Code of Ethics

The Mesoamerican Journal of Research is guided by the Code of Ethics belonging to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), available at http://publicationethics.org. The journal adheres to the following commitments for authors, reviewers, and editors:

Commitments of Authors

Authors commit to:

  • Submit original works to RMI that have not been and will not be submitted to any other publication in the future.
  • Submit only original and unpublished work, avoiding the inclusion of content from other authors or previously published works without proper attribution.
  • Provide accurate and unaltered data, refraining from any form of manipulation to suit specific arguments.
  • Avoid multiple or repetitive publications of the same results in different scientific journals, as this is considered improper and reprehensible.
  • Take full responsibility for the content of the submitted work, ensuring proper citation of consulted sources in accordance with citation norms. This includes using the appropriate format for direct quotes, paraphrases, and citations, and not omitting any references to avoid plagiarism.
  • Alongside the submission, provide a signed letter of originality from all authors, as per the format available in the "Author Guidelines" section.
  • Have contributed scientifically and intellectually to the submitted work, including conceptualization, planning, writing, data processing, result discussion, and conclusion establishment.
  • If there are multiple authors, each must describe their individual contributions. The RMI follows the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) system to describe author contributions in research articles across various disciplines, including natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and engineering.
  • Refrain from including individuals as authors if they were involved solely as advisors, sponsors, reviewers, readers, correctors, or commentators. Inclusion as an author is not justified based on roles such as advisor, supervisor, or reviewer. Students are not obligated to include thesis or research advisors as authors or co-authors if they did not actively contribute to the manuscript.
  • Declare no conflicts of interest that may influence the results.
  • Indicate the source of funding for the project or research program from which the publication derives.
  • Inform the editorial team of any errors resulting from text manipulation during the evaluation process.
  • Respond promptly to communications sent by the editorial team via email throughout the evaluation, formatting, and galley proof stages.

Commitments of Reviewers

Reviewers commit to:

  • Conduct a critical review within their field of expertise, ensuring the scientific quality of the work while considering RMI's guidelines outlined in the "Aims and Scope" section.
  • Consider RMI's adherence to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which emphasizes the importance of evaluating contributions to science and research, focusing on content and quality rather than excessive reliance on impact metrics. This promotes that scientific quality, not impact metrics, should govern quality assessment.
  • Provide detailed and constructive feedback in line with RMI's emphasis on nurturing students' research through the publication process.
  • Evaluate without bias, declaring any conflicts of interest. Refrain from making personal judgments about authors and provide reasoned grounds for their assessment based on RMI's regulations, especially when recommending against publication.
  • Once accepting a review, respect the evaluation timelines stipulated by RMI.
  • Maintain confidentiality regarding assigned review manuscripts, refraining from discussing texts with third parties or using them for personal work before publication, especially if not approved for publication.
  • Notify the editorial team if plagiarism in any form (self-plagiarism, plagiarism of others, data manipulation) is suspected or confirmed in the assigned review manuscript.

Commitments of the Editorial Team

The editorial team commits to:

  • Ensure objectivity and quality throughout the editorial process, from submission to publication. Manuscripts will be reviewed by national or international researchers knowledgeable in the field.
  • Evaluate honestly based on the content of the work, without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or religious, political, or sexual orientation.
  • Maintain confidentiality by refraining from disclosing any partial or complete information of submitted work to third parties outside of RMI.
  • Avoid conflicts of interest arising from the partial or full use of material contained in submitted work. Such material cannot be used for personal research without crediting the work submitted to RMI, especially if the work is published.
  • Adhere to the time limits stipulated in the "Evaluation Process" section: a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 months for review and no more than 3 months for publication from the acceptance date.
  • Provide prompt responses during business hours to authors via the provided email and phone contact details under the "Support Contact" in the "Contact" section.
  • Avoid editorial inbreeding when authors are also members of the editorial team. In such cases, they should not be involved in decisions related to the papers they authored, or those submitted by family members or colleagues, nor those connected to products or services where the editor has a conflict of interest. Any submission of this nature will follow the journal's standard procedures, with peer review managed independently by the relevant editor and their research groups.

Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute during the evaluation process, the Editorial Committee will resolve it in accordance with copyright terms outlined in the rights transfer letter and in alignment with the COPE guidelines.