Ethical guidelines

THĒMIS–Law Review adheres to international standards of scientific management and publication ethics, following the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/) and the Elsevier Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication (https://www.elsevier.com/es-es/about/policies-and-standards/publishing-ethics).

In addition, the present 'Good Practice Guidelines' have been prepared with reference to the Ethical Standards of the Chilean Journal of Literature, the Academic Good Practice Manual of the University of Oxford, and the Ethical Guidelines of the Chilean Journal of Law.

I.   RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITORIAL TEAM

a. To ensure the proper compliance with the editorial standards and processes of THĒMIS, Law Review, guaranteeing that they are carried out fairly, honestly, impartially, transparently, orderly, and in a timely manner.

b. To evaluate and select manuscripts for publication objectively and on the basis of the quality of the article’s content, without regard to any criteria concerning the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or any other personal characteristic.

c. To conduct the peer review process with at least two external and independent reviewers from outside our institution. Reviewers shall be selected taking into account their academic qualifications, expertise in the relevant field of knowledge, and any other considerations that could affect the objectivity and impartiality of the review process.

d. To inform authors in a timely manner of the outcome of the evaluation processes concerning their submissions. Likewise, each member of the Editorial Team has the obligation to keep the status of manuscript editing processes up to date.

e. The Editorial Team has the duty to safeguard the confidentiality of manuscripts and communications among authors, the Editorial Team, reviewers, and other participants in the editorial process. Exceptionally, such information may be shared with other publications for the purpose of investigating a possible breach of publication ethics. The use of unpublished material for any form of personal benefit is considered a serious administrative and ethical misconduct.

f. Members of the Editorial Team are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest, whether personal, political, professional, institutional, or otherwise, that may affect the evaluation of a manuscript. Members of the Editorial Team shall refrain from participating in any part of the editorial process concerning the manuscript in question. Concealing a conflict of interest is considered a serious administrative and ethical misconduct.

g. Members of the Editorial Team must act in good faith in the performance of all their duties. They are required to respect originality standards in the preparation of institutional communications and documents. In this regard, the Editorial Team prepares and periodically publishes reports on editorial processes in a timely and transparent manner.

h. The Editorial Team safeguards the integrity of previous editions through the review and investigation of potential or reported cases of ethical misconduct. To this end, it shall be guided by and act, whenever possible, in accordance with the relevant flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and shall be responsible for publishing the corresponding corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies whenever appropriate.

i. The Editorial Team is responsible for safeguarding the entire collection, archives, and contents of THĒMIS, Law Review, by resorting to digital preservation systems that ensure their continued existence.  

 

II.  AUTHOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES

Originality and Acknowledgment of Sources. The academic research presented by the author must be considered original. By submitting an article for consideration and possible publication, the author agrees that the submitted work has not been published digitally or physically in any other medium. Furthermore, the author must inform the Editorial Team if the manuscript has been previously submitted to another journal, without the need to disclose the context or any comments received during those submissions.

a.  The author declares that, at the time of submitting their article for submission, it is not under review for publication in another journal or book (unpublished). The Editorial Team reserves the right to decide whether to publish the article in our journal in this second case.

b.  Plagiarism refers to the intentional or unintentional reproduction or misrepresentation of another author’s work. The Editorial Team maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism; if detected, the manuscript will be immediately withdrawn from the editorial process.

c.  THĒMIS-Revista de Derecho considers text recycling (self-plagiarism), duplicate publication, and "salami" publication as misconduct in research and publication. Self-plagiarism refers to the reuse of substantial portions of the author’s previously published work within a manuscript submitted to the journal. Even when the original text is properly cited, such reuse must not exceed 25% of the new manuscript. Similarly, if the article derives from, or constitutes an advance of, an academic working paper authored by the same researcher, this must be clearly stated at the beginning of the submitted article.

d.  The author should include only those illustrations that are essential for the readers’ understanding. When the illustrations are not the author’s own, proper credit must be given, and the original source must be duly cited and referenced.

e.  If the submitted text is written by more than one author, the Editorial Team understands that the author who submits the work to the journal (corresponding author) is the author.

f.  Authors must declare any conflicts of interest, whether financial or personal, that they may have received from entities or individuals in the preparation of their work.

g.  Authors are responsible for the content presented in their work, both published and submitted. Furthermore, it is assumed that the content submitted by the author was done in good faith and without the intention of harming or benefiting any specific entity, unless otherwise verified.

i.  THĒMIS-Revista de Derecho, throughout the editing and editorial formatting process, sends the author several versions of the work. It is the author's responsibility to verify and approve these modifications. The author thus authorizes such changes once the approved text is submitted to the Editorial Team for subsequent publication.

j.  The author must sign a “Letter of Acceptance” granting authorization for the publication of their article in the journal. Through this letter, the author acknowledges the THĒMIS Association’s exclusive rights over the article, particularly regarding its distribution and dissemination, which will be carried out under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.  

 

III.   RESPONSIBILITIES OF PEER REVIEWERS  

a.  Academic reviewers must treat submitted material confidentially. Therefore, until the work has been published, they must not discuss, comment on, or share the contents or information of the manuscript with others, nor contact the authors without the express authorization of the Editorial Team.

b.  Academic reviewers must evaluate articles based on objective criteria, excluding any personal bias. If they have any conflict of interest related to the author or the subject of the submitted material, they must inform the Editorial Team and decline to review the manuscript.

c.  Academic reviewers agree to comply with the deadlines established by the Editorial Team upon accepting participation in the review process. In exceptional cases, an extension may be requested, subject to the Editorial Team’s approval.