The following ethical principles applied in our publishing activities are consistent with the guidelines of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).
In order to ensure a high standard of academic publishing, The Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISPAN) expects that all parties involved in the publication process adhere to the principles set forth in The European Code of Conduct of Research Integrity, with special emphasis on:
- reliability at all stages and in all aspects of research;
- integrity in developing, evaluating and disseminating research;
- respect and care for all parties involved in research;
- accountability for the entire research process from idea through design to publication of results.
For all matters unspecified in this statement, the COPE guidelines, which are monitored by the publisher on an ongoing basis, will be applied.
JOURNALS
Detailed information about ethical principles regarding publications in ISPAN journals can be found on ISPAN journals platform respectively for each title:
BOOKS
Duties of the publisher
- The publisher publishes peer-reviewed scientific monographs in the field of humanities, art sciences in particular, which make a significant contribution to the development of humanities in Poland.
- The IS PAN Management decides whether to accept a proposal for the publishing plan based on the opinion of the publishing committee, which includes specialists in a given discipline. The committee takes into account the subject matter, substantive value, originality, and usefulness for the scientific community. In the case of a positive opinion, the committee chooses peer reviewers in a way that ensures an unbiased assessment of the submitted monograph.
- The publisher assesses the merits of the qualifying monographs, taking care to treat all the authors equally and without any bias.
- The publisher ensures a reliable and professional publishing process, including the editorial process.
- The publisher is obliged to respect the principle of confidentiality and security of personal data processing.
- The publisher makes sure that the peer review process is anonymous and that information about submitted manuscripts is disclosed exclusively to their authors, peer reviewers, or appointed experts.
- Editors are obliged to react appropriately, i.e., in accordance with the guidelines provided by COPE and the Committee on Ethics in Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, to any instances of a contributor’s, editor’s, or reviewer’s lack of integrity. The first step is always asking the person in question for an explanation.
- The publisher is obliged to counteract conflicts of interest between authors, reviewers, and scientific editors.
- The publisher should make every effort to prevent plagiarism and data falsification, as well as ghostwriting (when a person who made a significant contribution to the submitted work is not listed as an author) and guest/gift authorship (when a person who did not make a significant contribution to the submitted work is listed as an author).
- In order to maintain scientific integrity and in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Dobre praktyki w procedurach recenzyjnych w nauce, Warszawa 2011), the publisher will disclose and inform all relevant authorities and institutions about any serious documented instances of the lack of scholarly integrity (such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, ghostwriting, and guest/gift authorship).
- The publisher will consider retraction of the publication if there is clear evidence that the findings and conclusions are not to be relied upon and/or data are falsified, as well as if the author makes unintentional errors (e.g., methodological ones), and if the work shows signs of plagiarism or otherwise violates the principles of publishing ethics.
Duties of the authors
- By submitting a manuscript, the author vouches that it is an entirely original work and has not been published or submitted for publication with any other publisher.
- The author vouches that the submitted manuscript does not infringe on the copyrights of third parties, and its disposal by the publisher will not violate the personality rights or any other rights of third parties.
- In the case of collective works, the author submitting a manuscript is obliged to inform of the authorship of everyone involved in the work on the manuscript.
- The author is obliged to disclose information about the funding and other contributions provided by scholarly or research institutions, non-governmental organizations, or other bodies.
- By submitting the manuscript, the author gives consent to undergo the review procedure.
- The author is obliged to collaborate with the publisher in the process of preparing the manuscript for publication (by responding to the comments and suggestions of peer reviewers and editors and by making corrections).
- Should the author discover any error or violation of research integrity or code of ethics that involves a manuscript that has already been submitted or published, they must notify the publisher immediately.
Duties of the reviewers
- The reviewer is obliged to deliver the review within the agreed deadline. If they are unable to meet the deadline or wish to withdraw from the review process for any other reason, they should immediately inform the publisher of this fact.
- The reviewer should inform the publisher as soon as possible about any risk of a conflict of interest involving the manuscript received for review.
- Throughout the process of manuscript review and evaluation, reviewers are obliged to observe the strictest confidentiality.
- The reviewer evaluates the texts objectively, refraining from subjective or personal comments. A review whose purpose is to support the author in improving their manuscript should include a clearly stated explanation of the recommendation.
- Reviewers should point out where the manuscript under review lacks pertinent references or bibliographical information. Whenever possible, reviewers are obliged to inform the editorial team if the manuscript or its part is similar to any other work that has already been published.
- Reviewers may not use the manuscripts under review for any purpose other than the review itself. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
Duties of the academic editors
- The academic editor in charge of the selection of texts and contacts with individual authors is responsible for the edited volume.
- When selecting texts, the academic editor is guided by their substantive value, originality, and usefulness for the scientific community.
- In case of evidence of unfair practices (e.g., plagiarism or data falsification) or if the author makes unintentional mistakes, the academic editor should retract the article from the edited volume.
- The academic editor is obliged to make sure that all authors of the edited volume accept the final edited version.
Principles of reviewing monographs and publishing procedure
- Acceptance of a manuscript for publication is preceded by signing a publishing agreement, in which the author undertakes to provide the publisher with an original work written in accordance with the principles of publishing ethics, aimed at counteracting unfair publishing practices, in particular in accordance with the COPE guidelines.
- All manuscripts submitted by the authors and approved by the management of IS PAN are subject to the review procedure.
- Each manuscript is evaluated by two independent peer reviewers. Defended doctoral dissertations and books presenting the results of reviewed grants are evaluated by one peer reviewer.
- The publisher selects reviewers on the basis of their competence and professional expertise as well as who obtained habilitation or professorship. We never select peer reviewers who are affiliated with the same institution as the author.
- The publisher ensures that the review procedure does not involve conflict of interest or other circumstances that could reduce its reliability.
- All preliminarily selected manuscripts are evaluated confidentially.
- In the event of any reservations from the reviewers, the publisher allows the author to respond to the comments and make corrections accordingly.
- If both peer reviewers recommend rejection, the publisher has the right to reject the work. If only one of the reviewers does so, the publisher has the right to invite a third reviewer.
- The names of the reviewers are disclosed on the book's editorial page only with their written consent.
- The review procedure is carried out in accordance with the recommendations presented in the study Good Practices in Peer-Review Procedures in Science (Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Warsaw 2011).
- After peer review and adjustments made by the author, the manuscript undergoes an editorial process. This process consists of:
- substantive verification;
- linguistic proofreading (substantive and linguistic editing is performed in MS Word in the track changes mode);
- author's proofreading (the text is sent to the author as a .docx file before make-up);
- standardization of entries (abbreviations, literature, footnotes, references);
- verification of graphic material (obtaining copyright on the publisher's side);
- determining the composition of individual pages (layout);
- graphic design of the book cover (in consultation with the author);
- text make-up;
- proofreading after text make-up;
- author's approval of the final version;
- submitting approved materials for printing.
Contact for submitting comments and observations
Should any misconduct be suspected with regard to authorship, reviewing, or editing, the publication process to which the allegations or concerns relate will be suspended, and the relevant persons will be asked for clarification. Once these are obtained, a decision will be made by the publisher. The successive stages of case clarification are carried out in accordance with COPE guidelines.
The publisher will handle complaints and appeals concerning publication ethics appropriately. All concerns should be addressed to the publisher: wydawnictwo@ispan.pl. Depending on the reported problem, the response of the head of the institute, the editor-in-chief of the journal, or a representative of the publisher is given in writing as soon as possible, but no later than within two weeks.
Any concerns regarding the publisher’s integrity and complaints against the publisher should be addressed to the management of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences: ispan@ispan.pl.