GUIDELINES ON

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

The Journal of Pedagogy is an open access (B*B*B definition) academic journal mainly oriented towards scholarly work in the field of education sciences, supporting therefore relevant theoretical, methodological and empirical analyses connected to this field:

• theoretical approaches in education (fundamental research, educational policy analysis, European benchmarks, comparative research, feasibility studies);
• research, intervention models, case studies and best practices in education;
• events and educational projects of interest and impact on the education system;
• reviews of relevant national and international works.

Journal articles and book reviews are aimed to stimulate debate and facilitate academic networking between scholars interested in these topics.

In view of it objectives and goals, the Editorial Board acknowledges the importance of a clear framework of publication ethics and is committed to respect the standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process.

In order to respect these standards of ethical publishing, the following requirements are expected of our editors, peer-reviewers and authors. Article submission involves consent to the editors on the stipulations from the below guideline.

A. GENERAL CONDITIONS

The submission of manuscripts is made only via online at revped@ise.ro.

1. The manuscripts will be written in English or Romanian. The recommended length of an article submitted is maximum 5,500 words per paper (and maximum 2,000 words per book review), including references.
2. The Journal of Pedagogy Editorial Board will read all contributions and select them as:
   • Appropriate manuscripts,
   • Manuscripts that need further improvement (before peer-reviewing),
   • Rejected manuscripts.
3. Article processing charges (APCs) and article submission charges: the journal does not charge the processing and submission fees for articles. Publishing an article in the Journal of Pedagogy is entirely free of charge.
4. Receipt of manuscripts and communication of the approximate date by which the assessment is to be achieved will be acknowledged by the editorial staff within 60 days from the submission.
5. The manuscripts that are considered appropriate are following a peer-review process.
6. The editing requirements of the manuscript can be consulted in the Paper Template (doc, pdf).
7. The journal does not accept simultaneous submissions.
8. Before publication, the publisher of the Journal of Pedagogy requires the filling of the copyright form available online.

B. AUTHORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES. PERMISSIONS

1. The author/s will confirm that the presented manuscript is original and will cite all content reproduced from others sources. (S)he will obtain the permission/copyrights to use the reproduced texts from other sources.
2. The author/s will keep records of the data used or associated with her/his/their work for the submitted manuscript and will give access to this data to all persons presenting an interest, on reasonable request.
3. The author/s will attest that the papers accepted for publication are not submitted or published elsewhere (the authors cannot submit their articles to another journal before the completion of the peer-review process and the announcement of results).
4. Authors publishing with Journal of Pedagogy retain the copyright to their work, licensing it under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) which allows articles to be remix, tweak, and build upon one’s work non-commercially, as long as they credit her and license their new creations under the identical terms.
5. For other permissions regarding the content of the Journal of Pedagogy or for different questions, please contact us at revped@ise.ro.
6. The author/s will declare any type of conflict of interests that exists or may appear during the publication proceedings.
7. The author/s will point out any significant error in the published paper to the editor and will cooperate to the correction of the identified error/s in any form is considered necessary by the editor.
8. References and citations will use the APA style.

C. EDITORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

1. The editors will fulfill their duties in an objective and equitable way, without involving their personals opinions or acting discriminatory on any grounds.
2. The editors will make no differences between submissions on matters of sponsorship, special background or commercial influence. The only criteria for acceptance are the academic merits and the study’s relevance to the remit of the journal.
3. The editors reserve the right to edit or correct the articles (in terms of style, syntax, grammar, etc.), without altering the original sense.
4. The editors reserve the right to ask the authors for content or format changes. Also, the editors will complete the standard procedure when complains are filled, managing and investigating the matter in a reasonable time and in an objective manner. In the same time, the authors of the analysed research will be given the opportunity to respond. The documentation regarding such complains will be retained.
5. The editors will assure the anonymity of the peer-reviewers, unless both parties – the author/s and the reviewers – agree to an open system.
6. Editors will offer guidance to reviewers on the expectations required of them. The guidance will be updated when needed according to the journal’s remit and views and will respect the dispositions stated by this guideline.

D. REVIEWERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES (PEER REVIEW POLICY)

1. The peer-reviewersʹ activities concern (see also the reviewers’ guide): real contribution, assistance and improvement of the manuscript, objective and non-discriminatory analysis, confidentiality of the entrusted information, recommendations of references or sources (see the peer review agreement).
2. This peer-review process is based on a double-blind system and the editorial board assumes the task of communicating between the – at least – two external independent reviewers (peers with scholarly affiliation/members of the academic and experts in the field of the article) and the author(s) by completely ensuring the confidentiality of the approach.
3. Peer-reviewers are obliged to point out to the editor any plagiarism attempts they detect or non-cited sources in the submitted manuscript.
4. Peer-reviewers will declare any conflicts of interest that can influence their objectivity and, if necessary, they will withdraw their services for that paper.
5. The peer review process – acceptance, recommended revisions or rejection of submissions, will normally occur within a three-month period.
6. The feedback of the peer-review process (proofs, acceptance/acceptance conditions/rejection, etc.) is e-mailed by the Board to the author(s). Regarding the evaluation procedure, the main selection criteria can be found in the peer review form.
7. Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editors decide if an article is accepted for publication – as it was submitted or in a modified version – or whether it will be refused.
8. Any corrections and suggestions from reviewers for articles accepted for publication will be made by the authors at the request of the editors, within a specific period of time, on the text version sent to the authors after the peer-review process. The final form of the article will be referred back to the journal electronic address.

E. PUBLISHER RESPONSIBILITIES

1. The Institute of Educational Sciences will guarantee the respect of the rules presented above.
2. The annexes to this guideline are part of it and benefit of the same respect and constraint as the guideline itself.
3. The Institute of Educational Sciences and the Editorial Board sustain and promote the principles of editorial integrity, originality, innovation, objectivity, non-discrimination, equality and freedom of expression and opinion; they encourage the quality of the academic papers, the positive cooperation between authors and between reviewers and authors and the respect for intellectual property rights.
4. All references will be mentioned and any attempt of fraudulent data will conduct to the rejections of the submitted manuscript.
5. For any suspicion or accusation of a possible plagiarism, the responsibility rests solely with the author, and the Journal of Pedagogy does not bear legal responsibility in this regard.
6. The Editorial Board will publish any correction, clarifications, retractions and apologies necessary of/for the articles/book reviews so that the information presented in Journal maintains the truthfulness and the prestige of the Journal.
7. The procedures of retraction or apologies follow the national and international publishing rules and laws, and will be conducted according with the principals of equity and justice.
8. The information and views set out in the published contributions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Journal of Pedagogy. The Journal of Pedagogy editors cannot be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
9. RevPed complies with personal data protection legislation, and its policy is available here.

F. PROCEDURES FOR DEALING WITH MALPRACTICE

1. The Editorial Board will not accept any attempt or act of unethical behaviour.
2. All acts of malpractice will be investigated if the presented information and proves are serious and trustworthy.
3. The unethical behaviour can be noticed by any person, at any time of the publishing process.
4. All allegations will be taken seriously and treated equally, following the same procedures, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.
5. No information regarding the investigation will be divulged unless necessary so that the persons involved do not suffer any prejudice before a final decision.
6. The investigation will offer the possibility to the defendant(s) to respond to the allegations made.
7. An expert can be consulted if necessary, with the consent of the parties involved.
8. The editors will conduct the investigation in a timely manner and by following the principals of a fair trial.
9. The outcomes of the investigation can be:
   • No malpractice behaviour occurred; the allegations are discarded.
   • The unethical behaviour is a minor breach and the act can be dealt with without major implications for the journal, the editors, the publisher, the author(s) and associates of the journal or the institution.
   • The unethical behaviour is a serious breach and it will be sanctioned according to its gravity, as follows:
     1. Official position presented to the author of the malpractice so that all aspects of his/their actions can be cleared and prevented in the future;
     2. A letter of admonition will be sent to the defendant(s), letter that will be considered as first ethical misconduct;
     3. Publication of the unethical behaviour and of the letter of admonition along with apologies from the author(s);
     4. Publication of the detailed misconduct and the retraction of the study;
     5. An interdiction of publishing in the Journal for a certain period and the publication of the decision will be adopted;
     6. Informing the competent authorities for further investigation and action in the matter.

10. The Editorial board will correct promptly any recognised misleading statement, distorted report or significant inaccuracy that has been published. Any proven fraudulent articles and/or studies will be retracted.
11. The editors will respect the right of the readers and the academic associates to be clearly informed about any fraudulent or unethical acts.
12. The allegations, the investigations and the final decisions made by the editors will be registered in the system.