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Publication Ethics

In order to keep the highest quality of the publication, Lex Patrimonium requires that all papers are subject to blind peer review process based on an initial screening by the editor. The following duties outlined for editors, authors and reviewers are developed by following COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and Elsevier Guidelines for Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. The Responsibilities of Editors Publication Decisions: The editor is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal will be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism should also be considered. The editor will evaluate manuscripts without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision. Process Control: Editor must ensure that each manuscript is initially evaluated by the editor for originality, making use of appropriate software to do so. After passing this test, the manuscript is forwarded to one reviewer, each of whom will make a recommendation to accept, reject, or modify the manuscript. The review period will be given up to 14 days. Fair Play: The editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. Confidentiality: The editor must ensure that information regarding manuscripts submitted by the authors is kept confidential. The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Editors should restrain themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. The Responsibilities of Reviewers Contribution to Editorial Decisions: The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication, and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process, so that the manuscript could be sent to another reviewer. Confidentiality: Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and be treated as privileged information. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. Standards of Objectivity: Reviews of submitted manuscripts should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriateand. The reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Acknowledgement of Sources: Manuscript reviewers must ensure that authors have acknowledged all sources of data used in the research. Reviewers should also notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. The Responsibilities of Authors Manuscript Standards: Manuscripts will follow the submission guidelines of the journal. 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 behaviour and are unacceptable. Originality: Authors will submit only entirely original works, and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications: In general, manuscripts describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by the journal should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper. Publication of some kinds of articles (e.g. translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication. Acknowledgement of Sources: Authors should acknowledge all sources of data used in the research and cite publications that have been influential in research work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services. Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript and their inclusion of names as co-authors. Specifying the Used Fund: All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Spell Checking: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in submitted manuscript, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper. Copyright Agreement: Authors should take into account the rights related to the publication and distribution of research. Open Access Sharing of the research results is an important component of the research process; research can only advance by sharing the results, and the value of an investment in research is only maximized through wide use of its results. Open Access articles are free to all interested readers, and the publishers place no financial or copyright barriers between the readers and the article. Plagiarism Detection Prevention of plagiarism is essential as it provides scientific and academic integrity. Hence, Lex Patrimonium uses the iThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software for controlling plagiarism concerns.