Code of ethics

The editors of the yearbook 'Sacrum et Decorum. Materials and Studies on the History of Sacred Art' is guided by the standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), https://publicationethics.org, and acts in relation to them in order to maintain the highest standards of publishing and thus eliminate reprehensible and negative phenomena in the publication of scientific texts, i.e.: plagiarism, ghost writing (not including people who had a part in writing the article) and guest authorship (attributing authorship to people who did not participate in creating the text).

The principles of publishing ethics listed below apply to authors as well as to reviewers, the editorial team and the publisher, in order to effectively and at every level of editorial work maintain the accepted criteria of conduct contained in: Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (Ethical guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics for reviewers of scientific papers).

I. Suspicion of duplicate publication

The editors of the yearbook 'Sacrum et Decorum. Materials and Studies on the History of Sacred Art' accepts and treats with due seriousness any information that may indicate duplication of a publication.

Duplication is to be understood as substantial and serious repetition, the use of the same data and/or identical or similar research results. A change in the title of the publication, the order of the authors (if there was more than one) or the lack of citation of previous work in the publication in question also supports a finding of duplication.

The editorial team investigates all indications of duplicate publications and informs both the person reporting the misuse and the author(s) of the text suspected of having written a redundant (duplicate) article of its actions.

It is the task of the editorial team to investigate the degree of duplication and to take the following actions - depending on the results of the findings, viz:

1.1. if the author provides an incomplete explanation or admits to having duplicated the publication, the editors of "Sacrum et Decorum" will publish a statement that the publication has been duplicated, as well as inform the editor-in-chief of the magazine in which the text was originally printed and notify the author(s)' superiors, the person reporting the suspicion and the author(s) of the publication,

1.2. if the author provides a satisfactory explanation or proves that there has been an unintentional error in the publication, the editors of 'Sacrum et Decorum' will contact the author(s) of the text in order to clarify once again the conditions of publication, an essential and necessary condition of which is the submission of previously unpublished texts. It will also inform the person reporting the breach of publishing ethics of its actions,

1.3. in the event of a lack of response from the author(s) of a duplicate publication, the editors reserve the right to contact his/her superiors in order to present and explain the situation and, if no contact is possible, to remind them of the issue within a period of 3 to 6 months from the date on which the problem was discovered. The editors also undertake to provide a comprehensive response to the reader who reports a suspected duplicate article.

2. in the case of insignificant coverage of published content, e.g.: "salami publishing", i.e. with minor elements of repetition, legitimate repetition or use of reanalysis or repetition of methods, the editors take the following action:

2.1. the editors contact the author to explain and remind them that secondary works must refer to the original,

2.2. the editors offer the author a correction referring the reader to the original text,

2.3. in justified cases, the editors reserve the right to notify the author's superiors of suspected duplication of the text;

2.4. the editorial office is obliged to respond to the reader reporting a possible duplication of the article.

3. if there are no signs of duplication, the editors shall inform the objector and, at the same time, continue the review process.

II. Suspected plagiarism in a published article

Plagiarism - appropriation of someone else's creative idea, publication of someone else's work under one's own name or literal borrowing from someone else's work published as one's own, also: such appropriated idea, published work or borrowing - after sjp.pwn

The editors of 'Sacrum et Decorum' will note any reports of possible plagiarism by the author(s) of a published article. Once the report has been accepted and the documentation has been collected together with the evidence, it undergoes an analysis in order to check and assess whether and to what extent the work has been copied.

Depending on the results of the check, it takes the following actions:

1. if plagiarism is found, the editors will send a letter to the author(s) of the article, which will include a statement signed by the author(s) of the article, confirming, among other things, the originality of the work, and will also send the relevant documentation proving that someone else's intellectual property has been appropriated,

1.1. if the author of the article admits his/her guilt or gives an incomplete or unclear answer to the problem posed, the editors will decide to withdraw the article and will notify the author, the editor and the publisher of the plagiarised content. This message, together with the reasons for it, shall also be communicated to the author committing the plagiarism, his/her superiors, the person reporting the plagiarised content and all those affected,

1.2. in justified cases, i.e. unintentional error, the editors send a letter to the author of the text reminding him/her to observe the requirements and guidelines concerning editorial ethics and the standards for sound scientific work. Appropriate information with an explanation is also sent to the person reporting the suspected plagiarism and to all concerned,

1.3. if the editors do not receive a response from the author within a specified period of time, they have the right to notify the author's superiors and, in the event of a lack of response from them, make a second attempt within a period of 3 to 6 months. After this time, it shall notify the competent authorities for monitoring scientific fraud.

2. in the event of minor mistakes or the copying of small parts of someone else's text, the editors shall contact the author in order to oblige him/her to include a correction with a link to the original publication. They inform both the author of the plagiarised work and the person reporting the suspected plagiarism of their actions.

III. Changes to the list of authors - adding an author - before publication

The editors of 'Sacrum et Decorum' specify and describe in detail the responsibilities of the author(s) under the tabs: "For authors". As a condition for the successful submission of a text to the editor, an author's statement, available on the website under: "Downloads", identifying the author(s) of the publication.

At the request of the author(s), the editors will consider the possibility of adding another author - after explaining the reasons for the author's previous non-inclusion in the author statement, learning of the circumstances, and consulting with the applicant and the other authors (if any).

1. in the event that an author or all authors agree to be co-opted, the editorial office asks them to complete and sign an author's declaration and asks all authors to specify the percentage of their contribution to the article,

2. upon receipt of the above-mentioned documents, the editors submit the text for review or printing - depending on the stage at which the request to add another author was made,

3. if the authors do not agree to the addition of another author, the review or printing process is halted in order for all authors to resolve the authorship issue (this may be done through their institutions).

IV. Changes to the list of authors - removal of an author prior to publication of an article

The removal of author(s) from the list of authors of a text prior to its publication requires clarification and the written consent of all parties concerned. It is the task of the editors to ascertain the reasons for this by contacting the applicant, the author(s) whose name(s) are to be removed from the publication and the other authors, and in collaboration with them to decide on the matter.

1. if all authors agree to remove an author from the list before the article is published, the editorial office corrects the list of authors and continues the review/printing process - depending on the stage at which the request was made,

2. if one of the authors does not agree to the removal, the editors stop reviewing/printing the text until the authorship issue is resolved,

3. the author(s) objecting to the removal is/are obliged to write to the co-authors or the institutions to which they are affiliated, not to the editors.

V. Changes to the list of authors - request to add another author after the article has been published

Prior to publication, the author(s) are required by the editors to declare that they meet the criteria for authorship and list all persons involved in the article. Therefore, requests to add another author after the content has been published should not arise.

However, if such situations arise, the editors are expected to explain the reasons for the changes in authorship, including investigating why one author was omitted from the submission statements.

Depending on the position of the author(s), the editors may:

1. publish a correction - after obtaining the written consent of all authors to include another author,

2. by written consultation and clarification with all authors and with their agreement, publish the correction,

3. make a request to the institution of the author(s) of the published text - in the absence of the written consent of all the authors mentioned,

4. publish the correction after the institution(s) to which the author(s) belong(s) have resolved the matter.

VI. Changes to the list of authors - request for removal of an author after publication of an article

In the event of a request to remove an author after publication of an article, the editors of 'Sacrum et Decorum' shall clarify with the author the reasons for such a decision, referring to the author's declaration of authorship submitted by the author certifying that he or she meets the criteria for authorship. It also establishes whether the author's decision has been influenced by his or her suspicions of fraud or other dishonest activities.

Depending on the reasons of the author(s), the editors take the following actions:

1. removes the author and publishes a correction, provided the author provides strong arguments justifying the removal and all other authors, including the applicant, agree in writing to this action,

2. if the reason for the removal request is differences in interpretation of the data, the editors suggest the author/authors write a letter to the other authors to clarify the problem. If the author/authors agree to do so, the editors inform the persons concerned and explain the situation to them, asking them to take a position. If both parties express their opinion, the editors will publish both letters in 'Sacrum et Decorum'. Otherwise, it will decide to present the rationale of the author requesting removal,

3. if an author does not accept the editorial office's proposal to publish a letter or writes an unpublishable text, the editorial office may - with the author's and the other authors' consent - make a correction by deleting the author's name.

VII. Rules for dealing with suspected ghost, guest or courtesy authorship

The editors of the yearbook 'Sacrum et Decorum' collect author declarations, which they accept together with the text submitted by the author, in order to establish and confirm the authorship of the person(s) submitting the article and to eliminate practices such as ghost, guest or courtesy authorship.

To better guard against fraudulent activities, the editors also require a statement from the correspondent author of the percentage contribution of each author to the writing of the article.

In the case of ghost authorship, i.e.: the omission of the contribution of a person(s) who played an important role in the development of the article, the editors suggest the author(s) to add another omitted name, based on a written request for permission, addressed to the author(s) of the text. The editors may forward a copy of the above letter to the supervisor(s) of the other authors.

In the event that the list of authors includes a person(s) who did not participate in the development of the article, i.e. who does not meet the criteria for authorship, which will be proven beyond doubt, the editors request the author(s) of the text to remove the guest or courtesy author from the list of authors. However, it may authorise the inclusion of his/her name in the form of an acknowledgement in the text. Removal from the list of authors requires the consent of all parties concerned.

To address any concerns, the editors will contact the other authors of the article to check that none of the contributors to the development of the publication have been omitted and to determine their role in the creation of the article and to find out about potential issues related to acknowledgement of authorship.