Ethical statement

Author’s responsibility and authorship

By submitting a text for publication in the journal EU-topías, a Journal on Interculturality, Communication and European Studies, authors pledge that their manuscripts are original works, that have not been previously published elsewhere and are not being considered for publication in another medium. An exception to such rule can be stipulated by agreement with the editor-in-chief.

It will be clearly specified in the text if the manuscript has been written in collaboration with other people. Authorship should be limited to the person that has made the major contribution to the development of the work, any other person making a significant contribution should be listed as co-author.

Authors must identify all sources used in the elaboration of the manuscript by citing them properly according to the copyright and ethical rules that apply to scientific works. When reproducing partially any material by different sources such as texts, figures, images or tables, authors are responsible for obtaining the pertinent permission and must cite the materials’ origin properly. The general guidelines published in the journal EU-topías. A Journal on Interculturality, Communication and European Studies can be consulted for further information about the matter.

Authors have the obligation to notify any economic, financial or other substantive conflict of interest that may influence the results or the interpretation of the manuscript.

Authors are required to report any error detected in the peer review evaluation process providing corrections in their own published work and cooperating with the journal’s editor or Editorial board by either withdrawing the paper or by publishing an appropriate correction statement or erratum.

It is the responsibility of the author to obtain the necessary permissions for images that are subject to copyright.

Peer review

The peer review deals with the intellectual content of a paper without any consideration whatsoever about the author’s gender, class, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, citizenship or political opinion. Articles submitted for publication in the journal EU-topías. A Journal on Interculturality, Communication and European Studies undergo a double blind peer review. The confidentiality of both the reviewers’ and the authors’ identity will be guaranteed.

The editor-in-chief and the editorial board have the right to refuse submitting a paper for review if they consider that the paper does not meet the fundamental criteria required of a scientific text, or if a paper does not concern the areas of interculturality, communication and/or European studies. About the review process, the editor-in-chief and the editorial board select and nominate the experts in the proper field. The editor-in-chef and the editorial board will exclude from the process a reviewer holding a close working, institutional or personal relationships with the author.

By completing the proper standardized form, reviewers state whether they recommend a paper to be accepted, revised or rejected. In case a major revision is required, manuscripts are reviewed a second time by one of the two nominated reviewers or by a third reviewer. After the second round of review, the editor-in-chief proposes acceptance or rejection depending on the content of the reviews, which he/she submits to the editorial board.

The editor-in-chief and the editorial board commit themselves to not disclose information about the articles submitted for publication to anyone other than the author, the reviewers and the potential reviewers. The standard peer review process will last a maximum of eight weeks. The editorial staff is not responsible for delays caused by reviewers.

Responsibility of reviewers

Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and treated as privileged information. Manuscripts can neither be shown nor discussed with others, except in the case in which a third, informed opinion has to the sought because of the specificity of the paper’s subject matter. In such circumstances, the editor-in chief will be informed of the third-party’s identity.

Review of submitted manuscripts must be done in a rigorous, objective manner, with the due respect to the authors’ intellectual independence. The reviewers are to formulate their observations with clarity and supporting arguments, so as to help the authors to improve the quality of the paper.

Any chosen referee who feels inadequately qualified for the task or is aware that he/she will not be able to comply with the deadline, shall inform the editor promptly. Reviewers are to abstain from evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions related to the paper.

Editorial responsibilities and obligations of the editor-in-chief and the editorial board

Editors shall evaluate papers exclusively on the basis of their academic merit and take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

Editors will publish original, reviewed contributions. Exceptionally, the Wide Angle section can include the Spanish or English version of an article that the editors consider useful for readers and that is not available in any of the languages of the Journal EU-topías. In such case, the explicit authorization of the author/s will be necessary and the circumstance will be clearly indicated in a footnote on the first page of the article.

Issues of Publication ethics

The preparation and publishing process of the journal is ruled by the principles of Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, with which authors, the editor-in-chief, editors, reviewers, the members of the editorial board and Scientific Committee are to comply. The editor-in-chief has the responsibility to uphold the principles of the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Any and all measures will be taken against unfair practices, authorship infringement and plagiarism.

The editor-in-chief should prevent any business interests from compromising the intellectual and ethical standards of the Journal and have the responsibility to both preserve the integrity of the academic record and to ensure the quality of the published material.

Open Acces Policy

EU-topías. A Journal on Interculturality, Communication and European Studies is a free open access journal for readers and does not charge authors for submitting and processing articles for publication.