Best Practice

Anuario Lope de Vega. Texto, literatura, cultura (ALV) is a peer-reviewed journal whose best practice code is inspired by the principles published by COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

It is essential that all parties involved in the process —editors, reviewers, and authors— are aware of and abide by the following code of conduct:

1. Responsibilities of the editors 

  • Decision about publication of submitted materials: After consulting with the editorial board, and once two external reviewers have sent their evaluations (three in case there is a significant discrepancy between the first two), the editors will decide whether or not the articles submitted to the journal will be published. They will apply the same criteria for acceptance or rejection to all articles received, according to the originality, relevance and clarity of the articles. The editors will offer mechanisms for appealing against editorial decisions before the editorial board, and they will make clear what is expected from authors and submitted articles in a complete and timely manner.
  • Non-discrimination: The editors examine all articles submitted for publication without discrimination of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, country of origin or political orientation of the authors.
  • Confidentiality: the editors and the staff of ALV ensure that information regarding submitted articles will be discussed exclusively with the authors and the reviewers. The editors guarantee that the authors’ and reviewers’ anonymity is preserved throughout the process in all cases.
  • Conflict of interest: The editors ensure that they will not use any submitted materials for their own research purposes without written consent from the authors.
  • Correction of errors: The editors will publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.

2. Responsibilities of the reviewers 

  • Editorial decision: The peer-reviewed system of evaluation assists the editors and the editorial board in taking adequate decisions regarding submitted materials, and helps authors to improve their work.
  • Respect of deadlines: Once an article is accepted for review, the reviewers will respect the established deadline; in case they think they will not be able to respect the deadline, they will inform the editors in a timely manner.
  • Confidentiality: Articles submitted for revision are considered confidential documents, therefore the reviewers will not discuss them with anyone without the editors’ written consent.
  • Objectivity: The revision will be made observing complete objectivity; personal opinions about the authors will be considered inappropriate; the reviewers will clearly explain their opinions about the articles.
  • Related publications: The reviewers will provide precise references of works that are important for the argument examined but are not cited in the articles; the reviewers will inform the editors about possible similarities or overlaps between the submitted articles and other works.
  • Conflict of interest: Any reserved piece of information obtained in the course of the evaluation process will be considered confidential and will not be used for personal purposes; the reviewers will not accept articles for review that could create a conflict of interest due to relationships of collaboration or competition with the author or the author’s institution.
  • For specific details about the process of evaluation, please see the section “Proceso de revisión por pares”.

3. Responsibilities of the authors 

  • Access to and preservation of data: The authors will explain, when asked by the editors, which sources or data provide the basis for the research; such data will be kept for a reasonable period of time after the article is published, and could be revealed if necessary.
  • Plagiarism and originality: The authors will declare that the articles submitted to the journal are original in every part, and that all used sources are adequately cited.
  • Multiple, duplicate or conflicting publications: The authors will not submit articles that explain the same results of research to more than one journal. Sending the same text simultaneously to more than one publication constitutes a reprehensible and unacceptable behavior.
  • Acknowledgment of sources: The authors will provide in all cases the correct references for all cited sources.
  • Authorship: Articles submitted for publication will be correctly attributed to their author(s) and to any other person(s) who might have significantly collaborated in planning, organizing, producing or processing the research the article is based on. In case of co-authorship, the author who submits the article will explicitly state that the article includes the names of all authors, and that all of them have approved the final version of the article, and have given permission for its publication in ALV.
  • Conflict of interest: The authors will explicitly state that no conflict of interest has influenced the results of the research or the proposed interpretations. The authors will indicate their sources of finance and the research project where the article belongs.
  • Errors in published articles: In case an author identifies an error or relevant inaccuracy in a published article, he/she will inform the editors and provide them with all the necessary information for them to publish the appropriate corrections.