Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Publication in STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting contributes to the international body of translation and interpreting research. Because each publication reflects upon the quality of the authors, their supporting institutions, the editor and editorial board, and the publisher, the journal’s editors expect all parties to adhere to the ethical standards outlined below. The journal’s publishing ethics are based on the Code of Ethics for Researchers at the University of Ljubljana. This code sets out standards of ethical behaviour when publishing research (in the section Authorship) and is in line with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. In general, the journal’s ethics are founded on the principles of reliability, honesty, transparency, accountability and respect for others. In particular, the journal’s publication ethics are aligned with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and closely follow the principles set out in COPE’s Core Practices.

The University of Ljubljana Press, as the publisher of STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting, takes seriously its role as guardian of all stages of the publication process and is responsible for maintaining the integrity of past and present scholarship published in the journal. The publisher is committed to ensuring that advertising or other commercial revenues have no influence or impact on editorial decisions. In addition, the journal’s publisher and editorial board will exchange information on publishing ethics with other journals and/or publishers when useful and necessary.

Allegations of Misconduct

In line with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, the publisher and editorial board of STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting will address any allegation of misconduct following the general principles listed below. Further details may be found in subsequent sections.

  • Authors accused of research misconduct shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven.
  • The journal’s publishers and editorial board will carry out a prompt, fair and comprehensive investigation while maintaining accuracy, objectivity and rigour.
  • All parties involved in the investigation will disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may emerge during the investigation.
  • The journal’s publisher and editorial board are committed to seeing all investigations through to a conclusion.
  • Investigations will be conducted in strict confidence to protect the interests of all parties involved.
  • Those that report potential research misconduct (i.e., bona fide whistle-blowers) will be protected during the investigation. Their names and positions will not be disclosed to ensure that their careers are not adversely affected.
  • If an author is accused of research misconduct, they will be given a comprehensive account of the allegations and afforded a fair and impartial process to respond to the allegations and present evidence in their defence.
  • Not only individual authors may be subject to investigation; research institutions with which they are affiliated may also be subject to scrutiny if it is considered that these institutions have contributed to research misconduct.
  • If an allegation of research misconduct is upheld, action will be taken against the authors in question, the severity of which will be in proportion to the alleged offence.
  • If an author or institution is cleared of an allegation of misconduct, appropriate restorative measures will be taken.

Authorship and Contributorship

STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting insists that only those researchers who have made an important and creative contribution to the study reported in the article also be given credit as authors, whereby “important contribution” refers to active involvement in at least one of the following activities: a) conceptualisation of the ideas and the formulation or development of the goals and aims of the research reported in the article; b) data curation; that is, management activities to annotate data, scrub data and maintain research data for initial and later use; c) formal analysis and synthesis of research data; d) data collection and investigation (carrying out experiments); e) development or design of research methodology; f) drafting the article; and g) writing, reviewing and editing the article. The fact that a researcher ‒ for example, a supervisor or a head of a research unit ‒ has simply proofread or edited the research does not qualify that person to be considered a co-author of an article. Not only such guest or honorary authorship, but also invisible or ghost authorship, whereby a researcher who was actively involved in the research for and formulation of the article is not mentioned, is considered unacceptable. It is nevertheless important to acknowledge those who may not meet the criteria for authorship but have nevertheless contributed to the research or the final form of the article. This includes various collaborators, assistants and funders that have financed the research.

Responsibility for certain parts of the research reported in an article may be assigned to a particular author or authors. If this is not specified, all authors are given credit and responsibility for the entire article and the research it reports.

The corresponding author is the author who communicates with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer-review and publication process, and who ensures that: a) all authors are named; b) all authors are listed in the proper order; and c) all authors have seen and approved the manuscript prior to submission. Requests to change the number of authors or the order of authors listed should be sent to the editor of the journal, along with an explanation of why such a change is necessary and an email confirmation from all other co-authors that they agree to the proposed change. When adding or removing authors, the editor will ask for confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Use of Generative AI in Preparing Articles

The use of AI tools to analyse and derive insights from data as part of the research process is permitted, as is the use of AI tools to check grammar, spelling and references.

However, authors may not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process to generate content, but only to improve readability, register and style. If an AI writing assistant is used, the authors should carefully review and edit the output because AI can produce incorrect, incomplete or biased, although plausible-sounding, results. AI and AI-enabled technologies should also not be listed or cited as authors because authorship implies responsibilities that can only be assigned to humans.

Disclosure Instructions

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the reference list. The statement should be placed in a new section titled “Declaration on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing”.

Statement: When writing this article the author(s) used [NAME TOOL] to [REASON]. After using this tool, the author(s) reviewed the text as necessary and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

To safeguard the confidentiality of research submitted to STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting, the journal’s editors do not allow the use of generative AI such as ChatGPT in the manuscript evaluation process.

Complaints and Appeals

How to raise a general concern or make a complaint

If anyone would like to make a complaint about any aspect of the publication process in STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting or is concerned about it, an email can be sent to znanstvena.zalozba@ff.uni-lj.si. The staff of the University of Ljubljana Press at the Faculty of Arts will try to acknowledge receipt of an email within five working days. Please be advised, however, that as a matter of principle the publishing house does not supervise or comment on the editorial decisions of any of the journals published by the University of Ljubljana Press.

The investigation of an alleged complaint will be carried out in accordance with COPE guidelines and will determine whether the required and appropriate procedures have been observed. Before informing the complainant in writing of the outcome of the investigation, the publisher will access and review the submission history, including the correspondence between the editor(s) and author(s), and between the editor(s) and reviewers. In due course, and in accordance with GDPR regulations, the publisher may also contact the author(s), editor(s) and reviewers to obtain further information if needed.

The University of Ljubljana Press aims to resolve issues as quickly as possible, but, depending on the complexity of the issue and the number of authors or institutions involved, investigations may take several weeks or longer. Despite this potentially lengthy process, in the interest of an impartial investigation, we ask all complainants to wait until the process is complete before commenting publicly on the matter.

How to complain about content published in the journal

The investigation of the complaints or concerns regarding the content published in STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting will be conducted confidentially and following COPE guidelines. First, the publisher will carry out an internal investigation, in collaboration with the author(s) and the editor(s) of the journal, to determine whether an external investigation is necessary. Then, if needed, the publisher will contact independent experts, the author’s funding bodies or research institutions. The entire process will be performed in accordance with GDPR regulations.

The University of Ljubljana Press will make every effort to preserve the anonymity of the complainant, but in some cases, when dealing with certain complaints, it may not be possible to do so completely. Complainants will be informed when the investigation has been completed and the appropriate course of action has been determined. Unfortunately, to maintain confidentiality during the process, complainants will not be kept regularly informed of developments in the investigation.

How to appeal against an editorial decision

As explained in greater detail in the section About the Journal > Peer Review Process, the editors have very broad discretion in deciding whether a submission is appropriate for the journal. Many submissions are rejected without external review, and authors receive a very general explanation of the rejection decision. These decisions are final and cannot be formally appealed.

If the manuscript has undergone a peer review process and has been rejected, and the author of the manuscript believes that the rejection was not in accordance with the policies and procedures of the journal, the author may appeal to the editor-in-chief by sending a detailed response to the comments of the reviewers and editors. If the editor-in-chief determines that the rejection was made in accordance with the editorial criteria, then the decision to reject the manuscript will be final. Please note that the staff of the University of Ljubljana Press has no authority to overrule the editor-in-chief’s decision in this matter.

How to appeal against a post-publication corrective action

If a published article contains significant errors or inaccuracies that may or may not result from plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of findings, the editor-in-chief will, in accordance with the COPE guidelines and following consultation with the University of Ljubljana Press, decide on the necessary corrective action to be taken to maintain the high ethical standards of the journal and the accuracy of the content published in it. The editor-in-chief will then determine whether the published article should be retracted, whether some other corrective action should be taken or whether a notice should be published in the journal. If the author(s) concerned provide new evidence, they may appeal against this decision to the University of Ljubljana Press staff. The University of Ljubljana Press staff may seek input from the journal editors or editorial board, or they may engage external advisors, before making a final decision, which is not open to appeal.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All sources of financial support for projects or research reported in the article must be disclosed. It is also the responsibility of authors to disclose at the earliest possible stage any financial or other significant conflicts of interest that might be perceived as influencing the findings or interpretation of their manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include employment, consultancy work, share ownership, fees for expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

If competing interests are identified following the publication of an article, even years after its initial release, the authors are required to publish corrections in the journal. Failure to do so may result in corrective measures being taken by the editors and the publisher, including expression of concern or retraction of the article.

Data Access and Retention

STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting is committed to maintaining transparency in research and encouraging reproducibility. Therefore, we encourage authors submitting articles to the journal to make their research data openly available, accessible and citable while ensuring that data sharing is conducted in an ethical and legally appropriate manner. Authors who are able to share their data should thus provide a link to a public data repository where their research data are available and cite the data in their research. If authors cannot share their data, they should make a statement explaining their reasons and keep their data for at least ten years after publication of the article. In some cases, author(s) may have to provide access to data for editorial review during the submission process.

Ethical Oversight

If the article reports on research involving human subjects, it is the responsibility of the author to ensure that the manuscript includes a statement attesting that all procedures were carried out in accordance with relevant laws and institutional policies, and that they were approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent has been obtained for any research involving human subjects. It is of utmost importance that the privacy rights of human subjects be respected at all times.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Fees

STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting is an academic-led and academic-owned diamond open access journal that receives annual support from the Slovene Research Agency and does not charge fees to either authors or readers. As also noted in the section About the Journal, no fees of any kind are charged to authors at any time before, during or after publication.

Author rights and responsibilities

Upon submission of their work to STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting, authors certify that the submitted manuscript, along with all accompanying material, is their own intellectual property and that the copyright has not been transferred to any other party. Furthermore, the authors certify that their manuscript does not contain any plagiarism, fabrication, falsification or manipulated citations, and that it complies with the journal authorship policy. If the submitted manuscript contains any copyrighted materials, such as tables, figures, data or text, it is the responsibility of the authors to obtain permission from the relevant copyright holders prior to the manuscript being submitted for consideration. In the event of claims by third parties, the authors shall assume responsibility for safeguarding the interests of the publisher and shall indemnify the publisher against any damages or costs incurred.

Upon publication, the authors retain copyright to their article and grant the journal the right of first publication. Simultaneously, the authors license their article under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the article provided that they acknowledge its authorship and original publication in the journal in question. For further details, please refer to the section Submissions.

Authors agree to keep confidential all communications, comments or reports between authors and reviewers or editors.

Editorial team responsibilities

The intellectual property of all review comments and reports remains with the reviewer or editor.

Reviewers and editors agree to maintain confidentiality with regard to all communications, comments or reports between authors and reviewers or editors, including all manuscripts, revisions and drafts. The exception to this is the final published article(s), which may be discussed openly.

Post-Publication Discussion Policy

STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting acknowledges the value of and is open to post-publication discussions on published research. The editors will review comments and discuss them with the corresponding author and peer reviewers if necessary. The final outcome of these investigations may take a variety of forms: it may range from a private response, to the publication of a note or short communication about the article in the journal, to the correction of parts of the article with or without public announcement and, in some very exceptional circumstances, to removal of the article from the journal. An email will be sent to the corresponding author and reviewers outlining all considerations and criteria for the final decision. If necessary, the matter will be published in the journal for public notice.

Retraction Policy

Due to legal restrictions imposed by the publisher, the copyright holder or the author(s), STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting will retract articles in cases of proven multiple submissions, false claims of authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, falsification or any other gross violation of publication ethics.

A retraction may also be published in rare cases in which an article contains multiple serious errors that cannot be remedied by publishing corrections. A retraction may be published by the editor-in-chief, the editorial board or the author(s), or by all these parties together.

Duties of Authors

It is the responsibility of the authors:

  1. to ensure transparency regarding their own status and that of any other co-authors. Only those who have made a substantial contribution to the conceptualisation, design, execution, analysis, interpretation and presentation of the findings in an article should be acknowledged as authors. For further details, please refer to the section Authorship and Contributorship.
  2. to accurately report the research carried out and objectively discuss its significance. Articles should be sufficiently detailed to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unacceptable and will result in corrective action.
  3. not to report the same findings in more than one article. It is unacceptable to submit only slightly changed articles reporting the same research findings to more than one journal. However, authors may submit manuscripts to different journals if they describe different aspects of the findings obtained in a single study and if they explicitly explain how these manuscripts differ from each other.
  4. to provide appropriate acknowledgement of the work of other scholars and researchers. It is considered unethical for authors not to refer to publications that have been influential in the context and relevance of the work reported. Reference to information obtained privately or through social media, such as forum discussions, private conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties, should not be made without the explicit written permission of the source. No reference should be made to information obtained through the peer-review process (e.g., peer-reviewed manuscripts or grant applications) without first obtaining explicit permission from the authors of such documents.
  5. to immediately inform the editor-in-chief or publisher of the journal if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in the published article, and to work with the editors and publisher to correct or even retract the article. If a third party informs the publisher or editors that the author’s article contains a significant error, the author must either provide further evidence of the accuracy of the original article, correct the article or retract it. Occasionally, although rarely, the editors may correct or retract the article themselves.
  6. to submit only articles that are the original work of the author(s). Author(s) may include the work of others in their manuscript only if the source material is appropriately cited. Plagiarism in any form, such as copying the exact words or paraphrasing parts of a work (including figures, tables or other graphic representations of data) of the same authors (self-plagiarism) or of other researchers without attribution, presenting such work as one’s own or claiming the findings of someone else’s research as one’s own, is unacceptable and will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article. Authors should note that plagiarism is considered a violation of copyright law and is punishable by law. It is not considered plagiarism if manuscripts submitted for publication report on work that was already presented in venues or outlets with limited circulation, such as symposiums or conferences or as part of a student’s thesis or dissertation, provided that the earlier work is properly cited.

Duties of Editors

It is the responsibility of editors:

  1. to select the articles to be published in the journal. The editors will be guided in their selection by the aims and objectives of the journal, the excellence of the research and the evaluations of the reviewers. In case of doubt, the editors may seek the advice of the international editorial board or other experts and reviewers outside the field to make a decision on publication. If allegations of serious ethical misconduct are made or found, the editors may consult legal experts and make their decision within the limits of the law.
  2. to evaluate manuscripts on the basis of fairness and inclusivity. The editors will process the manuscript and base their decision solely on the research merit of the work and will not be biased by the author’s race, gender, language or dialect, nationality, religious or political orientation, sexual orientation, disability or age.
  3. to treat all manuscripts submitted by the author(s) and correspondence with the author(s) and reviewers as confidential. Editors should disclose information about a submitted manuscript only to potential reviewers, reviewers, the corresponding author, the editorial board and the publisher, as appropriate. Other rules may apply in cases of serious ethical misconduct.
  4. not to use material from an unpublished manuscript without the prior written consent of the author(s).
  5. to recuse themselves from the review process if they have a collaborative, competitive or personal relationship with any of the authors of the submitted manuscript. In such a case, another editor will take over the pre-publication processing of the manuscript.

Duties of Reviewers

It is the responsibility of reviewers:

  1. to decline invitations to review manuscripts that are outside their area of expertise.
  2. to complete their review within the agreed timeframe.
  3. to treat the manuscripts they review as confidential documents and not to show them to or discuss them with others, unless they have obtained permission from the editors. Any ideas, information or other material obtained from unpublished manuscripts should not be used by the reviewers in their own research unless they have obtained prior permission from the authors of the manuscripts.
  4. to be objective in their reviews. Reviewers should refrain from making personal criticisms and should support their views with clear arguments.
  5. to draw attention to any relevant work that has not been cited or properly referenced by the authors.
  6. to draw any ethical issues and potential ethical misconduct to the attention of the editors. Particular attention should be paid to any similarity of the manuscript to other published work that the reviewers are aware of.
  7. to recuse themselves from the peer-review process if they have a collaborative, competitive or personal relationship with any of the authors of the submitted manuscript. In such a case, they must inform the editors, and they will find another reviewer who does not have a conflict of interest with the author(s) of the submitted manuscript.