ETHICS

The present document details COTAA’s ethical principles, based on COPE – COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION ETHICS following instructions, which we commit to actively adhere to:

  • Core practices
  • Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors
  • Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
  • Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

1. General duties and responsibilities

Regarding our general duties and responsibilities, we will permanently engage on a mission to improve the journal’s development, and to continuously aim at raising the quality of our publication, seeking advice from experts, and listening to the views of authors, readers, reviewers, the editorial board, and our scientific committee. We shall actively pursuit all manners in which academic misconduct can be avoided, and we will always aim at educating researchers on publication ethics and responsible academic behaviors.

2. Conflict of interests

Seeing as the main part of the journal is peer-reviewed, but keeping in mind that we also have a non-peer-review section, we want to assure all readers and participants to the journal that all of the published papers have been selectively reviewed by qualified reviewers, and that we will always engage in providing some of the most suitable peer-reviewers for each individual paper. All sections of the publication, both scientific and non-scientific shall always be clearly presented.

3. Relations to writers

All papers submitted to the publication will receive an objective and unbiased evaluation. Authors will always receive complete and clear instructions regarding the submission of papers, the activity of the publication and the review processes. The authors will be required to adhere to the principles of the present ethics statement. In the case of submissions from any one person in the editorial board or the core group, an impartial system of review, handled by the guest editor shall be utilized. Authors are fully responsible in regards with all rights and responsibilities within their submission, mentioning all authors and participants to the research. No form of plagiarism shall be tolerated. In case of suspicion or upon receiving allegations of such misconduct, the COTAA team shall organize an internal investigation by utilizing anti-plagiarism platforms to confirm or infirm the suspicion. All conclusions of such shall be made public. Confirmed plagiaristic papers shall be removed from all COTAA platforms.

4. Relations with reviewers

We are seeking a transparent, clear, and sincere dialogue with our reviewers, which will be required to disclose any competing interests before agreeing to review a submission. The COTAA review process is a double-blind peer-review system. The reviewers will be required to adhere to the principles of the present ethics statement and to present to the editorial board any conflicting or competitive interests with those of the authors of the papers. All received information and papers shall be considered confidential. The list of reviewers will be a dynamic one, as we shall continuously aim at providing a diverse and high-quality group of professionals, removing those who prove to be unprofessional. We shall permanently keep ourselves, and our reviewers informed about research regarding peer-reviews and technological advances in this area. The peer-review process shall be reviewed regularly. 

5. Journal management

Regarding the editorial board, COTAA functions by having a permanent core group of four editors, welcoming an additional guest editor to each number of the publication. Additionally, the journal benefits from a larger scientific committee, with the role of journal ambassadors.

6. Commercial considerations

Since COTAA is an open-license journal, no commercial considerations shall at any time affect editorial decisions. No advertising is used within COTAA. If at any time in the future advertisements shall be considered, we shall make public this change and renew the present statement, detailing our advertising policy.

We encourage all readers and those interested to seek the COTAA team at any time via email or other means, in regards with published papers, be it regarding correctness of the published information, revisions, errors, inaccuracies, or conflicts which may appear.

This statement is a dynamic document, as we acknowledge the fact that journal guidelines may evolve. If at any time our ethics statement shall receive additional information, we commit to making those changes public via our platform.

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