Code of Ethics

Ethical code

The Journal of Communication and Health (RCYS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical behavior in all phases of the publication process. Our commitment is reflected in our adherence to the main industry associations, such as the Publication Ethics Committee (COPE) and Publishing Ethics Elsevier Resource Kit (PERK). These organizations set rigorous standards and provide guidelines that guide us in applying best practices, thus ensuring compliance with those requirements.

This Code of Ethics for the Journal of Communication and Health seeks to ensure that the authors and health professionals maintain high ethical standards in their activities, promoting honesty, responsibility, diversity, quality, and relevance of the information. shared. By adhering to these principles, the aim is to guarantee the integrity of the journal, the trust of readers and the positive impact on public health.

Policy on authorship and contributions

In RCYS, the order of appearance of the authors and the affiliation of the article will be respected, since it is assumed that they have previously agreed to that order and that they understand that they will be responsible as co-authors for the integrity of the information postulated and the criteria expressed.

The journal, as a measure to avoid the exchange of citations and the attribution of authorship that does not correspond, has decided to include in its template for articles the Contributions of the authors section, taking into account the Taxonomy of CRedit , therefore, at the end of the bibliography it must be expose, respecting the proposed structure, all the contributions made by each author, both to the research and to the writing of the article. In the case of articles by a single author, it is invalid, since it is understood that all the related points correspond to the same author.

The journal undertakes to guarantee that all the authors have reviewed and approved the final article before submitting it to the journal. For this, the inclusion of the Letter of Originality is required along with the other files when submitting a paper.

Peer review and editorial quality:

The journal is committed to submitting articles to an impartial and objective peer review process, carried out by experts in the corresponding field. Peer review is a fundamental element to guarantee the quality and accuracy of the contents. The authors must ensure that the articles are evaluated by qualified professionals, who provide constructive feedback and guarantee the excellence of the content before publication. This helps maintain high standards of editorial quality and improve the accuracy and reliability of the information presented in the journal.

Complaints and Appeals Policy

Complaints from authors will be received as long as they are well-founded, which will be addressed as far as possible following the guidelines and diagrams recommended by COPE, as well as the internal regulations of the Journal. In no case will the complaint resolution process involve revealing the identity of reviewers.

The journal is committed to following clear and fair procedures to deal with any claim or appeal related to the publication of articles.

Any claim about an evaluation process will be attended as long as the author or author identifies possible errors in the review carried out. At no time will the aptitude of the reviewer be questioned. Complaints will be directed to the editor, with the respective argumentation and evidence to consider the case. If necessary, the support of the Editorial Committee or one of its members who is an expert on the subject of the article in question will be requested. A response to the claim will be given within a period of up to three months.

The journal is committed to rigorously investigating all complaints and appeals, and taking appropriate action to address any identified issues.

If a claim of plagiarism is received after the publication of an article in RCYS, and this is verified by the Editorial Board of the Journal, that manuscript will be removed from the web page of the published issue and from all repositories and databases. data in which the aforementioned plagiarized text is recorded.

The journal undertakes to publish clear and detailed information on any possible conflict of interest related to the published articles.

 

Journal policy on conflicts of interest

Both the authors and the reviewers and the technical editorial staff of the journal must state if there is any type of conflict of interest of any kind that may affect the performance of the publication, for example, conditions of personal order, employment relationship, financing or support with resources, etc.

The journal undertakes to identify and manage the conflicts of interest of the authors, reviewers and editors, and to avoid any inappropriate influence in the evaluation and publication of the articles.

In the case of the reviewers, they must notify the journal management if they find any impediment that directly affects the ethical conduct to be practiced, such as that the anonymized article was not properly sent or that data is described within the publication that could give to understand whose/who are the signatories of this.

The journal undertakes to publish clear and detailed information on any possible conflict of interest related to the published articles.

 

Policy on data sharing and reproducibility

As part of our commitment to contribute to an increasingly open and free science, we urge our authors to deposit complementary materials or at least the research data underlying the publications in federated open access institutional or thematic repositories in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

The journal is committed to promoting transparency and reproducibility of research, encouraging the sharing of research-relevant data and materials, following international guidelines on data sharing, and ensuring that data is accessible and usable by other researchers and encourage the use of standardized methods and protocols for the reproducibility of research.

Ethical Oversight Policy

Formed by 5 members of its Scientific Committee and renewed every 4 calendar years (since 2010), the Ethics Committee will ensure that positions are brought closer between authors and reviewers in the event of discrepancies, in its capacity as commissioner of the Editor.

The authors can refer to him by email to his address: comunicacionysalud@hisin.org , they will be answered within a maximum period of 30 days from the receipt of the email.

When an irregularity is detected or there are doubts about a proposal, it will act ex officio after its discovery, in order to clarify the situation, applying a corresponding ethical code taking as the British organization COPE ( Committee On publication Ethics , or Committee for Publication Ethics), available on its website: www.publicationethics.org

"Their decisions will be final."

The journal is committed to ensuring that all published research complies with ethical and legal standards, and to require authors to provide proof that they have obtained the approval of the corresponding ethics committees.

Intellectual Property Policy

Authors retain copyright and grant to the journal the right of first publication of the work licensed concurrently under a Creative Commons Attribution License which allows others to share the work as long as both the authorship of the work and the work are acknowledged. the initial publication in this magazine.

Once the article has been published, either in its final version or in the anticipated publication version, the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the journal may be carried out (for example, publishing it in an institutional repository or in a book), with the acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors will be allowed to publish their work in institutional repositories or on their own website once it has been approved for publication, since it can generate productive exchanges, as well as a previous and greater citation of the published work.

The journal undertakes to inform authors of any intellectual property problems identified during the editorial process and to take appropriate measures to resolve them.

 

Policy for post-post discussions and corrections

It is the editorial policy of the journal to consider the refutations that are made of the published works and, where appropriate, publish them, after peer review, provided that they are well founded and motivated, and provide explicit evidence of the error existing in the original article. The review of these rebuttals will be carried out by the same team of reviewers that carried out the evaluation of the original article.

Complaints, disagreements and other issues related to published contributions should be sent to the Principal Editor through the official email of the journal comunicacionysalud@hisin.org . The journal will provide an adequate forum for scientific discussion and debate around the published articles, including the publication of letters to the editor and expert comments.

Here is a summary of these for editors, authors, and reviewers:

 

Responsibilities of the Editor and the Editorial Board

• Ensure the confidentiality of the authors' data in the review process.
• Ensure custody of unaccepted texts and specify how to destroy them.
• Define and explain the criteria for acceptance of articles for review.
• Avoid favorable treatment to the detriment of other authors.
• Have no conflict of interest in relation to the texts presented.
• Do not make any use of the texts or the data presented in them, beyond those of being published.
• Establish clear and objective review criteria to avoid reviewer subjectivity.
• Establish clear deadlines to respond to the authors on the acceptance or non-acceptance of the text.
• Review suspected incidents of plagiarism and resolve any conflict of interest.
• Evaluate manuscripts solely for their intellectual content, regardless of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy.
• Respect for time: the editors are ultimately responsible for compliance with the time limits for reviews and the publication of accepted papers, to ensure rapid dissemination of their results. They irrefutably commit to comply with the published times (maximum 30 days in the estimate/rejection from the receipt of the manuscript in the Review Platform) and maximum 100 days from the start of the scientific review process by experts). Also, the works will not remain accepted without being published in infinite waiting lists beyond the right time for their publication in the next issue. For this reason, job boards on the waiting list will be avoided in RCYS.
• Do not publish works that have not been approved by peer review designated for this purpose in order to maintain an enforceable quality criterion in Journals of high scientific prestige. Thus the author will always know that the fact of publishing clearly supports his research career.

Authors Responsibilities

Honesty and truthfulness in communication:

The authors and health professionals must commit to transmitting accurate, truthful information based on solid scientific evidence. This implies avoiding exaggeration, data manipulation or any form of misinformation that could cause confusion or harm people's health. Honesty and veracity are essential to establish a relationship of trust with readers.

Respect for privacy and confidentiality:

Safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of patients and any related medical or personal information in all communications. Authors must protect the identity and personal data of the individuals mentioned in the articles, making sure to obtain the informed consent of the individuals before disclosing any confidential information. Respect for privacy is essential to preserve trust and respect for patients and the medical profession.

Rigor in research and scientific dissemination:

The published content must be the result of rigorous research, based on solid and recognized scientific methodologies. The authors must guarantee the quality of the research and the veracity of the results presented. In addition, they should avoid promoting treatments or therapies that are not supported by reliable scientific evidence. Scientific rigor is essential to support the credibility of the journal and promote the advancement of communication in the field of health.

Respect for diversity and equity:

Promote inclusive communication, respecting the diversity of opinions, cultures and beliefs, without discrimination based on gender, age, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The authors must be aware of the importance of diversity and equity, promoting communication that reflects the reality of society and that is accessible to all. This implies using inclusive language and avoiding stereotypes or prejudices that can perpetuate inequalities.

Declaration of conflicts of interest:

Transparently disclose any conflicts of interest, such as financial relationships, sponsorships or industry ties, that may influence the objectivity of communications. The authors must be transparent about any possible bias or influence that may affect the impartiality of the published content. This allows readers to assess the objectivity and completeness of the information presented.

Social impact and responsibility:

Consider the impact of communications on public health, avoiding the promotion of harmful practices and ensuring the dissemination of useful and responsible information. The authors must take into account the impact that their communications may have on society and on people's health. They should promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, and awareness of the risks associated with certain practices. Likewise, they must avoid the promotion of information that is misleading or harmful to health.

Contribute to health education and promotion, empowering readers with knowledge and tools to make informed decisions about their well-being. The authors must be agents of positive change in health promotion, providing clear, understandable information based on scientific evidence. They should encourage readers' active participation in their own health care by providing them with reliable resources and guidance.

Reviewers Responsibilities:

Make a fair and objective review of the articles.

Respect for time: The reviewer who does not feel competent in the subject to be reviewed or who cannot finish the evaluation in the scheduled time will immediately notify the editors. The reviewers undertake to evaluate the works in the shortest possible time to respect the delivery deadlines, since in «RCYS» the custody limits of the pending manuscripts are finite and inflexible out of respect for the authors and their works.

Clearly explain the arguments for your assessment.

Do not accept articles for review in which there may be a conflict of interest that limits their objectivity (for example, being an interested party in the research presented in the article, maintaining a personal or family relationship with the authors of the text or be in a situation of dispute against the same or the person or group that presents it).

Maintain the confidentiality of the information and data of the evaluated articles.

Text display: The reviewers undertake to accurately indicate the bibliographical references of fundamental works possibly forgotten by the author. The reviewer must also inform the editors of any similarities or overlaps of the manuscript with other published works.

Evaluate manuscripts solely for their intellectual content, regardless of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy.