Ethics

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We present our journal's publication ethics, which contains the most important principles relating to editorial and review processes, authorship and publication. Widok accepts only articles that have not been previously published or submitted for publication in another journal. Unethical practices (e.g. ghostwriting, guest authorship or plagiarism) are not accepted. Articles published in our journal should include information about the source of research funding. In order to maintain high standards of scientific publication, the Editorial Board expects everyone to adhere to the principles set out in The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, with particular emphasis on:

• credibility at all stages and in all aspects of research;
• integrity in the development, evaluation and dissemination of research;
• respect and care for all parties involved in the research;
• responsibility for the entire research process, from the idea through the plan to the publication of the results.

The editorial team of Widok believes in and practises freedom of speech, and never engages in acts of censorship. Yet, we are aware that both conducting research and presenting it may involve issues that require particular sensitivity and responsibility. We make every effort to ensure that the texts and visual materials we publish respect privacy and reasonable scope of different sensitivities. The editorial team ensures that no one is exposed to offensive behaviour during the review and editing process and reserves the right to take action to protect contributors from abuse. These measures may include, for example, withdrawing a text from the editorial process or questioning and/or removing clearly offensive reviewer comments.

We are devoted to expanding our knowledge of good practices in editorial, review and publishing ethics, and are open to new perspectives. In our ‘Widok Publication Ethics and Procedures in Case of Misconduct’ policy, we follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and refer to the documents of this organisation: https://publicationethics.org/. In all matters not specified in this statement, the COPE guidelines, which the editorial board follows on an ongoing basis, shall apply. Contact details for submitting comments and reservations can be found below.

Disclosure of Competing Interests

The editorial team requires authors, editors, and reviewers to disclose any competing interests and potential conflicts of interests. Competing interests may be financial, non-financial, professional, contractual, or personal in nature. Conflict of interest occurs when author, editor, or reviewer may gain benefits interfering with the objectivity or integrity of their actions. Conflict of interests may result from competition or collaboration or other personal or institutional relationships in relation to the manuscript (e.g. family relationships, supervisor/doctoral candidate relationship, professional dependence and interdependence, close professional collaboration, competition between institutions, among others).

Open access statement

Since its beginning in 2012, Widok has been publishing content in open access. This is one of the most important aspects of our editorial policy and publication ethics. We apply the open access principles set out in BOAI. The journal operates on a full open access basis, under a CC BY 4.0 licence, and authors retain full copyright.

The editorial team does not charge any fees to authors. Each article is registered in the DOI (Crossref) system. Please use the DOI number when archiving the published version of the article on your websites and in repositories.

All published content is available free of charge, without delay, and access does not require registration. Content may be copied, distributed and adapted provided that the authorship is indicated (i.e. the names and surnames of the authors of the content and other entities whose authorship should be recognised, copyright information, licence information, disclaimer and link to the content) and indicating whether the material has been modified and retaining descriptions of previous changes, if any. No additional restrictions may be applied.

AI Policy

Widok follows COPE recommendations regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, both LLM and multimodal models, in preparing the manuscript for submission. In accordance with the general policy of transparency of the research process and authorship adopted by the journal, authors are required to describe whether and to what extent artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation of the research and text. The editorial board reserves the right to reject submissions whose authors have concealed the fact or extent of the use of artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of the text.Generative AI cannot be an author or co-author of submitted text, and authors are fully responsible and accountable for their submissions, including parts prepared with any kind of AI assistance.

Editor's responsibilities 

• Providing guidelines for authors preparing and submitting manuscripts.
• Clearly communicating all other editorial policies and standards.
• Establishing and defining policies on conflicts of interest for all involved in the publication process, including editors, staff, authors, and reviewers.
• Careful review of any notification of malpractice and/or misconduct.
• Informing appropriate institutions about justified malpractice suspicion.
• Assigning papers for review appropriate to each reviewer’s area of interest and expertise.
• Establishing a process for reviewers to ensure that they treat the manuscript as a confidential document and complete the review promptly.
• Editors should not upload unpublished manuscripts or their parts to Generative AI tools due to privacy and confidentiality requirements.

We evaluate the scientific value of texts, ensuring equal treatment and counteracting all forms of discrimination. We ensure that decisions are free from undue influence. Therefore, we expect disclosure of potential conflicts of interest from those involved in the publication process at every stage. We select reviewers based on their competence and impartiality. We ensure the anonymity of the review process. We observe the principles of confidentiality throughout the entire process of working on submitted texts, and in particular, that no one may use them for their own purposes in an unauthorised manner. We are obliged to respond appropriately, in accordance with the principles of COPE and the guidelines of the Code of Ethics for Researchers, to any manifestations of authorial, editorial or reviewer misconduct. The first step is always a direct request for an appropriate explanation. All texts are subject to an anti-plagiarism procedure (Crossref Similarity Check). The editorial team will notify the relevant authorities of any documented serious instances of scientific misconduct (such as plagiarism, ghostwriting, guest/courtesy authorship). We are open to publishing polemics and responses to polemics, as well as corrections, explanations or apologies. If it is necessary to withdraw an already published article, its electronic version will be marked accordingly (with an explanation).

Thematic issues of Widok are edited by the editorial team, sometimes in collaboration with invited guest editors. Guest editors receive all information regarding editorial policy, publication ethics and publishing procedures, and undertake to comply with them. Submissions are discussed and internally reviewed by the editorial team together with guest editors. The review process is then organised and supervised by the Widok team. Guest editors may suggest reviewers, but it is the editorial team that invites them and does not disclose their identities to guest editors. Invited reviewers cannot work in the same unit as the guest editor, cannot currently collaborate with them on research projects, and cannot be co-authors of an article or book within the last three years. Guest editor who submits a text to the edited section is completely excluded from the review process for that submission. The final decision on the article (publication, revision or rejection) is made jointly by the editorial team.

As far as the use of Generative AI tools is concerned we follow: COPE focus on artifcial inteligence as well as STM Recommendations for a Classification of AI Use in Academic Manuscript Preparation. 

The procedure in the event of suspected malpractice

Any party can report possible publishing and/or research malpractice or misconduct, as well as piracy and plagiarism (including anonymously, although that excludes the possibility of providing explanations). If the notification refers to an article under review, the review procedure shall be suspended. The reviewer is informed about the suspension. All notifications about ethical issues, research misconduct or research/publishing malpractices are considered by the journal’s Editorial Board. This investigation includes an analysis of the notification, verification of the validity of the accusation, request for details (if necessary), informing the author about accusations relating to his or her work, analysis of the received explanation, and, if justified, reporting the malpractice to the relevant institutions or bodies. These include: the direct supervisor of the author, the head of the department/institution, the ethical board appropriate for the specific discipline, and any sponsor or funding body.

Author's responsibilities

By submitting the text, authors guarantee that it is an original work, does not infringe copyright, has not been published and has not been submitted elsewhere. They undertake to disclose the participation of all persons involved in the work on the material. They undertake to disclose information about sources of funding and contributions from scientific and research institutions, non-governmental organisations and other entities. Submission of the text is tantamount to a declaration that all stages of the research have been conducted in an ethically and scientifically sound manner, in accordance with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. In the event of discovering errors or violations of scientific integrity or ethical principles in a text already submitted for publication, the author undertakes to notify the editorial office immediately. The author undertakes to cooperate with the editorial office in the process of preparing the text (responding to comments, making corrections).

The identification of authors and other persons involved in the research and/or creation of the article is the responsibility of those who have carried out the research or research-artistic work, not those who publish the work. Researchers should determine which individuals have contributed sufficiently to the work to justify their recognition as co-authors of the article. Individuals who have contributed to the research or creation of the article, but whose contribution was not significant enough to justify authorship, should be mentioned in the acknowledgements.

Reviewer's responsibilities

1. They immediately inform the editors of any possibility of a conflict of interest in the evaluation of the submitted text, or if they wish to withdraw from the review process for other reasons.
2. They strictly observe the principle of confidentiality throughout the text evaluation process providing written, unbiased feedback timely.
3. They evaluate texts objectively, refraining from subjective and personal comments. The purpose of the evaluation is to support the authors, therefore the review should contain a precisely formulated justification.
4. Indicating places where appropriate footnotes or bibliographic information have not been included. Where possible, they shall report to the editorial team any similarities between the text or its fragments and published works. Indicating whether the writing is clear, concise, and relevant and rating the work’s composition, academic accuracy, originality, and interest to the journal’s readers.
5. They may not use the reviewed text for purposes other than reviewing. Information and ideas obtained in the review process are confidential and may not be used for their own purposes
6. They should not upload unpublished manuscripts or their parts to Generative AI tools due to privacy and confidentiality requirements.

Publisher's responsibilities

The publisher collects and shares with the journal’s editorial team all complaints and grievances concerning the journal, the editorial team, and the Foundation. The publisher will appropriately consider all matters related to publishing ethics that have been addressed directly to the Foundation.

Submitting comments and reservations - contact details

The following procedures apply to appeals against editorial decisions, complaints about faulty processes, and complaints about breaches of publication ethics. We accept justified appeals against editorial decisions by email at redakcja@pismowidok.org. Authors should:

• respond in detail to all editorial or reviewer comments with which they disagree;
• present new information or data that the team should consider;
• present relevant evidence if they suspect that the reviewer has made a mistake or has a conflict of interest.

After considering these arguments and, if necessary, consulting with the Academic Board, the Editorial Team may:

• confirm the editorial decision;
• refer the text for additional independent review;
• invite the authors to submit a revised version of the text.

The appellant will be informed of the decision. The Editorial Team will consider only one appeal per article, and the decision made in the appeal process will be final. Appeal processes may be protracted, as priority is given to new article submissions currently under consideration.
Complaints about improper procedures, such as prolonged review periods or lack of response from the editorial board, will be considered by the Editorial Team or (where appropriate) by a representative of the publisher. The complainant will receive appropriate feedback.

If complaints are received regarding unethical conduct by authors, editors or reviewers, such as undisclosed conflicts of interest, duplicate/redundant publication, omission of authors, misuse of confidential information, etc., they will be considered by the Widok Editorial Team in accordance with the relevant guidelines recommended by the COPE. In special cases, the Editorial Team may consult the members of the Academic Board. The editors will provide feedback to the person submitting the complaint.

Any doubts regarding editorial integrity or complaints about the conduct of the editorial team or publisher should be addressed to the Management Board of the Widok Foundation fundacja@pismowidok.org. Depending on the nature of the problem reported, a response will be provided as soon as possible, but no later than within two weeks.