Política Ética

Boletín Geográfico Ethical Policy

The journal has a set of ethical guidelines that outline the responsibilities and behaviors of editors, authors, and peer reviewers.

The following guidelines are based on those published by COPE, and the journals Meteorológica, Mundo Agrario, and Antípoda.

Publication Policy

Boletín Geográfico publishes works describing results of unpublished research in the areas of Social Sciences, Geography, and Earth Sciences, extensive reviews on a particular topic in the aforementioned areas, and notes describing new tools or datasets. Only original material that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, except in the form of an abstract, extended abstract, or work published in conference proceedings, is accepted.

Authors retain copyright to their work published in Boletín Geográfico, granting a (non-exclusive) rights transfer to the journal.

Previous Publication

Boletín Geográfico will not accept material that has been previously published in any other form and publicly distributed.

Any material available through a library, in paper or electronic format, is considered previous publication, except for the following:

Oral presentations or posters at scientific meetings

Abstracts or extended abstracts at scientific meetings

Undergraduate theses

Any other online publication in Spanish, English, Portuguese, or any other language that can be publicly cited and consulted constitutes previous publication.

Other considerations will be discerned by the editors.

In case it is found at the time of submission that the work has been previously presented, it will be rejected. If this is detected after its publication in Boletín Geográfico, the article may be withdrawn from the journal.

Dual Submissions

The journal will not consider for publication manuscripts that are under review in another peer-reviewed journal. However, manuscripts that have been rejected by other journals with completed previous evaluation processes will be accepted.

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Boletín Geográfico does not accept plagiarism and self-plagiarism, considering them serious ethical violations.

If copies from other sources are detected without clarification and citation of the original source, it will be considered plagiarism, whether this situation arises from the works of other authors or from the same author of the article with their previous publications (self-plagiarism).

If parts of sentences, tables, or figures from other sources are included, they must be quoted and cited, even if some aspects of the text are modified (such as changing some words or verb tenses, etc.).

For quotations longer than a paragraph or figures or tables from previous works, permission must be obtained from the copyright owner.

In cases of plagiarism detection and depending on its length, the editorial team will decide whether to suggest the inclusion of the relevant citations or reject the article. In cases where plagiarism is detected after the article's inclusion in the journal, the article may be withdrawn.

Fabrication of Data and/or Results

The Department of Geography of the National University of Comahue and the Boletín Geográfico journal do not accept the fabrication and manipulation of data and/or results described in a work and consider it a serious ethical violation. If such fabrications are reported, the work will be rejected, and if detected after its publication, the work may be withdrawn from the journal. Results of numerical or mathematical models are not included in this item.

Falsification is the manipulation of research elements, equipment, processes, or the intentional omission of data or results, resulting in the research not being accurately represented in the manuscript or research records. Falsification does not include errors in interpretation, unintentional errors in data recording, selection, or analysis of data, or differences in criteria or opinion regarding data interpretation. (http://www.meteorologica.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/politica_de_publicacion-2.pdf, accessed 10/06/19)

Electronic Correction

Boletín Geográfico's electronic correction policy.

Corrections will be made to files when errors are detected or any of the situations described in this code regarding published works, requiring total or partial modification of said articles.

Errata: In case an error affects the integrity of the published work, the reputation of the authors, or the journal, this mechanism can be used. The error source will be indicated on the journal's website, stating how this error affects the conclusions and discussion presented in the originally published version of the work. These articles will be clearly identified in their electronic version on the journal's website.

Retraction: Retraction involves the withdrawal of a published work due to the invalidity of its results or conclusions. In this case, the author(s) of the work must sign a retraction request, indicating the error and describing how it affects the work and its conclusions. If the authors do not unanimously agree to request retraction, the editor-in-chief will consult the Editorial Committee to decide whether a correction or retraction is most appropriate. The retraction note will be added to the work, clearly indicating the reasons for the retraction. In particular, it should be indicated whether the retraction is due to an ethical violation (e.g., plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification) or if it is due to unintentional errors made by the authors during the research. All articles associated with a retraction will be properly identified in their published electronic version on the journal's website. Reasons for retraction include (but are not limited to) clear evidence that the results and/or conclusions are unreliable either due to an ethical violation or due to unintentional errors committed during the research process. Minor corrections introduced to articles that do not affect the scientific content or conclusions obtained therein (e.g., replacing a figure with a version of the same with higher resolution or minor corrections in figure captions) may be introduced by the journal without a formal notification.

(http://www.meteorologica.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/politica_de_publicacion-2.pdf, accessed 10/06/19)

Editorial Team Responsibility

It is composed of an editorial team and an Academic Committee of Evaluators.

It ensures an efficient review process and informs authors promptly of the process their article is undergoing.

The final decision on the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript is made considering the recommendations derived from the evaluation process and the editorial review of the article, with reference to quality, importance, relevance, originality, and contribution to the discipline criteria.

Any conflict of interest that may arise in the article evaluation process between authors and evaluators is identified.

It respects the intellectual position and ideas expressed by the author in their manuscript.

Evaluator search is carried out considering their academic trajectory, knowledge, and production in the subject to be evaluated, and their anonymity is guaranteed during the evaluation process.

The use of referees proposed by an author is considered, ensuring that the opinion expressed is objective. Referees requested by an author not to be consulted will not be considered unless impartial arbitration can be guaranteed.

In the case of papers submitted by members of the editorial team who wish to submit them for evaluation, they must be submitted to another member of the Editorial Team to select referees.

Editors cannot use information from received articles in any of their calls for the benefit of their own research.

It undertakes to respond diligently to requests for retraction, correction, claims, and clarifications, ensuring the conduct of an appropriate investigation aimed at the swift resolution of a problem.

It is responsible for making corrections and/or clarifications on the Journal's website when inaccuracies or errors in published content are recognized.

It defines and continuously reviews editorial policies to ensure that the Journal complies with standards that allow its positioning as an academic publication with national and international recognition.

It is responsible for the dissemination and distribution of published content among authors, evaluators, and entities with which exchange agreements have been established, as well as among repositories and indexing systems, nationally and internationally, at agreed times.

When the Journal is interested in reproducing a previously published article, it undertakes to request the corresponding authorization from the author and the publisher where it first appeared.

Author Responsibility

Articles submitted to the Journal must be original and unpublished and must not be simultaneously under evaluation or have editorial commitments with another publication.

They are responsible for the ideas expressed in their article. In the assignment of copyright, they must explicitly state that the text is their own and that the intellectual property rights of third parties are respected.

They must request authorizations to use, reproduce, and print material that is not their property/authorship (tables, graphics, maps, diagrams, photographs, etc.).

When using ideas that are not their own, they must acknowledge the respective credits to their author and make correct citation and reference, according to copyright regulations. Otherwise, the author would be considered to be committing plagiarism.

The Journal may qualify the manufacturing of data and/or results as the elaboration of an article without documentation supporting the ideas presented and that suppresses or alters the data presented.

They may incur an ethical violation when submitting a manuscript that has already been published by the author, without citing the previous publication and without demonstrating new advances over what was published (self-plagiarism).

When they wish to reproduce, translate, and publish an article published in the Journal, they must request authorization from the Editorial Team.

They must not suggest evaluators with whom the author or authors have had collaborative work.

They must declare all sources of funding and any existing conflict of interest.

They must give credit to all participants in the work, and those who have significantly contributed to the research must be considered as co-authors. Likewise, authors who have not contributed directly to the preparation of the manuscript should not be included.

They must ensure that the article does not contain personal criticism of other academics. If criticism of other works is made, it must be clearly justified.

In cases where the research involved the use of animals or humans, a statement indicating the experimental method, informed consent for experimentation with humans, and the names of the institutions that approved the experiments must be attached.

Responsibility of the Academic Committee of Evaluators

The Editorial Team sends the article and a form that includes questions with carefully defined criteria to the evaluator, which must be taken into account for the elaboration of the concept.

Evaluate the article objectively, neutrally, and impartially, indicating the aspects that need to be strengthened, and without making personal criticisms in the review.

In case of personal or professional conflict of interest, it must be reported to the editor, who decides whether the evaluator can continue arbitrating the manuscript.

Support and explain clearly the questions raised about the valued research so that the author can have sufficient elements to strengthen their writing.

Communicate to the Editorial Team any similarity between the arbitrated article and another that has already been published.

The evaluator must not use the article under evaluation for the benefit of their research or the work of third parties.

Indicate within the evaluated article and in the concept sent to the Journal when the manuscript contains plagiarism or data falsification that compromises the work of other researchers.

Evaluators are responsible for suggesting acceptance, rejection, or approval with modification of the arbitrated article and sending their concept to the Journal within the agreed deadlines.

Conflict Resolution Policy

Any conflict situation or cases in which authors consider that ethical violations have occurred in the review process will be referred to the Editorial Committee, which must inform the authorities of the Department of Geography of the National University of Comahue, which will consider the case clearly and expeditiously.