Abstract:

The publication of scientific journals requires a high level of quality and rigour that is based, to a large extent, on ethical principles that govern the behaviour of editors, reviewers and authors. These principles are included in the recommendations of the Committee on Ethics in Publications (COPE), the principles of the ALLEA Code of Conduct (European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity) and the DORA Declaration or San Francisco Declaration.

In accordance with these internationally recognized principles, editors of scientific journals must assume the responsibility of promoting editorial practices that guarantee scientific integrity, given their responsibility in the dissemination of knowledge to society and knowledge.

To ensure that scientific journals fulfil their role as effective disseminators of scientific knowledge, in this paper we present a proposal that describes the responsibilities of the editor, first and foremost, and of the agents involved in the editorial process, i.e. the authors, the external reviewers and the scientific committee. Everyone is responsible for the final result, so they must act according to a series of principles that ensure the quality of the editorial process. This proposal also highlights the importance of scientific journals having a code of ethics that must be respected by all agents involved in the journal's editing process.

The main contribution of this proposal is to provide a guide of good practices for editors of scientific journals that respond to the international principles of integrity, responsible authorship, impartiality and honesty in the editorial process.

In the development of the proposal, the functions and responsibilities that the editor of a journal must assume will be described: to attract qualified authors in the subject under study at the international level, to constitute a scientific committee external to the entity as far as possible, to ensure the publication of original and non-duplicated content, etc.

Our presentation, in short, responds to the need to provide a guide to good practices in which ethical commitment and scientific integrity guarantee quality and social impact, which benefit the institution to which the scientific journal is attached.

Keywords:

Ethical commitment, good practices, guide, editor, scientific journal.