Code of ethics

Code of Ethics of diségno

Biannual journal of the UID – Unione Italiana per il Disegno Scientific Society.

Diségno is a double blind peer-reviewed journal inspired by the code of ethics for scientific publications developed by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

It is necessary that the authors, editor-in-chief, editors and referees know and share the following ethical requirements. Sending a paper to the journal implies the transfer to the same of all rights, and the acceptance of the following clauses.

Decisions on Publication and Duties of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board

-  The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board - Scientific Committee are responsible for making the decision to publish the articles submitted to the Journal. In their decisions they are required to respect the strategies and the editorial and scientific approach of the Journal and are bound by the laws in force regarding defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism.

-  The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board decide the themes of each issue, defining the thematic sections. In making their decisions, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board may rely on:

  1. a) the support of ordinary members of the UID (Unione Italiana per il Disegno), who may indicate issues to be dealt with and, at the Editor-in-Chief’s request, may also act as reviewers.
  2. b) the support of scholars and experts external to the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee (appointed every two years), according to blind peer review procedure.

-  The members of the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee are required to preliminarily evaluate the manuscripts on the basis of their scientific content, without discrimination in regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, scientific, academic or political orientation of the authors.

-  The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee must not disclose any information on the submitted manuscripts to other parties, apart from the authors, reviewers and/or potential reviewers.

-  The unpublished material included in the manuscripts submitted to the Journal must not be employed by members of the Editorial Board in their own research without the author’s written consent.

-  The Editorial Board shall store in a confidential database the results of the refereeing processing of all papers, whether accepted or not for publication.

-  If the Editorial Board detects or receives reports of errors or inaccuracies, conflicts of interest or plagiarism in a published article, it must promptly notify the author and the Editor-in-Chief and take the necessary steps to clarify the matter and, if necessary, withdraw the article or publish a retraction.

Duties of reviewers (peer review)

-  The reviewers assist the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee in making editorial decisions and may indicate to the author corrections and advice for improving the manuscript.

-  The selected reviewer who does not feel qualified to review the manuscript assigned to him, or who knows that he will not able to complete the review within the scheduled time, should notify the Editorial Board of his decision to decline participation in the review process, within 10 days from the date of the invitation to review the paper.

-  Manuscripts submitted for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown or discussed with anyone, except as previously authorized by the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee.         

-  Reviews must be conducted objectively. Reviewers are not allowed to criticize or to personally offend an author. Referees must express their opinions in a transparent manner and with the support of clear and documented arguments. Each statement, observation or argument reported should preferably be accompanied by a corresponding citation.

-  Reviewers should draw the attention of the Editorial Board - Scientific Committee to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge. Information or ideas obtained through the revision of manuscripts must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

-  Reviewers must not accept manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript.

Duties of authors

-  Authors should ensure that their works are completely original and, if the work and/or words of other authors are used, that they are appropriately paraphrased or literally quoted; in any case, any reference to the work of other authors must always be indicated.

-  Authors are obliged to cite all publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the proposed work. Authors of articles based on original research must provide an accurate account of the work performed, as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data must be accurately represented in the manuscript.

-  Manuscripts should contain sufficient details and references to permit others to replicate the research. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

-  Proposed manuscripts should not have been published as copyrighted material in other journals. Manuscripts being reviewed by the journal should not be submitted to other journals for publication. By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) agree that, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, all rights of economic exploitation, without territorial limitations and with all methods and technologies currently existing and/or developed in the future, will be transferred to the Journal's Direction.

-  The literary authorship of the manuscript is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to its conception, planning, execution or interpretation. All those who have made a significant contribution should be listed as co-authors. If there are other persons who have participated in significant aspects of the research project, they should be recognized and listed as contributors in the acknowledgements. The corresponding author should ensure that all the relative co-authors are included in the manuscript, that they have seen and approved the final version of the paper, and have agreed to its submission for publication.

-  Authors must ensure the originality and/or the free publication of the images. They are also responsible for ensuring that the images are copyright free. In the event of a legal dispute over the copyright of the images, the authors of the paper shall bear the costs arising from the publication of the images, relieving the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Boards (Scientific and Staff) of any burden. Particular attention must be paid to mention the sources and any works by other authors. The accuracy of each citation must be verified by the author.

-  Authors must indicate in their manuscript all financial conflicts or other types of conflicts of interest that may affect the results or interpretation of their paper. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

-  If an author discovers significant errors or inaccuracies in the published manuscript, he must promptly notify the Journal's Editorial Board or the publisher and cooperate with them in order to retract or correct the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

-  A conflict of interest may exist when an author or his institution, a referee or a member of the Editorial Board has personal or financial relationships that may inappropriately influence their behavior, in terms of judgment, pressures or evaluations. This conflict may exist even if the individual believes that such relationships do not affect him. The Journal's Direction has the responsibility to handle any conflicts of interest in the best way possible - for example, through the system of double-blind review by anonymous referees - and the authors may be required to make a declaration in regard to the matter.

Originality and plagiarism

The authors should ensure that the submitted work is entirely original and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that these have been appropriately cited or quoted. All forms of plagiarism constitute unacceptable unethical behavior.