Code of Ethics
Introduction
The Revista de Cultura de Paz ensures integrity and academic ethics in scientific production as a basic principle in all phases of the research process: from initial conception to publication and final dissemination. This document compiles the essential ethical practices for a quality scientific publication, and is addressed to all parties involved in and outside the editorial process: authors, reviewers, editors, collaborating institutions, sponsors, and funding sources.
The Revista de Cultura de Paz accepts and adheres to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices), a non-profit organisation whose goal is to support researchers and publications in achieving ethical, integral, and responsible publishing practice.
The transdisciplinary nature of this publication, which addresses phenomena as complex as violence, conflict, and peacebuilding from diverse scientific, pedagogical, and cultural perspectives, makes a commitment to rigorous ethical standards particularly relevant, both in research practice and in the handling of data, sources, and the individuals participating in each investigation.
Research integrity
The principles of ethical integrity of the Revista de Cultura de Paz are grounded in honesty at all stages, areas, and scientific dimensions: from scrupulous care in research practice, to transparency and open communication of data, respect among all participants and subjects involved in the research, and accountability for the behaviours set out in this Code of Ethics.
Observations, doubts, complaints, or claims shall be addressed in accordance with this Code and, where appropriate, with COPE's guidelines, raising, if necessary, the issues presented to the Editorial Team of the journal, which shall advise on best practices in editorial ethics and mediate in the appropriate decisions regarding the subjects involved.
Regardless of their association with the journal, anyone who considers that ethical guidelines are not being followed at any stage of the publication process may correspond directly with the responsible Editor through the contact address provided on the platform.
Editorial process
The Revista de Cultura de Paz upholds its editorial, scientific, and professional independence as a basic principle. The journal does not accept permanent sponsorship from public or private institutions that could compromise its objectivity, always striving to meet independent, non-endogamous scientific criteria, and without commitments to political, business, or financial interests, nor to pressure groups or specific scientific circles.
The journal's editorial processes do not discriminate against authors, editors, or reviewers based on their personal characteristics or identity. The journal is committed to integrating diversity in its multiple dimensions — geographical, disciplinary, methodological, linguistic, and ideological — championing inclusion and promoting equity at every stage of the editorial process. This plural and intercultural vocation is inherent to the very subject of study of this publication.
The Editorial Team does not accept inappropriate or abusive behaviour or correspondence directed at the team of editors, authors, and reviewers, or at any other person involved in the publication process. When such behaviour occurs, the Editorial Team has the duty and the right to take the necessary measures to protect the individuals affected, which may include the withdrawal of a manuscript or the challenge of clearly incorrect or abusive peer review reports.
Co-review
The Revista de Cultura de Paz accepts co-review as a means of training new reviewers. An invited reviewer may collaborate with a colleague in training to evaluate a manuscript for formative purposes, thereby enabling the novice reviewer — who must hold a doctorate or be an official candidate for that postgraduate degree — to gain experience in the editorial process and potentially become a reviewer for the journal.
For a co-review to be valid, the invited reviewer must notify the responsible Editor in advance, who will bring the matter to the Editorial Team for authorisation. Once the evaluation is completed, the principal reviewer shall identify the co-reviewer, so that the corresponding certified acknowledgement may be issued to them.
Authorship and co-authorship
The Revista de Cultura de Paz is aware that, depending on the discipline, number of contributors, order of precedence, and format of the work, authorship and co-authorship may differ considerably. When no specific guidance on the inclusion and ranking of authors is provided, the following criteria are recommended:
- Having contributed substantially to the conception or design of the research, the development of the analysis, or the interpretation of the data obtained.
- Having drafted the work or critically reviewed its intellectual content throughout the development process.
- Having approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission and publication.
- Having agreed in advance on responsibility for all aspects involving work, making this participation public in the "Authors' Contribution" section of the cover letter accompanying the manuscript.
COPE offers specific recommendations and resources on authorship and its potential conflicts and disputes. The Revista de Cultura de Paz follows these guidelines and maintains author identification protocols through tools such as ORCID and the fixed "Authors' Contribution" section, which facilitate transparency and ethics in authorial contribution.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, understood as the use of ideas, words, data, or material produced by others without their consent and without proper attribution, can take multiple forms: written text, illustrations, cartography, audiovisual material, computer coding, material downloaded from websites, other manuscripts or digital media, as well as unpublished or unedited material such as courses, presentations, or grey literature.
The Revista de Cultura de Paz only publishes and encourages original, innovative, relevant, and socially transferable work. Consequently, it does not accept plagiarism rates in its manuscripts, and rigorously reviews all submissions made through the OJS platform using professional similarity detection tools, in particular iThenticate/CrossCheck.
Papers presenting plagiarism rates, total or partial, will be systematically rejected. This decision will be communicated by transparently attaching a plagiarism report, both quantitative and qualitative, with no option for resubmission, as this practice is considered unacceptable and subject to sanction within the framework of scientific ethics.
Reviewers, authors, or the scientific readership may raise suspicions of plagiarism, which will be analysed by the Editorial Team following COPE's correction and retraction guidelines.
Duplicity and redundant publications
Duplicate or redundant publications, or self-plagiarism, occur when a work, or substantial parts of it, are published more than once by one or more authors without reference to the original work to justify its extension or complementary nature. This practice may occur in the same language or across different languages. The Revista de Cultura de Paz does not allow substantial overlap between publications, unless it is considered, from an editorial point of view, that the manuscript reinforces or extends the academic discourse, that the approval of the publisher to which the original publication subscribes has been obtained, and that the citation to the primary source is included. Readers, reviewers, and editors must report any suspicion of duplicate or redundant publication to the responsible Editor, who will refer the case to the Editorial Team for analysis and resolution.
When authors submit manuscripts to the journal, these must not be under consideration, accepted for publication, or published in another journal or by another publisher. The deposit of a preprint on the author's personal website or in a recognised institutional repository shall not be considered a prior or duplicate publication, provided that this is declared at the time of submission.
Manuscripts derived from doctoral theses must be submitted reworked and written in accordance with the journal's author guidelines. When material from the thesis is cited or reused, authors must avoid self-plagiarism by properly referencing the adapted excerpts. If the thesis has been published by a publisher and is publicly available, the permission of that publisher may be required for submission to the journal; this circumstance must be reported to the Editorial Team through the space provided on the OJS platform.
Research involving humans or animals
Research involving experiments or direct work with human beings or animals must be approved by a recognised Ethics Committee in accordance with the legal standards of international scientific research. The Revista de Cultura de Paz advocates respect for the dignity and the right to privacy of all participants, whose involvement must be supported by informed consent or data anonymisation.
Research conducted with children, adolescents, or persons in situations of particular vulnerability that affects their privacy or private spaces must be duly authorised by their parents, guardians, or legal representatives, and must comply at all times with applicable legislation on the protection of minors.
Given the scope of study of this publication, research conducted in contexts of armed conflict, post-conflict, or structural violence is frequent, as is research involving the participation of victims, displaced persons, refugees, or other populations at risk. In such cases, authors must take exceptional measures to protect participants, ensuring their safety, privacy, and integrity at all times. Informed consent must be adapted to the specific conditions of each context, and authors must explicitly declare the measures taken to minimise any risk arising from participation in the research.
Data protection and guarantee of digital rights
The Revista de Cultura de Paz complies with and enforces the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The journal likewise observes the applicable legislation in the countries of its institutional collaborators.
Personal data provided by authors, reviewers, and editors within the framework of the editorial process will be used exclusively for the purposes for which they were collected and will not be transferred to third parties without the express consent of those concerned.
Competing interests and financing
The Revista de Cultura de Paz guarantees the legality and impartiality of any published manuscript. Authors submitting a manuscript are required to declare any competing interest that may interfere with the objectivity or integrity of the work submitted, whether financial, professional, contractual, ideological, or personal in nature.
The journal also invites anyone who suspects the existence of undisclosed competing interests in a published work to inform the Editorial Team. Where applicable, the public declaration of financial support received will be required and verified in all published manuscripts.
Libel, defamation, and freedom of expression
Freedom of expression and open scientific debate are fundamental to the Revista de Cultura de Paz. The Editorial Team disapproves of publications that introduce false statements that may damage the reputation of individuals, groups, communities, or organisations. This caution is particularly relevant in the field of peace and conflict studies, where works frequently address situations of violence, political responsibilities, or human rights violations that demand rigour and precision in academic language.
The Editorial Team will review texts for potential defamation prior to publication and will address any allegations of defamation relating to its publications.
Retractions, corrections, and expression of concerns
The Editorial Team of the Revista de Cultura de Paz will consider retractions, corrections, or expression of concerns regarding its publications in accordance with COPE's guidelines. If an author is found to have made an error, the journal will publish a correction (corrigendum). If the error is attributable to the journal itself, an erratum will be published. Retractions are reserved for articles that present very serious errors that cast doubt on their results or conclusions, or that contain substantial or partial plagiarism.
Only in exceptional cases will the journal remove a manuscript from online publication when necessary to comply with legal obligations, including, without limitation, defamatory manuscripts that violate personal privacy or confidentiality laws, are subject to a court order, or may pose a serious risk to the safety of individuals. In such circumstances, the manuscript will be withdrawn and its withdrawal indicated in the corresponding space on the OJS platform.
Manipulation, falsification, and creation of images
When research data are collected or presented in image format — including field photographs, graphic documents, cartography, or documentary material from conflict contexts — any modification to the original product that distorts the results obtained must be carefully considered by the authors. The Revista de Cultura de Paz acknowledges the existence of legitimate reasons for certain modifications, such as the anonymisation of identifiable individuals, the protection of privacy, or compliance with legal obligations. Nevertheless, authors are explicitly requested to avoid any modification that leads to the falsification or misrepresentation of the research results.
Fraudulent research and research misconduct
If the Revista de Cultura de Paz becomes aware of, or has well-founded suspicion of, fraudulent research or malpractice on the part of an author, it will at all times safeguard the integrity of the publication. To this end, the Editorial Team will work together with COPE and with the institutions or organisations that may facilitate the auditing of the study. Any publication that incorporates fraudulent results will be retracted. For further information, please refer to the section Retractions, corrections, and expression of concerns.
Versions and adaptations
The publications of the Revista de Cultura de Paz are distributed in a wide variety of scientific, cultural, and geographical contexts worldwide. In keeping with the journal's intercultural vocation and its language policy — which accepts manuscripts in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Italian — the journal may facilitate the adaptation of prior-access metadata (title, abstract, keywords, and authors' institutional data) to the languages of publication. Under no circumstances will the content of the article be modified, nor will new materials be created that have not been drafted and endorsed by the authors themselves.
The journal may grant authorisations to third parties permitting the reproduction, reuse, or adaptation of its contents in different contexts, languages, and territories, provided that the integrity of the works, the accuracy of the edition, and the proper acknowledgement of the authors are preserved.
Transparency
The Revista de Cultura de Paz is committed to following the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing established by COPE, encouraging all those involved in the editorial process to maintain and uphold these same criteria at every stage of their work.
Data and evidence
The Revista de Cultura de Paz advocates transparency and openness of data, code, and materials associated with research. Authors are requested to keep accurate records of their research evidence — necessary to verify and reproduce findings — so that these can be provided and made accessible upon reasoned request. In this regard, authors are invited to:
- Deposit the evidence in an appropriate repository or storage location that allows it to be shared with third parties.
- Clearly describe in the manuscript where the data evidence can be located for verification.
The journal also offers authors the possibility of publishing works with supplementary materials through external tools and platforms. Unless otherwise indicated, these materials must be appropriately anonymised at the initial submission stage, in order to preserve the integrity of the blind peer review process.
Record integrity
The Revista de Cultura de Paz maintains documentary records of published manuscripts (metadata), hosted in the various international indexing portals to which it is affiliated. In addition, the journal has an internal registration system for the correspondence of all manuscripts received — dismissed, rejected, accepted, and published — with a complete history on the OJS platform. Despite being confidential internal information, this information may be consulted in the event of a conflict of interest, problems related to academic integrity, or in compliance with applicable legal processes.
Affiliations
The Revista de Cultura de Paz allows one affiliation per author, this being the institution representing the research presented and funded. Double affiliations in the author signature are not permitted in order to avoid fraudulent institutional adscriptions. Authors have the right to declare their principal institution — which must be the one that has supported the prior research process and the writing of the manuscript — as their signing institution.
Commitments
The Revista de Cultura de Paz urges all those involved in its editorial process to comply with the following commitments.
Authors
Originality and plagiarism. Authors of manuscripts submitted to the Revista de Cultura de Paz guarantee that the work is original and does not contain fragments from other authors or from works already published by the authors themselves without proper attribution. They also confirm the veracity of the data and that empirical data have not been altered to verify hypotheses.
Multiple or repetitive publications. Authors shall not publish articles that reproduce the same results in more than one scientific journal. The simultaneous submission of the same contribution to multiple journals is considered ethically incorrect and reprehensible.
List of sources. Authors shall always provide the correct and complete indication of the sources and contributions mentioned in the article, with particular rigour in the treatment of testimonial, documentary, or oral sources.
Authorship. Authors guarantee the inclusion of all persons who have made a significant scientific and intellectual contribution to the conceptualisation, analysis, or writing of the work, ranking them according to their level of responsibility and actual involvement in the research.
Access and retention. If the editors deem it appropriate, authors shall make available the sources or data on which the research is based, which may be retained for a reasonable period after publication and made accessible in anonymised form where necessary.
Conflict of interest and disclosure. All authors shall explicitly declare that there are no conflicts of interest that may have influenced the results obtained or the interpretations proposed, and shall indicate any agency or project funding from which the article arises.
Errors in published articles. When an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in their article, they must immediately inform the journal's editors and provide them with all the information necessary to publish the relevant corrections.
Responsibility. All authors accept responsibility for the statements in their text and commit to reviewing the most current and relevant scientific literature on the topic analysed, considering in a pluralistic manner the different schools of knowledge and the diverse geographical, cultural, and disciplinary perspectives present in peace studies.
Reviewers
Contribution to the editorial decision. Peer review is the mechanism that enables editors to make well-founded decisions on proposed articles and allows authors to improve their contribution. Reviewers commit to carrying out a critical, honest, constructive, and unbiased evaluation of both the scientific and literary quality of the work, within the scope of their knowledge and competences.
Respect for deadlines. A reviewer who does not consider themselves competent in the assigned topic, or who is unable to complete the evaluation within the established time, shall immediately notify the editors. Reviewers commit to evaluating works in the shortest possible time, respecting the agreed deadlines out of respect for authors and their work.
Confidentiality. Each assigned manuscript must be treated as a strictly confidential document. Under no circumstances may it be discussed with other persons without the express consent of the editors.
Objectivity. Peer review shall be conducted in an objective manner. Personal judgements about the authors of contributions are not admissible. Reviewers shall adequately substantiate their assessments and submit a complete critical report with appropriate references, particularly when proposing the rejection of a work. They are obliged to advise the editors if substantial parts of the work have already been published or are under review at another publication.
Bibliographic attention. Reviewers commit to accurately indicating the bibliographic references of fundamental works that may have been overlooked by the author, and to informing the editors of any similarity or overlap with previously published works.
Conflict of interest. Confidential information obtained during the peer review process is strictly confidential and may not be used for personal purposes. Reviewers shall only evaluate a manuscript if there are no conflicts of interest that could compromise the objectivity of their judgement.
Editors
Publication decisions. Editors shall guarantee the selection of the most qualified and scientifically specialised reviewers to issue a critical and expert appraisal of the work, with the least possible bias.
Honesty. Editors shall establish strategies for evaluating manuscripts exclusively on the basis of the scientific merit of their contents, without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, disciplinary perspective, or ideological or political opinion of the authors, or any other personal circumstance.
Confidentiality. Editors and members of the working team commit to not disclosing information about manuscripts submitted for publication to persons other than authors, reviewers, and editors. The Editorial Team is committed to the confidentiality of manuscripts, their authors, and their reviewers, so that anonymity preserves the intellectual integrity of the entire process.
Conflict of interest. Editors commit to not using in their own research the contents of articles submitted for publication without the written consent of the author.
Respect for deadlines. Editors are ultimately responsible for compliance with the deadlines for reviews and publication of accepted works, in order to ensure the timely dissemination of results. They commit to meeting the published timelines and to ensuring that accepted works do not remain unpublished beyond the time necessary for their inclusion in the corresponding issue.
The Revista de Cultura de Paz adheres to the ethical standards of COPE — Committee on Publication Ethics:
http://publicationethics.org/resources/code-conduct
