Ethics and Malpractice

Papers published in PONTES must adhere to the professional and ethical guidelines set by the Editorial Board. These guidelines are guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) standards for the conduct of journal editors(COPE Guidelines) and the expectations set out in the Code of Ethics for Science and Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. All stakeholders contributing to the publication of a paper must agree to the standards of professional and ethical conduct expected.

Duties of the Editorial Committee

The content of the PONTES electronic platform is decided by the editorial board. The committee is responsible for the initial review of the submitted papers, initiating the peer review process, evaluating the reviews, carrying out the editing tasks required for publication and publishing the papers accepted for publication. The Editorial Committee reserves the right to

(1) run through a plagiarism filtering system (PTE Turnitin),

(2) reject a manuscript for formal or substantive deficiencies before the review process has begun.

The publication of written work and the editors' ability to publish may also be limited by the laws on defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism currently in force. The editorial team cannot be held responsible for any shortcomings in the plagiarism filtering system.

The Editorial Board is assisted by a Scientific Advisory Board, whose members participate in the peer review process and make recommendations on the scientific profile and operational activities of the journal.

Fair play: editors will evaluate manuscripts submitted for their intellectual content, regardless of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, or political affiliation.

Confidentiality: editorial staff shall not disclose any information about the manuscript submitted for publication to anyone other than the author, the proofreaders, potential proofreaders, other editorial consultants, or the publisher.

Publication and Conflict of Interest: Papers accepted for publication will be published by the editors. Papers awaiting publication but not yet published and results awaiting publication may not be used by contributors in their research and publication activities.

Tasks of the assessors

Papers are evaluated by two independent and anonymous eviewers (double peer review), who may be members of the Editorial Board and the Scientific Advisory Board or external experts. The journal does not pay any honoraria for reviewing, but will issue a certificate of proofreading upon request. Publication of submitted manuscripts is subject to the reviewers' opinions and, in the case of divergent editorial opinions, the Editorial Board will decide whether to accept or reject the paper. Compliance with formal requirements is a prerequisite for the start of the peer review process.

Contribution to the editorial board's decisions: the referee comments on the submitted manuscripts, recommends their rejection or acceptance, and proposes changes and corrections in the case of papers to be revised. The referee draws the attention of the editors to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any previously published paper of which he/she is aware.

Speed and expertise: reviewers are invited by the Editorial Board, in some cases with the assistance of the Scientific Advisory Board. Reviewers are invited on the basis of their professional expertise. Reviewers may request to be excused after the review has started if they feel that the study under review is outside their research area, if they have a conflict of interest, or if they know that rapid proofreading is impracticable. In the latter cases, the person requesting the waiver must notify the Editorial Board and propose a new reviewer. The reviewer has 4 weeks from the date of acceptance of the review activity to complete the review.

Confidentiality: all manuscripts submitted for review must be treated confidentially by the reviewer, who is not allowed to consult others and may only cite the scientific results after publication.

Objectivity: the referee's opinion must be objective. Criticism of the author's identity is not acceptable. Peer reviewers must provide arguments to support their claims.

Disclosure and conflict of interest: if the reviewer obtains confidential information in the course of the review, he or she must keep it confidential and not use it to his or her own advantage. Reviewers should not review manuscripts which present a conflict of interest with any of the authors or the author's institution.

Obligations of authors

Acceptance of manuscripts is subject to acceptance of and compliance with the publication and ethical guidelines. As the journal can only partially verify compliance with the guidelines, it is the author's responsibility to comply fully with them according to the following standards.

Principles of publication: authors should accurately describe the original research in their papers in a way that allows for critical discussion. Papers should adhere to the formal requirements of the journal, references should be cited, and data and results should be presented in a realistic manner.

Originality and plagiarism: any form of plagiarism is unethical and unacceptable. Authors must ensure that their written work is entirely their own intellectual product. Where authors use the work and/or expressions of others, they must cite and quote them appropriately. The Editorial Board will check the originality of all manuscripts submitted.

Multiple publication: It is unethical and unacceptable to publish a piece of writing with the same text and content in more than one journal.

Authorship: authorship of publications should be limited to those who have made a real and substantial contribution to the conception, design, writing or interpretation of the study. All those who have contributed significantly to the study should be listed as co-authors. The Principal Investigator or first listed author should ensure that all eligible co-authors are included in the manuscript and should ensure that the final version of the study accepted for publication is made available to all co-authors.

Major errors in the published paper: Major errors or inaccuracies can be corrected before and after publication of the manuscript. If the author discovers a substantial error in a published or submitted paper, he/she is obliged to report this fact to the Editorial Committee. The Editor-in-Chief will then allow the correction of the error or the publication of a correction.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Authors are required to disclose to the sources of funding for the research involved in writing the paper, any financial or other potential conflicts of interest that may affect the interpretation of the results.