Publication ethics
About the reviewers
The reviewers of the Rhetoric and Communications journal review the manuscripts on the basis of their scientific value, regardless of their author’s institutional affiliation, social status, ethnicity, race, political philosophy, or religious beliefs.
For more information on the reviewers’ responsibilities, see the rubrics Reviewing / Reviewing procedure.
About the Editorial Board
The editor-in-chief and members of the Editorial Board of the Rhetoric and Communications journal have the following responsibilities and comply with the following ethical norms and rules:
They discuss submissions for publication and determine the editors responsible for each journal issue on the basis of the editorial staff members’ expertise.
They invite external experts to act as editors responsible for different issues;
They select the editors responsible for each journal issue.
They plan the issues in order to guarantee articles of high scientific quality are published;
They organize and maintain the Editorial Board (21 members by July 2018, who are well-established scientists and researchers from universities in Bulgaria and other countries).
They appoint two independent reviewers for each manuscript received;
They supervise the process of reviewing and publishing the final version of the scientific papers for each issue, thus making sure only high quality articles are published;
They send information to authors;
They supervise the online publishing.
They supervise the maintenance of an archive of abstracts in English published on a separate website (http://journal.rhetoric.bg/) and its links to the main journal website (http://rhetoric.bg/).
Decisions to publish a manuscript are taken by members of the journal editorial board without any external influence.
The editor-in-chief is entitled to determine the thematic content of individual issues of the journal after discussing it with the editorial board.
The editor-in-chief and online editor of the journal have the rights and obligations to set the date for online publishing of approved manuscripts and issues.
About the Editorial Council members:
The Editorial Council of the Rhetoric and Communications journal consists of 12 members, all of whom are representatives of leading universities from 10 countries (excluding Bulgaria).
The Editorial Council members have the following duties and comply with the following ethical norms and rules:
They generate ideas and present proposals and concepts for thematic issues of the journal;
They provide information about scientific achievements, research methods and methodologies related to the main themes of the Rhetoric and Communications journal.
They provide information about significant scientific publications in the field of rhetoric, argumentation, virtual communication, public communication, business communication, media communication, pedagogical communication, intercultural communication, visual research;
They provide information about important scientific events;
They make recommendations with regard to important scientific publications in the journal.
Authors
Authors are responsible for the content of their scientific article, correct in-text citation and list of references to previous scientific publications. Cases of non-reference to scientific texts are considered ethically unacceptable.
Authors are required to ensure that they have written the scientific article and that it is an original manuscript. Authors assume responsibility for the authenticity of the manuscript they have sent.
Authors ensure that they have not send the same manuscript for publication to another journal. If this is done, it is considered unethical behavior on part of the author.
Authors should make well-grounded conclusions.
Authors should summaries clearly results and present scientific proofs.
Plagiarism is seen as unethical behavior.
Citation of scientific publications, legal and administrative documents must be accurate and complete and be consistent with the standards.
Authors are obligated to revise their manuscript according to the findings of the double-blind review process – in connection with the reviewers’ notes, criticism, and advice. Authors have to submit the texts with the relevant additions and revisions in due time.
Authors are involved in the process of preparation and online publication of their manuscript.
They are informed by email about the different stages of publishing their article.
Authors inform the editors in case they establish any errors after their article is published online.
In case a third party informs the editorial board about errors, the respective author withdraws his / her manuscript on proof that there are such errors.
Authors identify and provide the sources used to the editorial board if asked to do so.
Authors have copyrights under legal regulations.
Quotations, citations of scientific sources and scientific interpretations are full responsibility of the Author/s.
On topics related to the citation of scientific sources and scientific interpretations, on which there are different points of view between the contributor and the cited author/authors, subsequent emerging discussions become a liability between the two parties only. Any decisions shall be made between the two parties and in accordance with legal norms and laws and ethical rules. Quotations, citations of scientific sources and scientific interpretations fall under the solely responsibility of the contributor/s.
In its review policy, the journal shares and adheres to the following official documents:
The Rhetoric and Communications journal complies with the research and public ethics policy of the СОРЕ and of Sofia University.
[1] COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers
[2] CSE White Paper on Publication Ethics
[3] European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: Revised edition, ALLEA (2018) – link to the Bulgarian version
[4] The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: Revised Edition, ALLEA (2017) – link to the English version
[5] Code of Conduct of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Academic Community (2016)
Sources:
[1] COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers
[2] CSE White Paper on Publication Ethics https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/resource-library/editorial-policies/white-paper-on-publication-ethics
[3] Европейски етичен кодекс за почтеност на научните изследвания: Преработено издание [Evropeyski etichen kodeks za pochtenost na nauchnite izsledvania: Preraboteno izdanie], ALLEA (2018) http://www.allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ALLEA-European-Code-of-Conduct-for-Research-Integrity-2017-Digital_BG_FINAL.pdf
[4] The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: Revised Edition, ALLEA (2017) – линк за английската версия http://www.allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ALLEA-European-Code-of-Conduct-for-Research-Integrity-2017.pdf
[5] Етичен кодекс на академичната общност на Софийския университет „Св. Климент Охридски” (2016) СУ: Етична комисия. 2018. [Etichen kodeks na akademichnata obshtnost na Sofiyskia universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (2016) SU: Etichna komisia.] https://www.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/bul/universitet_t/administrativna_struktura/etichna_komisiya