Ethics Statement

The publication ethics and publication malpractice statement for RpB are based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines: https://publicationethics.org/

Duties and responsibilities of the Editors

The editors of RpB confirm that

  • the editorial board consists of suitably qualified editorial board members who actively contribute to the development of the journal,
  • all published manuscripts have been reviewed by suitably qualified reviewers in a double-blind review process,
  • a database of suitable reviewers is developed, maintained, and updated on the basis of reviewer performance,
  • appropriate reviewers are selected for submissions,
  • well-reasoned requests from authors that certain individuals should not review their submission, are respected,
  • reviewers are required to disclose any potential competing interests before agreeing to review a submission,
  • clear advice to reviewers is provided,
  • they seek to acknowledge the contribution of reviewers to the journal by providing a limited open access to current journal issues,
  • clear instructions about submission and what is expected from authors are published noticeably on the journal’s website,
  • the editorial office keeps authors informed about the review and publishing process.

Duties of Peer Reviewers

Scholars reviewing for RpB acknowledge that

  • peer-review activities are part of the scholarly process,
  • they endeavor to follow the editor’s clear advice to reviewers,
  • manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents,
  • they have to disclose any potential competing interests before agreeing to review a submission,
  • the editors encourage reviewers to ensure the originality of submissions and be alert to redundant publication and plagiarism,
  • views and criticism should be expressed clearly and with appropriate supporting arguments,
  • the editors encourage to assist the author in improving the manuscript by helpful advice,
  • they are encouraged to keep informed about current peer review practices and technological advances.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors

By submitting their manuscript to RpB, authors guarantee that

  • the submitted article is their own original work,
  • the submitted article has not been published in another publication (print or online) and is not being reviewed elsewhere for publication (print or online) at the moment of submission,
  • the submission does not contain any offensive, defamatory or unlawful statements,
  • consent for any third-party material used in the submission has been obtained,
  • all research results and statements by third parties (as well as previous publications by the authors) are indicated by appropriate quotations,
  • consent has been obtained from any individuals and/or organizations named in the submission,
  • in the course of their research for the submitted article, authors have acted in compliance with international and national standards of data protection, personality rights and the right to privacy,
  • authorship has been agreed prior to submission, i.e. no other person without substantial contribution to the submitted article is named as an author.  Any person who has actively and substantially contributed to the submitted article is listed as an author.

Authors submitting a contribution to RpB agree to these ethical guidelines and are aware that disregarding these guidelines will result in the submission not being published in RpB.

Publisher‘s Confirmation

The editors of RpB and the publisher, Bamberg University Press, consent to deal with any conflict between authors and the editors/publisher that might arise from ignoring the aforementioned ethical guidelines in a professional, fair, objective and constructive manner. The Publisher and the Journal do not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, colour, religion, national origin or carrier status in its publishing programs, services and activities.