Ethical guidelines

Psihologijske teme / Psychological Topics adheres to the guidelines of good practice published in the documents, recommendations, and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE – www.publicationethics.org) and the Declaration of Helsinki on human rights (https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/). If necessary, the journal will take measures in accordance with these guidelines and recommendations.

Adherence to standards of ethical conduct is expected from all participants involved in publishing the journal: editors and editorial board members, reviewers, and authors.

EDITORS

The Editor-in-Chief and all (domestic and international) members of the editorial board of Psihologijske teme / Psychological Topics must perform their duties honestly and professionally. The journal strives to publish original and scientifically valuable papers that significantly contribute to the scientific community, while maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct. Similar standards are expected from our reviewers and authors.

To achieve this goal, all participants in the publishing process are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards. Authors are expected to demonstrate originality and honesty, while editors and reviewers are expected to maintain objectivity and confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

The editor should actively seek the opinions of authors, readers, reviewers, and other editorial board members regarding the improvement of the journal. It is the editor’s duty to support initiatives that will lead to fewer violations of academic rules and to inform researchers about provisions concerning publishing ethics. The journal’s policy should be changed as needed, taking into account new professional and scientific knowledge about journal editing and publishing, as well as the effects of journal policy on the behavior of authors and reviewers.

The editor evaluates manuscripts based on their intellectual content regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, national origin, citizenship, or political beliefs. The editorial board requires transparent declaration of all potential conflicts of interest that could affect objectivity in the publishing process. Conflicts of interest may include financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that could influence manuscript evaluation. When an editor, editorial board member, or employee of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka appears as an author, it is necessary to ensure independent and objective review and to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

The Editor-in-Chief is obliged to examine all complaints about violations of ethical norms and to take appropriate actions to correct any omissions or errors. These measures primarily include communication with the author(s) of the disputed manuscript, but may also include forwarding the complaint to appropriate academic or research institutions. If complaints relate to an unpublished manuscript, its publication may be suspended until the complaint is resolved.

If significant errors or inaccurate data are discovered in a submitted manuscript or published paper, the Editor-in-Chief will correct the errors in cooperation with the authors or prepare and publish an appropriate correction:

▪ when the error originates from the editorial board (Erratum),

▪ when the error is reported by the authors (Corrigendum).

Corrections are published and clearly linked to the original paper.

In the case of more serious errors (e.g., proven scientific fraud, plagiarism, etc.), the Editor-in-Chief may, in accordance with COPE guidelines, decide to retract the disputed paper and issue a retraction notice.

The decision to retract is made by the editorial board in cooperation with the authors and, if necessary, their institutions. The retracted paper remains available with a clear indication that it has been retracted, together with an explanation of the reasons for retraction.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for all papers published in the journal. His/her main duties are as follows:

▪    to recognize the needs of authors and readers and take appropriate steps to meet them;

▪    to establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure the quality of published papers;

▪    to support academic integrity through personal example and work;

▪    to support initiatives aimed at reducing academic misconduct;

▪    to inform researchers and potential authors about publishing ethics;

▪    to be ready to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies when necessary;

▪    to actively work on improving the journal. 

Editor and Editorial Board Members:

▪    should take responsibility for papers published in Psihologijske teme / Psychological Topics;

▪    should make fair and impartial decisions and ensure an unbiased review process;

▪    may discuss a submitted manuscript only with the authors, reviewers, other editorial board members, and the Publisher’s representative, if necessary and in an appropriate manner;

▪    should adopt a publication policy that supports maximum transparency;

▪    should respond to any unethical conduct by reviewers or other editorial board members;

▪    should clearly inform authors and reviewers what is expected of them in the publishing process;

▪    must not use unpublished materials from submitted manuscripts in their own research without the explicit written permission of the authors;

▪    should protect the data and ideas obtained during the publishing process and not use them for personal benefit;

▪    should withdraw from editing or reviewing manuscripts in which there is any form of conflict of interest, which may arise from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected with the manuscript;

▪    in the case of editorial conflicts of interest, should follow the guidelines proposed by COPE;

▪    should take all steps necessary to ensure the high quality of published papers. 

International editorial board members contribute to the development of the journal by:

▪    acting as ambassadors of the journal;

▪    supporting and promoting the journal;

▪    participating in the review process when necessary;

▪    actively seeking and encouraging authors to submit high-quality manuscripts to the journal;

▪    writing editorials or commentaries on topics within their field of interest when necessary;

▪    supporting and improving the journal’s policy.

Conflict of Interest

If the existence of an undisclosed conflict of interest is established, the editorial board will assess its impact on the objectivity of the process and, if necessary, take appropriate measures (assigning a new reviewer, rejection or retraction of the paper). 

REVIEWERS

The peer review process ensures quality control of published papers and plays a key role in ensuring the relevance and contribution of published research. Reviewers are expected to:

▪    assist editors in making publication decisions and help authors improve their work;

▪    inform the editor if they are unable to complete the review within the expected timeframe;

▪    inform the editor if they consider themselves unqualified to review the research described in the anuscript;

▪    treat the manuscript as a confidential document;

▪    conduct reviews objectively and with clear arguments, following the Instructions for Reviewers of Psihologijske teme / Psychological Topics;

▪    identify and notify the author if relevant sources have not been cited;

▪    alert the editor to any substantial similarity between the manuscript and an already published work;

▪    not use information from the manuscript for their own research without the explicit written permission of the authors;

▪    keep information and ideas presented in the manuscript confidential;

▪    not accept for review manuscripts where there is a potential conflict of interest.

Reviewers are also instructed to follow and respect the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers).

AUTHORS

Authors are required to present their research work accurately and objectively, with particular attention to the relevance of the conducted research and the conclusions drawn. The paper should include sufficient detail and references to enable replication. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are completely unacceptable.

Authors are expected to:

▪    provide access to collected data upon the editor’s request and store research data in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Code of Ethics of the Croatian Psychological Chamber (https://www.psiholoska-komora.hr/dokumenti/Kodeks_etike_psiholoske_djelatnosti_nn_13_2005.pdf-45f091d9b9dcdb6dcab8c81dd53a936a.pdf) and the Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/); at the same time, authors are strongly encouraged to make their data and analysis code publicly available;

▪    ensure the originality of their scientific work;

▪    not plagiarize in any form, including presenting others’ work as their own, copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of others’ work (without citing original authors), and self-plagiarism;

▪    not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal; simultaneous submission is considered unethical;

▪    properly acknowledge the work of other authors and cite sources that significantly influenced the research;

▪    limit authorship and co-authorship only to individuals who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research;

▪    clearly state any potential financial or other significant conflicts of interest that could influence the results or their interpretation;

▪    inform the editor or publisher if they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work and cooperate in correcting it;

▪    accept open-access publishing conditions by signing the copyright agreement; the article will be published under Open Access conditions in accordance with the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA license. Authors retain copyright of their work;

▪    use the official PDF version of the article published in the journal and link to the journal website when distributing their work, whenever possible.

Research Involving Human Participants

▪    Research involving human participants must adhere to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/ The manuscript must state the committee that approved the research. Informed consent must be obtained from all participants or their guardians, and in cases where it was not obtained, authors must clearly explain the reasons.

Research Involving Animals

▪    Authors are expected to follow the “Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments” (ARRIVE guidelines, https://arriveguidelines.org/) in relevant sections of the manuscript, as specified by the ARRIVE guidelines. Manuscripts must include details of all animals involved in the research, including information on appropriate standards of animal welfare, described in the Methods section.