Ethics
Ethics and Best Practice Policies
Sociologia: Journal of the Faculty of Arts, University of Porto is committed to ensuring the scientific quality of the articles it publishes and to ensuring that all those involved in the editorial process adhere to ethical principles appropriate to scientific publication.
The journal is governed by the principles and best practices defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Portuguese Sociological Association (APS), promoting scientific integrity, editorial transparency, academic independence and respect for the rights of authors, reviewers and readers.
All manuscripts submitted to the journal are evaluated through a double-blind peer review process, ensuring the impartiality, confidentiality and scientific rigour of the evaluation.
1. Authorship and Contribution Policy
The authorship of submitted works must reflect exclusively the contributions of individuals who have contributed significantly to the conception, development, drafting and scientific review of the manuscript.
Authors commit to:
Ensuring the originality of the manuscript;
Verifying that the submitted manuscript is not under simultaneous review by another publication and has not been previously published in a scientific journal (without prejudice to the acceptance of versions deposited on preprint servers);
Accurately identifying all sources used in the preparation of the submitted work;
properly acknowledge co-authors’ contributions;
declare the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, where applicable.
The use of Artificial Intelligence tools is permitted only to support the research or writing process and may not replace human intellectual authorship. Authors remain fully responsible for the submitted content.
Practices such as plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, misappropriation of authorship and duplicate submissions constitute serious breaches of scientific ethics that will lead to the rejection of the manuscript or the removal of the published article.
2. Complaints, appeals and editorial procedures
The journal undertakes to handle complaints, reports or appeals in a serious, impartial and confidential manner.
Accordingly, authors, reviewers or readers may submit complaints regarding:
editorial decisions;
peer review processes;
ethical conflicts;
suspected scientific misconduct;
infringement of copyright or intellectual property rights.
The situations reported will be duly analysed by the Management and Editorial Board of Sociologia: Revista da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, and further clarification may be sought from the parties involved whenever necessary. All procedures carried out in the context of complaints or appeals will follow the recommendations of COPE.
3. Conflicts of interest
Authors, reviewers and editors must declare any conflicts of interest that could influence the peer review process, editorial decisions or the interpretation of the results presented.
Conflicts of interest include situations of a financial, institutional, professional, academic, personal and/or ideological nature.
Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts where there is any ethical, professional or personal impediment that compromises the impartiality of the review.
Despite the adoption of a double-blind peer review system, situations may arise where the authorship of manuscripts is indirectly recognised. In such cases, reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest that may compromise their impartiality in the scientific evaluation process.
The journal’s editorial board reserves the right to exclude participants from the editorial process in cases where a conflict of interest is identified.
4. Data sharing and reproducibility
The journal encourages practices of scientific transparency, in particular the provision of data, research materials and relevant methodologies to enable the verification and reproducibility of the results presented, wherever possible and ethically appropriate.
In this context, authors must ensure:
the accuracy and veracity of the data presented;
the correct description of all methodological procedures carried out;
compliance with ethical standards applicable to scientific research, including the protection of personal data and the confidentiality of participants.
In cases where the nature of the research involves ethical, legal or confidentiality restrictions, any limitation on data sharing must be duly justified.
5. Ethical oversight
Submitted manuscripts must comply with the ethical principles applicable to research in the social sciences and humanities.
Where relevant, authors must indicate:
the provision of informed consent;
approval by ethics committees;
compliance with applicable legal and institutional standards;
the measures taken to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants.
The journal will reject papers involving discriminatory practices, violations of fundamental rights or any form of ethical misconduct.
6. Intellectual Property Policy
Authors retain the copyright to their published works, granting the journal the right of first publication.
Sociologia: Revista da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto makes its content available on a permanent open-access basis, promoting the free circulation and dissemination of scientific knowledge.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted materials do not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, including texts, images, tables or other protected content.
Any misuse of protected content may result in the rejection or removal of the published article.
7. Post-publication discussions and corrections
The journal recognises the importance of scientific integrity and is committed to publishing corrections, clarifications, errata or retractions whenever necessary.
Where relevant errors, omissions, ethical issues or evidence of scientific misconduct are identified after publication, the journal’s editorial board will assess the situation and take appropriate action in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Post-publication corrections will be carried out transparently, preserving the journal’s academic and editorial integrity.
