Ethical Policies of the Journal

Publication and authorship

Eleuthera Journal does not accept previously published material; Therefore, every postulated article must be original and unpublished. In turn, while the article is in the process of evaluation the authors commit not to submit the article to any other journal or publication. Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions to reproduce material partially (text, tables or figures) of other publications and to cite their origin correctly. The collaborations that appear here do not necessarily reflect the thought of the Journal and they are published under the responsibility of the authors.

If the author of an article wishes to include it later in another publication, the journal in which it is published should clearly indicate the data of the original publication, with prior authorization requested from the Editor of the journal.

Eleuthera Journal reserves the right to print, reproduce in whole or in part the material, as well as to accept or reject it. Likewise, it reserves the right to make any editorial modification that it deems convenient. In such case, the author will receive written recommendations from the Editorial Committee. If the author accepts them, he must submit the article with the suggested adjustments within the dates set by the Journal to guarantee its editing process.

Double-blind peer review process

Each of the articles received is subject to a review and selection process, which lasts at least three months. In a first stage the originality and relevance of the article is evaluated by the Editorial Committee. Subsequently it is subjected to a double-blind evaluation by two or more referees (national or international) of the same or higher educational level as the author(s) and at least one of them will be external to the publishing institution. The referees will conceptualize on the scientific quality of the article, structure, foundation, source management, conceptual and methodological rigor, sufficiency of the domain of the literature on the topic, news and contribution to the area of knowledge, organization and articulation of sections, quality and Clarity of writing, correspondence between the title and the abstract with the content of the article, as well as the classification of the article according to the perception of the evaluator (see evaluation format).

The evaluators will issue a concept that can be: approved without changes; approved subject to minor changes and does not require a new evaluation; approved subject to major changes and requires a new evaluation; and rejected, it is not publishable in the Journal. In the case in which the concept of the evaluators derives controversies, these will be resolved initially by the Editor or, if necessary, a second or third evaluation by academic peers will be requested.

Anonymity is required from both authors and evaluators in the evaluation process. Likewise, this evaluation will be informed to the author of the article via email to make the necessary adjustments that have been requested by the evaluators. Upon receipt of the article with the corrections made, the Journal will verify the compliance of the evaluators' suggestions and analyze the justifications of those that have not been considered. Once this phase is approved, the article will be sent back to the author only if necessary to make any adjustments that may occur. The process of review and acceptance of the material delivered may take an average of four months, and its receipt does not imply automatic approval and publication; the average time to release of an article is eight months.

Policy authoring

The list of signatories should include only those persons who have contributed intellectually to the development of the work. To have helped in the collection of data or to have participated in some technique are not, by themselves, sufficient criteria to appear as an author. In general, to appear as an author, the following requirements must be met:

• Have participated in the conception and performance of the work that has resulted in the article.
• Have participated in the writing and in possible revisions of the text.
• Have approved the version that will finally be published.

The Journal declines any responsibility for possible conflicts arising from the authorship of the published works.

Eleuthera Journal adheres to the guidelines of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/New_Code.pdf).

Transmission of copyright

The format "Declaration of commitment of the authors", signed by each of the authors, will be sent along with the article.

The views and opinions expressed by the authors in the articles and communications published in the journal are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the criteria or policies of the Editorial Committee, of Eleuthera Magazine or of the institution that publishes them.

Publishing rights

If the document is accepted for publication, the reproduction rights will be from Universidad de Caldas. As mentioned, each article must be accompanied by the authors' declaration of commitment format, which specifies that the paper is unpublished, indicating that the copyrights are the exclusive property of Eleuthera Journal, in addition to other aspects that are explicit in the document such as its non-simultaneous submission for publication in another journal. On the other hand, the author has the responsibility to obtain the necessary permissions to reproduce any material protected by rights of reproduction and must clearly specify the table, figure or text to be cited and the complete bibliographic reference.

Conflict of interests

Eleuthera Journal expects authors to declare any commercial association that might pose a conflict of interests about the submitted article.

Due to the nature of the articles that may eventually be published in the journal, it is possible that conflicting interests may arise that may affect impartiality in editorial conditions or against authors. Therefore, each author must try to identify them.

In this sense, the authors should attach, along with the article and the declaration of commitment, a communication addressed to the journal expressing in a clear and concise manner if there are conflicts of interest, specifying each of them. In this communication, moreover, they must specify the source of financing of the research carried out as well as the declaration of any commercial, financial or personal link that may affect the article or the publishing institution.

Article Retractation Policy

Regarding the eventuality of retractation against the publications included in the Eleuthera Journal, which consists of the possibility of invalidating or annulling, in whole or in part, what was said or included previously in a copy of it, the Universidad de Caldas establishes the following policy.

Eleuthera Journal is strictly protected by the guidelines given by COPE regarding the grounds for retractation for the articles published in it. The general causes of retraction for publications will be:

1. Non-compliance with requirements in the editorial process.
2. The proven falseness of information with which the editorial process was carried out.
3. The verification of bad editorial practices by the authors.
4. Failure to comply with ethical principles to be observed.
5. Inclusion of inaccurate or imprecise information in a deliberate manner.

Article Retraction Policy

Retraction, as the action of withdrawing, reducing or refuting something, expresses the power that assists the author of a work or article to manifest their will to cancel or reverse what has been said or recorded previously.  It is manifested in a practical way and in the possibility of the author to let his readers know by the same means by which the article or work to which he withdrew was made known. Retraction is a personal fact derived from the autonomy of the author's will and from his thought and reflection processes.

Procedure for retractation and retraction

For cases of retractation and retraction under which it is intended to invalidate or cancel, in whole or in part, what was previously said or included in any copy of Eleuthera Journal, as well as to withdraw  or give up a work, article or opinion recorded in it, the author or third party, with demonstrated legal interests, who intends to use this policy must send a written communication to the Journal Editor       making use of his author's quality or sending the evidence on his legal interest for the application, as the case may be. The author will submit the arguments and provide the necessary evidence to request the withdrawal specifying the scope thereof. For cases of retraction, the author will send the note of retraction that must be included for consideration by the Editor and the Editorial Committee

After completing the procedure above, and once verified the documents sent - or after verifying his author's quality in the case of the retraction - the Editor will proceed to expose the case before the Editorial Committee within a term no greater than 10 working days and the Committee will deliberate and decide by voting, under a simple majority (half plus one), on the request. If accepted, the request will be processed within a period no greater than 30 business days.

There will be no appeal against the decision. However, the applicant or other person, with a legitimate interest in the subject, may request retractation or retraction again and provide or improve the evidence previously provided. Any member of the Editorial Committee may request and process the procedure for retractation. In the case of retraction, only the authors or right holders can make the request.

Once decided on the origin of the retractation or retraction this will be done in the following issue of Eleuthera Journal if it is still editorially possible. Otherwise, it will be included in the next edition. For retraction cases, the note provided by the author will be included.

Procedure for duplication

For the duplication of texts, which consists of the possibility of copying or reproducing in a textual form one or more times a content or literary work in a new medium (digital or any other format), Eleuthera Journal welcomes the following general procedure: all editorial material, in respect of which duplication has been requested or determined, will be headed with a note that clearly identifies its duplicate quality and differentiates it from the original.

To carry out this type of reproduction, the applicant must fill out the internal format of request for duplication and send it to the journal mail (see format). The format must be completed by the person in charge of the procedure, even if it is the same journal that determines its need.

Procedure for incorporation of errata

Errata for the Eleuthera Journal publications must be understood as the usual method of editing and posterior revision of every article by means of which all errors that have been detected in a copy of the journal are corrected. For this procedure, it should be considered that, if only part of the article contains an error, it can be rectified later by means of an editorial note or errata.

If an author or any third party, including the staff of the journal, discovers a serious error in the publication, they must communicate it in a written and precise way to the Editorial Committee to amend it through the "errata".

To carry out this type of corrections to the editorial material, once the occurrence of the fact and the way to solve it has been determined, the errata will be included in one of the initial pages of the next issue of the journal if it is still editorially possible. Otherwise, it will be included in the following edition.

Procedure against originality and plagiarism

For the purposes of this policy, originality must be considered from two perspectives: first, as the certainty that the work comes from who claims to be its author; and second, that it be original and different from others previously created. The concept of plagiarism also refers to the fact that the work or article is distinguished from unauthorized copies, falsifications or derivations or the unauthorized or inappropriate use of fragments of other works.

It is the responsibility of the authors to guarantee the originality of the articles contributed to the journal as well as the veracity of the data and results included in them, expressing in a clear and concise manner that the contents are original and have not been copied, invented, distorted or manipulated.

Plagiarism or unauthorized use of other people or third parties’ contents, in all its forms, is totally rejected by Eleuthera Journal. Likewise, multiple or redundant publication are considered serious faults to ethics. The journal uses the Turnitin software that generates a percentage of coincidences with other publications in the field.

The authors will refrain from sending to Eleuthera Journal, texts that have been submitted for consideration at the same time in another journal, being possible to publish contents that extend texts already published or under consideration, if the text on which it is based is duly cited.

As for retractation events, in cases of plagiarism or unauthorized use of other people or third parties duly verified contents, the complainant must send a written communication to the Editor in which he will present the arguments and provide the evidence necessary for his complaint. After having completed the procedure above, and once the documents sent are verified, the Editor will proceed to expose the case before the Editorial Committee within a term not greater than 10 working days. The Committee will decide on its real and effective occurrence and will inform the respective authorities, or those affected.

Conflict of interest events against evaluators

It is the responsibility of the internal and external evaluators of Eleuthera Journal to declare any conflict of interest that may arise in relation to the works submitted to it.

Conflict of interest arise when, in the face of a work put to the consideration of an evaluator or of people who are part of the editorial team, there is a direct personal or professional relationship with the author, enmity, or a relationship of any kind with the research that gave rise to the paper, as well as a deep moral or ethical conflict with the topic examined. In general, members of the editorial team and external evaluators should refrain from reviewing works when they incur any of these or similar situations.

The editorial team of the journal will refrain from selecting evaluators to whom they are aware that they are or may be affected by any of the above situations.

Declaration of confidentiality of evaluators

Always, without exception, whoever makes an evaluation or revision of a work submitted to Eleuthera Journal must consider this as totally confidential until its publication, reason why they will not be able to reveal any aspect of its content or their personal opinions throughout the course of the review process and until the publication is finished.

In no case is it possible to make public or use the information under consideration, as well as details, arguments or interpretations contained in the text under review, either for the evaluators’ own benefit or that of third parties. Only in special and duly justified cases can the evaluator can use the advice of experts on the subject, a circumstance that must be informed the Journal.

Ethical aspects

Where appropriate, an explanation of the procedures followed in the investigation will be included to ensure compliance with the ethical principles and standards of the 1975 Helsinki Declaration and subsequent revisions.

Open Access Policy

This Journal provides free Access to its content through its Web page (http://eleuthera.ucaldas.edu.co/) under the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

The Web contents of Eleuthera Journal are distributed under a Creative Commons Attributions license   

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Revista Eleuthera

This license allows others to distribute, mix, adjust and build from his work even for commercial purposes provided that the original creation authorship be acknowledged.

Privacy statement

Eleuthera Journal authorizes photocopy of articles and texts for academic or internal purposes of the institutions, with proper citation of the source. The names and email addresses entered in this journal will be used exclusively for the purpose the journal stated and are not available for any other purpose or another person.

DOI System

The articles in Eleuthera Journal adhere to the DOI system whereby technical and social infrastructure for the registration and use of identifiers for use in digital networks is established.