Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The code of conduct adopted by Annales theologici is inspired by guidelines from the Code of Conduct of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Director and Editorial Committee:

  • They are ultimately responsible for the decision to publish the articles in the journal. This decision will be made while taking into account the suggestions made by the two external and independent (double blind) referees charged with evaluating the articles. This decision will also be taken in accordance with the legal provisions in force regarding defamation, violation of copyright and plagiarism.
  • They are responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the peer review process (double-blind) as well as the quality and suitability of the reviewers to the content of the texts to be evaluated.
  • They may not disclose the content of articles received to anyone other than the authors, reviewers, or editorial advisors.
  • They may not use the unpublished content of the articles for their own research without the express permission of the authors.
  • They will take reasonable measures to identify and prevent the publication of articles in which misconduct has occurred in the research.
  • The editors are willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies where necessary.
  • The use of AI must be aligned with the ethical principles of research, ensuring privacy, data accuracy, and respect for intellectual property. Under no circumstances will the use of AI be permitted for the fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of scientific data.

Reviewers:

  • They must feel qualified to evaluate the articles assigned and to do so within the period of time set by the journal. If this is not the case then they should contact the Editorial Board.
  • They should not accept articles for evaluation that have some kind of conflict of interest resulting from relationships of competition, collaboration or any other kind.
  • They must carry out the revision of the texts in an objective manner using clear and documented arguments.
  • They must notify the Director of the journal if they encounter plagiarism or copyright violations.
  • They must consider the texts received to be classified material; they cannot be shown to or discussed with others without the express permission of the Editorial Committee.
  • They must not use for their own benefit the information or ideas obtained through the revision of the texts.
  • Reviewers can use AI tools to support the analysis of manuscripts, but not to make final decisions on the acceptance or rejection of an article.

Authors:

  • They must guarantee that the submitted manuscripts are original and unpublished.
  • They must always correctly and accurately cite the works of other authors and the sources used.
  • They must obtain the necessary authorizations for the publication of images, tables or other content published in accordance with the laws on copyright.
  • They must follow the Editorial Guidelines of the Journal.
  • They are required to provide error corrections if detected by the journal.
  • Articles that are under review by Annales theologici should not be sent to other publications.
  • Authors are willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies where necessary.
  • The authors must ensure that the use of AI does not compromise the originality of the work, avoiding plagiarism or the generation of distorted, inaccurate, or incorrect content. AI cannot be recognized as the author of an article. Responsibility for the content, interpretation, and conclusions rests exclusively with the human authors. The journal reserves the right to request additional information on the use of AI, as well as to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the established guidelines.
  • Authors do not pay any amount to publish in the journal.