Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

 

The Editorial Board of the scientific journal Croatian and Comparative Public Administration (from now on the Journal) focuses on maintaining, preserving, and safeguarding the integrity of the publishing process as one of the basic elements of the academic work and scientific research. This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement serves as a guideline for all editors, reviewers, authors, researchers, and readers regarding the position of the Editorial Board and the Journal on the ethical and legal implications of publishing new scientific ideas.

The Journal publishes theoretical and empirical peer-reviewed scientific articles based on research dealing with various aspects of public administration, public law, public policy, political science, and neighbouring disciplines. The articles are published in English or Croatian. If the articles are written in Croatian, the summary of the article, the key words, and the title are published in English as well. Each annual volume of the Journal has four issues. The publisher maintains regular publishing schedule, with issues published usually in March, June, September, and December. Occasionally, when and if the Editorial Board deems fit, the Journal publishes supplements with non-peer-reviewed professional papers, notes, news on conference proceedings, court and administrative practice, etc.

The Journal has an Editorial Board, consisting of eminent Croatian and international scholars in the field of public administration, public law, public policy, and political science.Besides the Editorial Board, the Journal has Editor-in-Chief, three International Editors, two Assistant Editors, and an Executive Editor, who are day-to-day managing editors of the Journal. Names, titles, and affiliations of members of the Editorial Board, as well as relevant contact information of the Editor-in-Chief and managing editors can be found at https://www.ccpa-journal.eu/index.php/ccpa/navigationMenu/view/urednistvo. The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board assume responsibility for all content published in the Journal.

Authors are responsible for submitting the articlesthat are not already published in another journal; that are not submitted to any other journal; that are not more than a year old; that are revised according to review instructions; that have reference lists, potential conflict of interest statements, and that they have contributed to it in a significant manner. All information regarding the submission of the article, including the technical information on formatting and all other guidelines, can be easily found on the website or in the Journal itself (https://www.ccpa-journal.eu/index.php/ccpa/about/submissions).Regarding publication cost, publication of the articles in the Journal is free of charge for all authors. The Journal covers any costs of the review process, editorial preparation of the text, proofreading and graphic design, translations of the summary, and printing and other costs. Authors are entitled to one free hard copy of the issue of the journal in which their article is published. Delivery costs are covered by the Journal.

All articles sent to the Journal, which pass the technical editorial review process, will be sent to experts in the field for a peer review. Peer review is based on the double-blind process. All articles undergo two double-blind peer reviews. At least one of these needs to be done by a reviewer from outside of Croatia. Reviewers must possess at least a PhD in the relevant field. When an article deals with a country-specific topic, a reviewer from that country will be selected. The review report is completed in writing and the reviewers recommend an appropriate categorisation for the article (original scientific paper, review scientific paper, preliminary scientific report, or professional paper). In case of conflicting reviews, the article undergoes a third, and, if, necessary a fourth review. The Editorial Board will take into account that selected reviewers have no conflict of interest and that the review they conduct remains objective. The reviewers should point out any relevant published work, which is not yet cited. The reviewers’ comments are delivered to the author without the reviewers’ names.

The Editorial Process is based on regular consultation of the Editor-in-Chief, other managing editors, and the rest of the Editorial Board regarding in-house decisions, as well as final decisions after the end of the peer review process. The Editorial Board makes a final decision on the categorisation of the article, based on the articles themselves, the reviewers’ recommendations, and the proposals of the Editor-in-Chief, the International Editors, the Assistant Editors, and the Executive Editor. The meetings of the Editorial Board are held at least four times a year, prior to the publication of each issue. In case of non-scientific articles, if the first review suggests that the article is a professional paper and the Editor-in-Chief, the International Editors, the Assistant Editors, and the Executive Editor agree with this proposal, the article is not reviewed further.

Regarding the publication ethics, editors, publisher, and all others involved in the publishing process will take all the necessary steps to identify and prevent any misconduct before the publication of the article. If any allegation of research misconduct in the published article is brought to the attention of the Editorial Board, the situation will be dealt with immediately and appropriately, by conducting the investigation that will involve contacting the author(s), and any other relevant party. If the allegations prove to be true, the Journal will inform the author(s) and the public (immediately via website and at the earliest possible opportunity in the printed journal) of allegations, investigation, and results. The Journal will either retract the article or ask the author(s) to correct it as soon as possible.

Regarding fraudulent research and other unethical research conduct, the Editorial Board shall react promptly in all potential cases of unethical or unprofessional conduct, following the guidelines of the COPE. The Editorial Board will consider all allegations and request a response from either the author the allegation refers to, or another relevant individual or body. If the existence of fraudulent, unprofessional or unethical conduct is confirmed, the Editorial Board shall do all within its power to publicise this in good faith and at the earliest opportunity.

Authorship of articles should be easily detected and known to all involved parties. It should be based on the substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research, or the interpretation of data, or the critical revisions. All authors need to agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors.

Duplicate publications of whole or parts of articles are highly discouraged. It is only allowed in rare and limited situations when the Editorial Board deems it necessary or where the prior consent of the publication where the original was published is acquired.

Plagiarism is committed when one author uses another work (typically the work of another author) without permission, credit, or acknowledgment and takes different forms, from literal copying to paraphrasing the work of another.[1]Self-plagiarism occurs when an author recycles their own work, in part or in full, thus using the same work for multiple submissions.[2]The Editorial Board does not condone or tolerate any instances of plagiarism or self-plagiarism. The authors are obligated to submit articles that give original contribution to the scientific knowledge. The Editorial Board reserves the right to check any and all submitted articles in order to see if (self-)plagiarism occurred, by putting articles through appropriate antiplagiarism software. The Journal currently uses Unicheck software for such purpose. The Editorial Board also supervises the citation used in the paper in order to reduce the possibility of plagiarism.

Any issues regarding the sources of research funding, external pressures, and potential conflict of interest by the authors need to be visibly declared. The Editorial Board insists on informing the public about the financial support received by the researchers whose results are published in the Journal, so as to ensure the objectivity of results and highlight any conflict of interest. This way the Editorial Board, the publisher, other scholars, and public can gauge the potential influences on the research process themselves, and take them into account when deciding on using the article’s results.

The Editorial Board supports the publication of any corrections, clarifications, retractions, expressions of concern, and apologies regarding the papers published in the Journal and will insist on prompt responses when the situation demands it and in line with COPE recommendations.

Regarding the research involving humans,especially from vulnerable social groups and marginalized communities, the Editorial Board shall adhere to all laws and legislation regulating the protection of the data which is collected during the research process and used in the research, but which is not relevant to comprehending the article itself. If readers are able to identify individuals who were involved in the research, the Editorial Board shall do all within its power to ensure written consent to the publication of the data, except in such cases where public interest outweighs the personal. Nevertheless, the Editorial Board shall insist on ethical research and take care that papers based on the research published in the Journal have followed the guidelines on ethical research. The Editorial Board shall also take care that authors have obtained the consent of the relevant institutions and individuals.

The Editorial Board shall constantly strive to improve the quality of the Journal, with a particular focus on transparency, to ensure the quality of the published materials. In accordance with the belief that replicability is a key element of the scientific method, the Editorial Board shall undertake to make available to the scientific community all the materials necessary to verify the claims published in the Journal.

The right to the freedom of scholarly and professional expression, with the aim of satisfying the public interest, is of paramount importance to the Editorial Board and the Journal. Censorship of ideas, results, theories, and conclusions by either the Editorial Board, or otherindividuals, groups, or institutions in the publication process is not tolerated. Our goal is to disseminate all knowledge based on ideas that are anchored on commonly held and universal values.

Copyright of the articles is held by the main publisher, the Institute of Public Administration, and the author(s). In case of future reprints of the published article in other publications, the author has the duty to request permission from the Editorial Board of the Journal. All reprints need to contain a remark pointing to exact issue and number of the Journal in which the paper was originally published. In case of the reprint made by third parties, the permissions need to be requested and acquired both from the Editorial Board as well as the author(s).

Fair and free open access is the paramount value that the Journal espouses. Therefore, all articles, including the current issue, as well as the entire archive is free to use on fair usage basis to the entire scientific community and the interested public. The journal articles are free to access and download from the following websites: Croatian and Comparative Public Administration (www.ccpa-journal.eu), Institute of Public Administration (http://iju.hr/default-eng.asp)and Portal of Scientific Journals of Croatia – Hrčak (https://hrcak.srce.hr/ccpa).

Ownership and management of the Journal is in the hands of the Institute for Public Administration (www.iju.hr), as the main publisher, in partnership with the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb (https://www.pravo.unizg.hr/). Publication of the Journal is possible through the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia.

Archiving of all the published articles, as well as entire issues, lists of reviewers, and all other information can be found on the Journal’s website (https://www.ccpa-journal.eu/index.php/ccpa/index). In case that the Journal gets discontinued or that the Institute as its publisher ceases to exist, entire archive can be found at the Portal of Scientific Journals of Croatia (https://hrcak.srce.hr/ccpa),and shall remain in the public domain.

Website of the journal holds all useful contacts as well as all information one needs before starting the publishing process. We are open for all queries, which will be handled sensitively and confidentially.

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/Best_Practice.pdf)as well as on ethics guidelines used by Cambridge University Press (https://www.cambridge.org/core/about/ethical-standards).

 

[1] https://www.elsevier.com/editors/perk/plagiarism-complaints

[2] https://www.jcu.edu.au/students/learning-centre/academic-integrity/self-plagiarism

 

You can download our Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement here download