Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Contents of this page

  • Publication originality policy guidelines
  • Best practices for editorial boards, guest editors, authors, and reviewers
  • Responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools

 

PUBLICATION ORIGINALITY POLICY GUIDELINES

Revista Nebrija de Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras (RNLAEL) maintains a rigorous commitment to ethics in scientific publishing and academic integrity. In accordance with international best practices in publishing, the journal establishes the following guidelines for the prevention, detection and treatment of plagiarism.

  • Detection of textual similarity

All manuscripts submitted for evaluation are analysed using specialised similarity detection tools, such as Turnitin, iThenticate or similar, in order to identify substantial coincidences with previously published works. The similarity report is examined by the editorial team, which will assess the relevance of whether or not to continue with the editorial process.

  • Declaration of originality

It is an essential requirement that authors expressly state that the submitted manuscript is original, that it has not been previously published and is not currently under review by another journal. They must also ensure that all sources used are properly cited and that there are no conflicts of interest.

  • Peer review and editorial supervision

The external reviewers, as part of the peer review process, may notice possible cases of textual or conceptual plagiarism or self-plagiarism. These observations are taken very seriously by the Editorial Committee, which reserves the right to request clarification or reject the manuscript at any stage of the process.

  • Measures in the event of confirmed cases of plagiarism
  • When plagiarism is detected, whether partial or total, RNLAEL will adopt the following actions, according to the seriousness of the case and the stage of the editorial process:
  • Immediate rejection of the manuscript, if the plagiarism is detected during the evaluation.
  • Issuance of a public retraction notice, in case the article has been published.
  • Formal notification to the institutions of affiliation of the responsible authors.
  • Registration of the case in the journal's internal archives, with possible restrictions on future applications.
  • Promoting academic integrity

RNLAEL actively promotes training in publication ethics and good citation practices among its contributors.

 

BEST PRACTICES FOR EDITORIAL BOARDS, GUEST EDITORS, AUTHORS, AND REVIEWERS

Revista Nebrija de Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras (RNLAEL) is a peer-reviewed journal committed to ensuring the highest standards of publication ethics. All parties involved in the act of publishing (editors, authors, reviewers, and the publisher) have to agree upon standards of ethical behavior. We state the following principles of Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics – COPE (available at http://publicationethics.org/).

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITOR AND EDITORIAL BOARD OF RNLAEL

The editor and the executive editorial board of RNLAEL are responsible for:

  • deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published. In making these decisions, they are guided by the policies of the journal (RNLAEL Guidelines for Submission and Publication of Manuscripts, available at this site) and by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
  • providing guidance to guest editors, authors, and reviewers on everything that is expected of them and also a description of peer review processes.
  • providing new editorial board members with guidelines on everything that is expected of them and keeping existing members updated on new policies and developments.
  • evaluating manuscripts exclusively based on their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to the author(s)’ race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class.
  • ensuring a fair and unbiased double-blind peer review of the manuscripts and that all information related to them is kept confidential. They also ensure that both authors’ and peer reviewers’ identities are protected.
  • ensuring that appropriate reviewers are selected.
  • developing and maintaining a database of suitable reviewers and updating it based on reviewer performance.
  • ensuring that unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript are not used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
  • taking reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints are presented concerning a submitted or published manuscript. In cases of suspected misconduct, they follow the COPE flowcharts, available at http://publicationethics.org/files/Full%20set%20of%20flowcharts.pdf.
  • publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies whenever needed.

GUEST EDITORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

Guest editors are responsible for

  • defining the subject matter and role of every article in a thematic issue.
  • providing clear guidelines to authors regarding the topic and boundaries of their contributions and the overall design of the issue.
  • ensuring, in collaboration with the executive editorial board, that appropriate reviewers are selected for all the articles (whether they have been commissioned or submitted as a result of a call for papers);
  • warning about possible forms of linguistic discrimination in the wording of articles (see Inclusive language)
  • establishing a timeline for draft paper submission, peer review, revision and final paper submission with the executive editorial board and ensuring that all deadlines are met.
  • writing the Introduction to the issue.

AUTHORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
  • Authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one publication at a time. This constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
  • Authors must ensure that they have written original works and that any work or words of other authors, contributors or sources have been appropriately credited and referenced.
  • Authors submitting their works to RNLAEL for publication as original articles confirm that the submitted works represent their own contributions and have not been copied or plagiarized in whole or in part from other works without clearly citing the source. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
  • Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
  • Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere.
  • 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.
  • Other persons who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
  • The corresponding author with the journal should ensure that all appropriate coauthors are included in the author list of the manuscript, and that there is a full consensus of all co-authors in approving the final version of the paper and its submission for publication.
  • Authors should disclose financial or other conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support should be disclosed.
  • When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors and cooperate with them to retract or correct the manuscript.

REVIEWERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Peer review assists the editor and executive editorial board of RNLAEL in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial communication with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.
  • Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
  • Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
  • Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
  • Reviewers must report to the editor of RNLAEL if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s part.
  • Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them for improving the paper.
  • Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on content without regard to the authors’ race, age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class.
  • 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.

PUBLISHER’S RESPONSIBILITIES

As publisher of RNLAEL, Nebrija University:

  • provides practical support to the editor and executive editorial board of RNLAEL so that they can follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal.
  • ensures the autonomy of editorial decisions.
  • protects intellectual property and copyright.
  • ensures that good practice is maintained to the standards defined above

 

RESPONSIBLE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS

Revista Nacional de Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas (RNLAEL) recognises the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in academia. In order to ensure transparency and scientific integrity, the following rules regarding the use of such tools are established:

  1. Declaration required:
  2. Authors must explicitly declare if they have used AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, DeepL, among others) at any stage of the manuscript preparation process.
  3. Limitations of use:
    • The use of AI should be limited to mechanical tasks such as grammar checking, style suggestions, translation, or generating preliminary summaries.
    • It is not permitted to use AI to generate original data, to write substantive sections of the article (such as introduction, discussion or results) or to interpret findings.
  4. Responsibility and authorship:
    • AI tools do not meet the criteria for authorship and should not be cited as such.
    • Authors are responsible for critically reviewing any AI-generated content and assume full responsibility for the final content of the manuscript.

Failure to comply with these rules may be considered a form of academic malpractice.