Publication ethics

Publication ethics and malpractice statement

BBGN is committed to follow and honour the general publication ethics in research, as declared by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at: http://publicationethics.org.

The publishing ethics of the journal reflects the International standards for editors and authors by COPE (see http://publicationethics.org/node/11184), Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. The Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK); furthermore, it also draws on the publishing ethic rules formulated for other journals of the Faculty od Arts, Masaryk University: Studia paedagogica and Theatralia.

The rules define the duties of authors, editors, reviewers, and the editorial board.

The publication in peer reviewed journals is a principal aspect of the research activities and the authors, reviewers and editors of BBGN are committed to fulfilling the respected standards of the scientific research.

Authors’ responsibilities

• Authors of reports of original research 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.
• The authors are obliged to participate in peer review process, respond to reviewers’ comments and make suggested modifications based on these comments.
• The main topic of the paper must not be previously published in any other journal.
• The collective of authors should only comprise those members, who have significantly contributed to achievement of research results presented.
• By submitting their paper the authors notify that all data in their article are real and authentic, that it is their own text and that all the information sources are mentioned in the list of sources and bibliography.
• The authors are obliged to follow closely the guidelines for authors.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editor or publisher and cooperate with them to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate correction statement or erratum.

Editorial responsibilities

• The editor is responsible for the content of the journal and quality of articles published.
• He or she maintains objectivity with all articles submitted and is obliged to avoid conflict of interest with respect to all articles accepted and/or rejected, respecting the main criteria of article selection, that are professional level and relevance of the article and conformity of the topic with professional focus of the journal.
• The editor is obliged to preserve anonymity of both reviewers and authors within the peer review process.
• In cooperation with editorial board, the editor addresses possible appeals of the authors against reviewers’ comments and other complaints.
• The editor has complete responsibility and authority to reject or accept an article.
• In cases of malpractice having been revealed after the publication, the editor will consult the appropriate action with the editorial board and will consider retracting, issuing expressions of concern about, and issuing corrections pertaining to articles that have been published in the journal. In this process, the COPE’s Guidelines for Retracting Articles are observed.

Reviewers’ responsibilities

• The reviewer has to be objective in his or her assessment and must not misuse information stated in the article under review for personal or other gain.
• The reviewer can reject to assess a paper for reasons of competing professional interests, such as:
• professional, financial or personal benefit from accepting or rejecting the paper under review;
• cooperation on given project in the past five years;
• fundamental difference in opinions on the main topic of the paper under review;
• close professional or personal relationship to the author or some member of the collective of authors.

Unless the reviewer rejects to make an assessment for the above reasons, editorial office takes it for granted that there is no conflict of interests.

• The reviewers should point out the eventual problems, especially the relevant published work which is not yet cited by the author.

Responsibilities of editorial board

• Editorial board constantly makes efforts to improve the professional and formal quality of the journal, supports the freedom of speech and plurality of opinions in the field of study and in compliance with generally accepted ethics it is always willing to publish corrections, retractions and apologies by prior arrangement. Editorial board issues instructions concerning the whole editorial work (instructions for authors, guidelines for peer review process and reviewers etc.) and guarantees observation of the above rules.

• In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism the editorial board, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of a correction statement or erratum or, in the most severe cases, the retraction of the affected work.