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Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The need for clarity on agreed ethical standards for everyone involved in the publishing process (authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher) is at the basis of the cooperation of the different parties that converge at TPM – Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology.
This statement serves as a guideline for all these figures, and it is meant to be a resource to rely on in case of doubt or dispute.

TPM’s Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, which is also the reference text if further clarifications and information are needed.

Special credit for the production of this statement must be given to the National Journal of Community Medicine, indicated by Elsevier as an optimal example of Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement.

1) General duties of the publisher

TPM, through its reviewing and checking processes, is accountable for the content published. Therefore it also holds the responsibility of deciding which articles should be published. This choice is made on the basis of the quality of the material and of its integrity in order to meet the need of readers and authors, and to improve the quality of the journal.

The publisher may experience constraints such as legal requirements and will act accordingly.

TPM supports equal rights and opportunities, therefore every article submitted is taken into consideration and evaluated for its content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

TPM does not disclose information about the processes of the evaluation of an article to any of the parties cooperating in preparing it for publication. The same applies to unpublished material, unless with the specific consent of the authors.

TPM does not allow publication of a manuscript that has been published in whole or in part by another journal.

2) General duties of the reviewers

Reviewers should follow TPM’s ethical statement and provide an unbiased, non-personal, and objective review of the articles submitted to them. The reviews must be a tool for improving the quality of the papers, therefore any criticism by the reviewers must be supported by strong arguments.

Reviewers must treat any document received from TPM confidentially, and must not use the content to their advantage, unless specific agreements are made with the authors.

3) General duties of the authors

Authors must present an accurate account of the work performed by presenting sufficient material to permit the replication of the work. Authors should also retain the data appeared in articles on TPM for at least five years after publication. Data must be available from authors upon request.

The authors ensure the originality of their work and the citation of the work of others present in their own, in terms of both specific quotation and general influence and guidance.

The authors should not submit an article to multiple journals at the same time, nor should they submit articles already published (partially or as a whole).

Authors must verify compliance with ethical standards in the treatment of participants: human or animal, and provide information about the procedures adopted in their studies.

In the case an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal.