Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Cultura Franca is a peer-reviewed electronic journal. This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the author, the chief editor, the Editorial Board, the peer-reviewer, and the publisher.

1. Duties of Authors

• Reporting Standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper.
• Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.
• Originality and Plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
• Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.
• Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.

2. Duties of Editors

• Fair Play: An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
• Publication Decisions: The editor of a journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published.

3. Duties of Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
• Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
• Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
• Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors.

4. Plagiarism Policy

Cultura Franca utilizes plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) to ensure the originality of submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts found to have an unacceptably high level of similarity with published works will be rejected or returned to the author for revision.

5. Retractions and Corrections

The editors will consider retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern in line with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines. If an error is discovered in a published work, the journal will issue a correction or retraction notice as appropriate.