Publication ethics

Code of Ethics and Good Publication Practices

At Verbum et Lingua: Didáctica, Lengua y Cultura, we are committed to the highest standards of ethics in academic publishing. Our code governs the actions of our steering committee, editorial board, authors, and peer reviewers, based on the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Its guidelines are available at publicationethics.org, specifically in its Code of Conduct.

We categorically reject any dishonest practice, applying consequences according to the severity of the situation and following COPE guidelines. To ensure originality, all manuscripts undergo a similarity analysis using iThenticatesoftware.

Roles and Responsibilities

The responsibilities of each member of the editorial team are detailed below, aligned with COPE's good practices and the Regulations of Verbum et Lingua:

Scientific Committee Fundamental for the academic quality and strategic development of the journal:

  • Promote the submission and dissemination of works within the national and international academic community.

  • Suggest updates to the editorial policy and advise on defining scientific quality parameters.

  • Participate as peer reviewers or recommend other experts, and ensure the excellence of the processes.

Editorial Board In line with COPE guidelines, Verbum et Lingua is committed to:

  • Maintaining transparency, accountability, and integrity in all activities of its board.

  • Establishing a clear policy for the size and composition of the board, including roles and responsibilities.

  • Defining the process for selecting, appointing, and determining the term limits of its members.

  • Providing clear guidelines on handling conflicts of interest, complaints, and research misconduct.

Co-Directors Manage the operations and overall strategy of the journal:

  • Convene the Editorial Board and issue calls for papers.

  • Coordinate the editing and publication process, ensuring transparency.

  • Propose the content of each issue to the Editorial Board.

  • Manage resources, distribute the journal, and provide information for indexing.

Editor-in-Chief / Managing Editor Coordinates the editorial process and ensures integrity and quality:

  • Oversee the fulfillment of objectives and guarantee a high academic standard.

  • Receive submissions through the OJS system, manage reviews, and monitor compliance with recommendations.

  • Accept or reject articles based on presentation criteria, editorial line, and scientific merit (final and binding decision).

  • Send complete evaluation reports to authors and issue fair and impartial arbitration decisions.

  • Report on the impartiality of evaluations and declare conflicts of interest.

  • Publish apologies, corrections, clarifications, or retractions when necessary.

Guest Editors May coordinate specific thematic issues:

  • Invite potential authors and peer reviewers.

  • Collaborate in the academic review process (double-blind) and draft the introductory text for the thematic issue.

Technical Editor / Managing Secretary Manages technical and operational aspects:

  • Apply iThenticate software for similarity detection.

  • Coordinate the editorial review process, production, technical processing, and copyediting.

  • Verify DOI numbers, update metadata, generate XML, HTML, and PDF files, and manage the OJS platform.

Authors Have crucial responsibilities in the publication process:

  • Register on the Verbum et Lingua OJS platform and provide their ORCID iD (mandatory).

  • Comply with publication requirements: originality, unpublished status, and relevance.

  • Declare funding sources and potential conflicts of interest.

  • Accurately cite all sources. Self-citations must be strictly relevant (maximum of three) and not used to recycle ideas.

  • Respond to comments from the editor and reviewers within the established deadlines.

  • Grant the University of Guadalajara the right of first publication through the Acceptance Letter.

  • Publication Note: Two articles by the same author will not be published in the same call for papers or in consecutive issues.

Soundness and Reliability

  • Authors must carefully consider the reviewers' observations and respond promptly and with sound justification to any disagreements.

  • If a post-publication error is detected, the author must immediately inform the editor for its rectification.

Peer Reviewers Essential for the double-blind peer review process:

  • Accept to review texts within their area of expertise or suggest alternative reviewers.

  • Respect the absolute confidentiality of the manuscripts and declare conflicts of interest.

  • Evaluate objectively based on originality, contribution, methodology, and relevance.

  • Inform the editor if they detect similarity, undeclared use of AI, or any form of plagiarism.

  • Do not use content from the reviewed text or delegate the responsibility of the review to third parties.

Evaluation Timeframes

The editing and publication process is transparent and objective. It consists of two phases:

  1. Editorial Review (Desk Review): An initial review to ensure compliance with the Author Guidelines. If approved, the author will be notified within a maximum of 45 days that the peer review process has begun.

  2. Academic Review (Double-Blind Peer Review): Selected experts from our national and international pool of reviewers will evaluate the academic, theoretical, and methodological relevance of the article.

Allegations of Misconduct and Complaints

Allegations will be addressed as long as they are well-founded and provide evidence, following COPE flowcharts. Examples of misconduct: plagiarism, self-plagiarism, prior publication, data falsification.

  • The editor will contact the accused author to request a response (maintaining the anonymity of the whistleblower). If the response is unsatisfactory, a collegiate investigation will be initiated by the Editorial Board, which may result in the retraction of the article.

  • Complaints regarding the evaluation process will be addressed if potential errors in the review are identified. A response will be provided within a reasonable timeframe, always protecting the identity of the reviewers.

Types of Contributions and Submissions

All submitted works must be original, unpublished, and not under review in other journals. We accept contributions in German, Spanish, French, English, and Italian.

Submission Process: To ensure traceability and the anonymity of the double-blind process, all contributions must be submitted exclusively through our editorial platform (OJS), after registering as an author. Submissions via email will not be accepted. (The email verbum@administrativos.udg.mx is available solely for inquiries or technical support).

Types of Contributions:

  • Articles: Updates, theoretical reflections, pedagogical interventions, or field research (6,000 to 8,000 words).

  • Book Reviews: Of recent books or documents of interest (1,500 to 2,500 words).

  • Interviews.

Diamond Open Access Policy

At Verbum et Lingua, we firmly adopt Diamond Open Access. All our content is freely available to the global public immediately after publication. We do not charge authors any fees (Zero APCs) for any editorial process (submission, peer review, publication).

We operate under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. Readers may freely access, download, copy, share, and distribute the material, provided appropriate credit is given to the original author and the journal, and the material is not used for commercial purposes.

Commitment to DORA

In line with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), Verbum et Lingua evaluates research based on its intrinsic scientific merit, not solely on journal-based metrics. We promote a fair and transparent assessment that prioritizes the quality, rigor, and real-world impact of science.

Copyright and Licensing

By publishing in Verbum et Lingua, authors accept the following conditions:

  • Authors retain full copyright (moral and economic rights) over their work without restrictions.

  • Upon submitting their article, they grant the journal and the University of Guadalajara the right of first publicationunder the Open Access license (CC BY-NC 4.0).

  • Authors have complete freedom to enter into separate, additional distribution agreements for the final published version (e.g., self-archiving in institutional repositories or academic networks), provided that it is clearly indicated, with the DOI link, that the original publication took place in Verbum et Lingua.

Originality, Plagiarism, and Artificial Intelligence

Verbum et Lingua strictly rejects practices such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and data falsification/fabrication.

  • Similarity Detection: All manuscripts are evaluated using iThenticate software. While a high level of originality is expected, the Editorial Board conducts a qualitative review of the report to rule out undue similarities, ensuring the text does not significantly derive from uncited previous works.

  • Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): No generative language model (such as ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) can be listed as an author. If the research team used AI tools for assistance in copyediting, translation, or data processing, it must be explicitly declared at the end of the manuscript. Human authors assume absolute responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and ethics of the final content.

Authorship

The manuscript must be written with precision and objectivity. All listed collaborators must have substantially participated in the conception and development of the research.

  • A limit of up to four co-authors is recommended. In the case of larger research teams or inter-institutional projects, a higher number will be allowed provided the contribution of each researcher is clearly justified. The number of authors cannot be modified once the peer review process has begun.