The journal adheres to all recommendations from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding plagiarism, multiple publications, conflicts of interest, and any other forms of misconduct. Details on Ethical conduct are also in the Guide for Authors.
The editor and editorial team have a critical duty to prevent negligence: plagiarism in any form and unethical behavior in general are not accepted at Eclét. Quím. When authors submit their work to the journal, they affirm that it is unique and that it has not been published or is being reviewed or evaluated by another publication.
Eclética Química is dedicated to publishing with integrity and excellence. All parties engaged in publishing in our journal—authors, editors, associate editors, reviewers, and the publisher—are expected to adhere to the same ethical standards.
The ethical behavior required of authors, editor-in-chief, associate editors, and reviewers is summarized below:
AUTHORS
Report: Authors of original research must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective analysis of its significance. The underlying data must be accurately presented in the manuscript, and any complementary information should be included according to the journal’s guidelines. The manuscript should include sufficient details, primarily in the experimental section, data analysis, and references, to enable others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or intentionally inaccurate statements or misinformation are unacceptable and constitute unethical behavior.
Originality/Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are original and must give due credit when using the work or words of other authors. Any plagiarism constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications: Submitting the same manuscript to or publishing it in more than one journal is considered an ethical deviation and conflicts with the declaration made by the authors. Publishing manuscripts that describe essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication is also considered an unethical deviation.
Citation: Authors are responsible for correctly citing and crediting all data taken from other sources. This requirement is not necessary only when the information is a result of the research presented in the manuscript being submitted to Eclét. Quím. The authors should cite only relevant and original references to their work, avoiding citations of secondary sources. Written permission from the author/owner is required to cite information obtained privately (words, correspondence, or discussions with third parties) or relating to confidential services such as manuscript or project evaluation.
Authorship of works: authorship must be based on the four criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) as mentioned in the SUBMISSIONS. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. Participants in the work who do not meet the requirements to be authors or co-authors must be included in the acknowledgements, provided they have prior agreement.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Conflicts of interest of any nature, which may influence the results or their interpretation, must be disclosed in the manuscript and informed upon submission. All financial support for the research must be disclosed.
Mistakes in Published articles: If the authors discover conceptual or other significant errors or inaccuracies in a published article, they must notify the editor-in-chief or publisher immediately and cooperate with the editor-in-chief to retract or correct the article.
EDITOR-CHIEF AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Publication decision: The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief. The editor's decision adheres to the journal's policies and fully complies with legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. When making decisions, the editor may consult with the editorial board or contributors.
Impartial rules: Manuscript evaluation should consider only scientific content without any bias based on the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, or political philosophy.
Confidentiality and anonymity: Confidentiality and anonymity are essential pillars of the entire editorial process at Eclética Química. The Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors have the primary responsibility to strictly safeguard the privacy of all those involved in the publication process. This includes protecting the identity of reviewers in the standard double-blind model, as well as maintaining the confidentiality of manuscript content at all stages, from submission to final decision and publication. The editors ensure that the information contained in manuscripts, before their publication, remains confidential and is not used for their benefit or that of third parties. This commitment provides a fair and impartial evaluation environment, which is fundamental to the scientific integrity of the journal. Any information about the manuscript can be disclosed only to the author, reviewers, associate editors and, as appropriate, members of the Editorial Board and publisher.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Any information obtained from the manuscript before its publication cannot be used by the editor-in-chief and associate editors in their research without the author's written permission. The editors should not review manuscripts in which there is a potential conflict of interest of any nature, whether with authors, institutions, or companies connected to the manuscript.
Denouncements and investigations: The Editor-in-Chief should take all measures when there is a denouncement, suspicion or information of misconduct involving manuscripts, authors, reviewers or associate editors. Take all necessary measures when the denunciation involves published articles. In this case, the Eclética Química Ethical Committee will investigate and determine if there is misconduct, based on the Retractions Guidelines from COPE. Collaborate with the investigation, which should be conducted with transparency, impartiality and reasonableness.
REVIEWERS
Reviewers have a central and critical role in the editorial decision-making process and must assume this role with a clear understanding of their ethical obligations.
Editorial decision: The peer review process is essential to support the Editor-in-Chief's decision, and it is expected that the manuscript evaluation will be helpful to the authors in improving the manuscript quality.
Punctuality: When receiving a review invitation, reviewers should consider their expertise in the manuscript's subject and the possibility of preparing the report in a timely manner. If any of these conditions cannot be met, the invitation must be declined immediately, with notification to the editor.
Confidentiality: The manuscripts and other documents must be treated as confidential. They cannot be shown, disclosed or discussed with anyone.
Objectivity: Reviewers' comments must be clear, objective, and grounded in scientific arguments.
Citation: Reviewers should identify important references that the authors did not cite. They should suggest references without any bias (to increase citations of their own, colleagues', or collaborators'). When they become aware of any overlap between the manuscript under review and a published article, they should notify the editor.
Disclose and conflict of interest: Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have any conflict of interest with authors, companies, or institutions linked to the manuscript. Information or ideas obtained from reviewing the manuscript are confidential and should not be used for personal gain.
This Ethics Policy is based on the Elsevier recommendations and COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics - Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.