to its author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors and the publisher, if necessary.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Submitted unpublished materials must not be used by Editor-in-chief or the members of the editorial board in their own scientific research work without the explicit written consent of the author. Any confidential information or ideas generated in the reviewing process must be kept secret and must not be used to the editors’ personal gain.
Reviewers’ responsibilities
Contribution to Editorial decisions
Peer-reviewing process helps editors in their decision-making processes and may also serve the authors in improving their papers. The peer reviewers’ responsibility is to honestly review each manuscript before it is published.
Promptness
Any selected reviewer, who feels unqualified to review a submitted manuscript or is aware that its prompt review would be impossible, should inform the editor and withdraw from the peer review process.
Confidentiality
All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with third parties, except for those authorized by the Editor-in-chief.
Standards of objectivity
Manuscripts must be reviewed objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers must express their views clearly with sufficient supporting arguments.
Referencing
Reviewers should identify cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Reviewers will notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.
When a reviewer doubts the integrity of an author, they must inform the Editor-in-chief about it confidentially.
Authors’ responsibilities
Publishing standards
Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide unprocessed data related to the manuscript under review. They must also store such data for a certain period of time after the publication of their work.
Originality, plagiarism and acknowledgement of sources
Authors will submit only entirely original works, and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Plagiarism in all its forms is unethical and therefore unacceptable.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by the journal should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. However, by submitting a manuscript, the author(s) retain the rights to the published material. In case of publication they permit the use of their work under a CC-BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which allows others to copy, distribute and transmit the work as well as to adapt the work and to make commercial use of it.
Authorship of publications
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Research involving questionnaires / surveys
- Research questions should be clear and objective. Leading questions, which prompt an answer through word choice or an inadequate range of response, should be omitted. Surveys should not contain hypothetical questions or such designed to embarrass respondents.
- Participation in surveys should be on the basis of fully-informed, freely-given consent. Respondents cannot be tricked or forced into participating into questionnaire-based research. Respondents should be told the nature and purpose of the research and any anticipated drawbacks of participation. In addition, explanations must be given in audience-appropriate language. Participants must be allowed to ask questions, and, if they choose, to quit the study.
- Unless there are specific reasons, participants should be guaranteed that they will remain anonymous. If personally identifying data are required, they should generally be guaranteed that nothing in a research report will render them identifiable.
- Upon request authors should be prepared to send relevant documentation or data in order to verify the validity of the results presented. This could be in the form of raw data, samples, records, etc. Sensitive information in the form of confidential or proprietary data is excluded.