Code of ethics
The editors of the annual „Sacrum et Decorum. Materiały i studia z historii sztuki sakralnej” follow the standards of COPE – Committee on Publication Ethics, https://publicationethics.org, and acts with regard to them in order to maintain the highest publishing standards and thus eliminate reprehensible and negative practices in the publication of academic texts, i.e.: plagiarism, ghost writing (the participation of uncredited authors in the writing of the article) and guest authorship (attributing authorship to persons who did not participate in the writing of 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 maintain the accepted criteria of conduct contained in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, and COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers – https://publicationethics.org/.
Expectations towards the authors:
1. we accept original and previously unpublished articles thematically related to the profile of the journal, making a significant contribution to the development of Polish and world research on sacred art, sent exclusively to the editorial office of “Sacrum et Decorum”. Texts submitted simultaneously for publication in other journals are going to be rejected.
2. Please complete and sign the declaration below attesting to the authenticity and authorship of the submitted text and/or the possible involvement of other authors, as well as responsibility for the originality of the work, the application of COPE standards and respect for the economic rights of third parties (e.g. regarding the use of illustrative material, etc.) – APPENDIX 1 – AUTHOR’S STATEMENT.
3. In the case of a co-authored article, we require information on the percentage contribution of each author to the writing of the paper, specifying the affiliation of the co-author(s). Authors are also required to submit to the editorial office and include in the text information on the contribution of academic and research institutions, associations and other entities – see APPENDIX NO. 1.
4. The text should be accompanied by: an abstract of the article, five to six keywords and short information about the author, including name, surname, title or degree, place of work, contact details – e-mail address and telephone number. Submitting an article for publication is tantamount to agreeing to the publication of the above data, not only in “Sacrum et Decorum” (paper and online version), but also in scholarly databases with which the magazine cooperates.
5. Please edit the text according to the editorial guidelines available under the TERMS OF PUBLICATION and prepare a separate bibliography according to the stylesheet adopted and used by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego – APPENDIX No. 2.
6. the authors are obliged to follow the reviewers’ comments and take them into account in the final version of the article, which the editors submit to the reviewers for approval. The time for addressing the reviewers’ suggestions and making the appropriate corrections cannot exceed 14 days, beginning from the date of receiving the review by the author.
Obligations of the Editors:
1. We declare that we honour all the personal rights of authors and exercise utmost diligence in preparing articles for publication with regard to translation, language editing of both the Polish and English versions of the article, and printing in order to achieve the best result – content-wise as well as visually – of the published annual. Moreover, we pursue a publishing policy that aims at disseminating the articles on a nationwide and worldwide scale by placing them in national and international scholarly databases.
2. The Editorial Board decides whether an article should be included in the publication plan, taking into account the following criteria: originality of the subject, scholarly quality of the work, relevance for the subject of the journal, contribution to the research in the annual’s subject field.
3. The final decision to publish an article is based on reviews, the opinion of the Academic Board and the Editor-in-Chief. The decision to accept or reject a text is also influenced by the risk of copyright infringement.
4. The Editorial Board shall document all instances of compromising academic integrity, especially breaches and violations of the ethical standards of academic publishing. The Editorial Board will inform the appropriate bodies possessing the power of legal authority over persons not conforming to the applicable standards, of any irregularities noted concerning the practices described above.
5. the members of the Editorial Board shall not disclose information about the article to any other person except the author of the text, the reviewers or the publisher. The Editorial Board shall keep the information about the reviewers of the text secret from the author.
6. Members of the Editorial Board or reviewers may not, without the express consent of the author, use the information obtained during the publication evaluation process in their own research. This provision applies both to rejected articles or extracts thereof and to unsolicited or unpublished texts.
7. The editorial office shall not commission reviews from persons who are in a position of direct professional subordination to authors of texts or in other direct personal or professional relations that could result in a conflict of interests.
Obligations of the Reviewers:
1. After preliminary approval by the editorial team and approval by the Academic Board, the articles are sent for review.
2. At least two independent reviewers (specialists in the subject of the article under review) affiliated elsewhere than with the publisher of “Sacrum et Decorum” (University of Rzeszów) or the academic institution employing the author of the publication shall be appointed to assess each article.
3. In the case of texts by authors with a foreign affiliation, at least one of the reviewers must be affiliated with a foreign institution other than the author’s home country and the country of their employment.
4. In the review process, both authors and reviewers do not know each other’s identities – in accordance with the principles of the double-blind review process. Apart from this practice, the editorial office makes sure when selecting reviewers that there is no conflict of interest between the author and the reviewer.
5. The rules of accepting or rejecting a publication are included in the review form, containing the basic criteria for evaluating the text – APPENDIX NO. 3.
6. The review must be in writing and end with an unequivocal statement either accepting the article for publication or rejecting it.
7. Any selected reviewer who is unable to review an article or is aware that it will not be possible to produce a review quickly, should inform the journal’s editor-in-chief.
8. Reviews should be objective, without personal criticism of the author. The review should be written clearly and supported by relevant arguments.
9. Reviewers are expected to point out the publications that the author has not mentioned or referred to in their article. The reviewer should also inform the Editor of any significant similarity, partial overlap of the content of the reviewed work with any other published work known to them, or suspicion of plagiarism.
10. The review procedure shall be conducted in observance of the principle of confidentiality and shall conditionally allow for the disclosure of a positive opinion containing the reviewer’s comments.
11. The reviewer supports the editor-in-chief in editorial decisions and may also assist the author in improving the paper – via the editorial office and on condition of mutual anonymity.
12. The names of reviewers of individual articles are not revealed even after the publication of the forthcoming volume. Each issue of the annual publishes the list of reviewers co-operating in its publication, but without identifying the articles reviewed by them. The names of reviewers for each volume of “Sacrum et Decorum” are also available on the annual website.
Obligations of the Publisher:
1. The Publisher shall ensure confidentiality and security of personal data processing.
2. The editorial review of an article is an internal document of the Publisher.
3. All reviewed articles must be treated as confidential documents. They may not be shown to or discussed with anyone other than the authorised Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Secretary.
