Ethical code

ETHICAL CODE OF JOURNAL CULTURA E SCIENZA DEL COLORE – COLOR CULTURE AND SCIENCE¹

Duties of the editor-in-chief, the associate editors and the editorial staff

Decisions on publication. The journal Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science uses the scientific evaluation system of the submitted papers known as peer-reviewing. The Associate Editors, which constitute the editorial staff, evaluate each item to determine if the theme and content are of interest for the journal " Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science." Once evaluated the papers, the Associate Editors select several reviewers in the Editorial Board based on their expertise in the particular field or topic. Each article is reviewed by two reviewers in a process in which they remain anonymous (blind peer review). In the case of two strongly contrasting revisions, a third reviewer is chosen. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript based on its originality, methodology and impact on research and relevance to the professional practice. After collecting the comments of the reviewers, the Associate Editors elaborate and send to the editor in chair a summary judgment about the acceptance or not of the article. Responsible of the reviewing process are the Editor in chief and the Associate Editors. Since this is a half-yearly journal, the publication decision is taken within 180 days after the article is sent by the author.

Fairness and equal opportunities. The journal makes an evaluation of the proposed paper exclusively according to their content without discrimination regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, political orientation of the authors, nor of their academic affiliation.

Privacy and data conservation. The Editor in chief and the Associate Editors are committed to never disclose any information on the submitted articles to the journal, except to the author, to the reviewers and the Editor. The Editorial staff preserves in a confidential database the results of the peer reviewing process.

Conflict of interest and transparency. The journal submits to the blind peer-review process also the papers which are eventually submitted for publication by the members of the editorial staff and the Editor in chief. The Editor in Chief and the Associate Editors are committed to never use in their research the content of the articles submitted for publication, without the express consent of the author.

Quality. The Editor and the Associate Editors verify every six months the results of the peer review process to assess whether to introduce improvements in the process. The collaboration with a reviewer in the editorial board will be interrupted if there is a failure to comply with the prescribed evaluation procedure and with the duties of the reviewers reported below.

Plagiarism policy. Plagiarism is reported, by the editor-in-chief, to the original author damaged by the plagiarism and to the affiliation body of the author who commits the plagiarism.

Duties of the reviewers

Purpose of the review. Peer review is intended to assist the Associate Editors to make decisions on the papers submitted to the journal and helps the author in the final presentation of their paper.

Meeting deadlines. The reviewer which thinks to lack the expertise or which is aware that he can’t do the requested review within 5 weeks shall give notice as soon as possible to the Associate Editor.

Confidentiality. Any paper sent to the reviewers in anonymous mode should be considered confidential, it cannot be used for personal scopes and it is non-disclosable in any context.

Objectivity. The peer review should be done with the greatest possible objectivity and fairness. Any personal judgment about the author should be avoided. The reviewers are required to motivate their judgments through a standard card provided by the Associate Editor.

Conflict of interest and disclosure. If the reviewer identifies that in the paper sent to him for evaluation there are conflicts of interest for cooperation relationship, he/she is required to contact the Associate Editor and not to accept the assessment of the article. The same must be done if there is a competitive situation.

Plagiarism policy. Plagiarism must be reported to the editor-in-chief.

Reviewer Deadlines:
1 week allowed to accept or decline a review request.
6 weeks allowed to complete the review.

Duties of the authors

Originality and plagiarism. The author is obliged to submit for publication unpublished and original papers in their entirety and to quote all the texts used. It is admitted sending research already submitted to the Color Conference, organised by the same publisher of the journal, provided that they are rewritten respecting the standards required by the journal, and these articles will be subject to the peer-review. The Associate Editor reserves the right to verify the originality of the paper received by anti-plagiarism computer systems.

Multiple publications. The author is committed not to send the same item to more than one journal. Proposing simultaneously  the same text in more than a journal constitutes an unethical behaviour

Authorship of the work. The corresponding author who submits an article for the evaluation must ensure that all those who have made significant contributions to the design and conduct of research, on which the paper is based, are listed as co-authors.

Conflict of interest. By submitting a paper to the journal, the author implicitly recognises that there are no conflicts of interest that may have affected the obtained results or the proposed conclusions. The author should also indicate whether there have been any financial sources of the proposed activities in the article and any conflicts of interest.

Errors in the publications. If an author finds a scientific error in a paper already published, it is required to inform the direction of the journal, providing the best possible correction with an additional note in the format required for the papers.

Plagiarism policy. Plagiarism is prohibited, read carefully our Plagiarism policy.

¹This Ethical Code follows the guidelines of the COPE Committee on publication ethics: Best PracticeGuidelines for Journal Editors