Ethical code
OBJECTIVES OF THE JOURNAL
1. The Journal Il Diritto degli affari, included in the list of scientific journals maintained by ANVUR, collects writings, essays, materials and tools on the legal regulation of contemporary economic reality through documentation and in-depth study of the most diverse sources in their evolution.
OPEN ACCESS POLICY
2. The Journal declares that it adheres to the Open Access policy, making Authors' contributions available immediately to anyone on the Internet, with no need to register on the Journal's website and no embargo period.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
3. Writings may be submitted by authors to the Journal via email to be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at ildirittodegliaffari@gmail.com
4. The evaluation, review process and publication of contributions are free of charge.
DUTIES OF THE PUBLISHER
5. The Publisher provides the Journal with adequate resources as well as guidance from experts (e.g., for graphic design, legal, etc.) so that it can carry out its role professionally and increase the quality of the periodical.
6. The Publisher is concerned with finalizing a contract that defines their relationship with the Journal owner and/or Editor-in-Chief. The terms of said contract must be in line with the Code of Conduct for Publishers of Scientific Journals developed by COPE. The relationship between the Publisher and the editorial bodies of the Journal and the Publisher must be firmly based on the principle of editorial independence.
EDITORIAL BODIES OF THE JOURNAL
7. The editorial bodies of the Journal are the Editor-in-Chief, the Steering Committee, the Managing Editor, the Editorial Board, and the Scientific Committee.
8. The editorial bodies of the Journal are supported by the Secretariat, with secretarial and editing functions.
DUTIES OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, STEERING COMMITTEE BOARD AND MANAGING EDITOR
9. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding whether or not to publish the authors' proposed contributions.
10. The Editor-in-Chief, members of the Steering Committee, or the Managing Editor preliminarily evaluate contributions proposed for publication on the basis of their scientific content.
11. The decision to accept or reject a contribution for publication is based solely on the importance, originality and clarity of the text and relevance to the interests and issues of the Journal.
12. In any case, the Editor-in-Chief, members of the Steering Committee, and the Managing Editor are bound by a duty of confidentiality regarding the evaluations and judgments made regarding articles submitted to the Journal. In all cases, the assessment of whether or not to publish an article is conducted without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political orientation of the authors.
13. If a member of the editorial bodies of the Journal detects reports of mistakes or inaccuracies, he or she will promptly notify the Author and the Editor-in-Chief, who will take the necessary action and, where appropriate, the corrections will be published, which will be accounted for in the next issue to be issued or, in the most serious cases, the publication will be withdrawn, giving notice in the first useful issue and on the website of the Journal and removing the publication from the databases of the Journal.
EDITORIAL BOARD
14. The Editorial Board contributes to the editorial activity of the Journal, particularly by identifying jurisprudential decisions worthy of reporting in the Jurisprudence - Observatory Section and its members can be involved in the procedure for the management of conflicts of interests under Point 51.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
15. The Scientific Committee consists in Italian or foreign scholars of recognized expertise, upon approval by the Steering Committee, with functions to ensure the prestige of the Journal.
REVIEW PROCESS
16. The review process applies the double blind peer review model and is guided by the criteria of transparency, auditor autonomy and absence of conflicts of interest.
17. Scholars and experts who have given their willingness to serve as referees, after verification of their competence by the Editor-in-Chief and the Steering Committee, are included in the Reviewer’ List, which does not constitute a body of the Journal, but represents the list from which the Reviewers are identified, in rotation and according to their respective competencies.
18. The list of Reviewers is public on the Journal's website and in each issue to allow reviewers' selection criteria to be verified and ensure transparency in the process.
19. Availability to carry out the review process implies acceptance of this Code of Ethics and the duties it provides for the Reviewer.
20. The Editor-in-Chief will anonymously submit publication proposals, which have passed a prior screening by the Editor-in-Chief himself, the Steering Committee or the Managing Editor, to two reviewers, who will themselves remain anonymous.
21. The review process must be conducted objectively.
22. The Reviewers may give favourable opinion on publication; give opinion against publication; make favourable opinion subject to the acceptance of suggestions, aimed at improving the publication.
23. Within 15 days of the request to be available for refereeing, the Reviewers will send the filled in review form to the Editor-in-Chief, who will retain it, or they will promptly notify if they do not feel adequate for the proposed task or if they know they cannot proceed with the review in the requested time, so that another Reviewer will be identified.
24. In the event that the Reviewer's opinion is not rendered within the allotted time, the Editor-in-Chief may substitute him/her.
25. The Reviewers' opinions and any suggestions for changes will be communicated by email to the Author, ensuring the Reviewers' anonymity. If the Author decides to comply with the Reviewers' suggested changes, he/she will resubmit the revised contribution to the Editor-in-Chief, who, if appropriate assisted by the Steering Committee or the Managing Editor, will consider whether to resubmit it for review or initiate it for publication.
26. In case of a negative opinion by even one of the Reviewers the paper proposed for publication will not be published.
27. Final acceptance of publication proposals is subject to the final opinion of the Editor-in-Chief.
28. In case the Editor-in-Chief is the author of the contribution, the selection and sending to the reviewers and the final opinion on the publication will be up to the Steering Committee.
29. Any text assigned for reading to the Reviewer should be considered confidential.
PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING DISPUTES CONCERNING THE PUBLISHING OF CONTRIBUTIONS
30. Any disputes concerning the application of referral procedures and/or the outcome of decisions concerning preliminary assessment and/or referral are discussed by the Editor-in-Chief with those directly involved.
DUTIES OF AUTHORS
31. The Author should not publish contributions describing the same research in more than one journal and should not submit the same text to more than one journal at the same time.
32. The authorship of the work must be correctly attributed and all those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, organization, implementation, and reworking of the research underlying the article must be indicated as co-authors. In the case of contributions written by more than one author, the author sending the text to the Journal is required to declare that the names of all other co-authors are correctly indicated, that he/she has obtained their approval of the final version of the article and their written consent to publication in the Journal.
33. Authors must declare that there are no conflicts of interest that might have influenced the results achieved or the interpretations proposed, and are also required to inform the Journal of any funding bodies of the research and/or project from which the contribution stems that might have influenced its content.
34. Research must be conducted according to the ethical standards set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki.
MEANS OF DEALING WITH PRACTICES CONTRARY TO SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY AND POLICIES FOR OVERSEEING ETHICAL ASPECTS OF RESEARCH PRACTICES
35. Major practices contrary to scientific integrity include fabrication and falsification of research data and plagiarism (i.e., reproduction from previously published work without quotation marks and/or mention of the source, falsification of data).
36. Misconduct and violations of good research practice are to be considered violations of the Journal's Code of Ethics.
37. Anyone, internal or external to the editorial bodies of the Journal, who detects the existence of misconduct in the research activity which involves a member of the editorial bodies, an Author or Reviewer or, in any case, a person who, in any capacity, collaborates with the Journal, is invited to report the factual circumstances, accompanied by appropriate documentation, to the Steering Committee by email to ildirittodegliaffari@gmail.com and/or to the email of the Publisher info@e-p-a-p.com.
38. The Steering Committee carries out a preliminary investigation about the misconduct, implementing the following steps, after hearing the person concerned, and if it finds the misconduct it may order the non-publication of the contribution at any stage. If the recurrence of practices contrary to scientific integrity is ascertained after publication, the publication will be withdrawn, giving notice of it in the first useful issue and on the website of the Journal and removing the publication from the databases of the Journal.
39. The author(s) harmed by the said practices are notified of what has been ascertained, so that they can take the proper determinations to protect his/their interests.
40. The Steering Committee oversees and ensures the ethical aspects of research practices. The Journal promotes and disseminates good research practices in accordance with the principles of solidarity, equality and non-discrimination, promotion of culture and freedom of intellectual research guaranteed by the Constitution.
PROCEDURES IN PLACE TO ALLOW PUBLICITY FOR THE ENSUING DEBATE
41. The Review encourages initiatives to create, enhance and institutionalize debate following the publication of contributions in Review.
42. All editorial bodies of the Journal are actively engaged in stimulating the production of letters to the Editor and/or Editor-in-Chief and the submission of further contributions.
43. Publication of letters to the Journal and submission of other contributions related to a publication is done at no cost in the appropriate section of the Journal's website.
PROCEDURES PROVIDED FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
44. A conflict of interest arises when conditions occur that, with respect to the management practices of the Journal, appear likely to affect the impartiality and autonomy of those involved in various capacities in the decision-making processes of the Journal, beginning with the process of evaluation of submitted manuscripts and publication.
45. A conflict of interest may exist when a member of the editorial bodies, an Author or a Reviewer has personal or financial relationships that may inappropriately influence their behaviour, in terms of judgment, pressure, or evaluation. This conflict may exist even if the individual believes that such relationships do not influence him/her.
46. The Author must have no conflicts of interest that might have affected the results achieved, theses advocated, or interpretations proposed. The Author must also indicate the funders, if any, of the research or project from which the article is derived.
47. Reviewers are required not to accept for reading articles for which a conflict of interest emerges due to previous/specific collaborative or competitive relationships with the Author (per se unknown, but nevertheless identified by inference) and/or connections with Authors, entities or institutions related to the manuscript. In case a conflict of interest of a Reviewer emerges, the Editor-in-Chief will arrange for his/her replacement.
48. The Steering Committee may ask the Authors, Reviewers and the members of the editorial bodies or those collaborating with it in various capacities, for a statement to this effect and any additions.
49. In order to transparently, responsibly, and fairly handle various instances of conflict of interest, anyone may report them to the Editor-in-Chief, specifying their nature, terms, origin, and extent.
50. Except as provided in Point 47 above, the Steering Committee, upon analysis of the documentation provided to it, may find that a conflict of interest cannot be remedied. In such a case, the Steering Committee will be authorized to take the necessary measures to protect the good functioning of the Journal, and will communicate its determinations to those concerned.
51. Conflicts of interest involving a member of the Steering Committee will be discussed before the Editor-in-Chief assisted by three members of the Editorial Board, drawn by lot. Conflicts of interest involving the Editor-in-Chief will be discussed before the Steering Committee assisted by three members of the Editorial Board, drawn by lot.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
52. The copyright of contributions published in the Journal remains with the Authors.
Contributions are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) license.
53. Authors undertake to acquire consents and releases for the possible publication of texts, data, images, graphics, included in their contributions, in compliance with current copyright law, customary disciplinary standards and any constraints related to confidentiality rights.