Declaration of Ethics and Good Practices

New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR) encourages the publication of scientific papers based on a rigorous scientific arbitration process, with the objective of guaranteeing the highest standards of ethics in publication. To this end, the approval of the parties involved in the publication process is essential, regarding the principles and standards of ethical behaviour described below.

The following terms are based on Elsevier recommendations, Clarivate Supplier Code of Ethics and COPE's Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (available at https://publicationethics.org/) and apply to all parties involved in the publication of the New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR).

NTQR procedures are peer-reviewed. We take all measures to guarantee an ethical publication process, based on the following principles:

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors are required to submit only original works that have not been published elsewhere or submitted concurrently to other journals. Plagiarism in all its forms is considered unacceptable and subject to disciplinary action;
Double-blind review process: We ensure a rigorous peer review process, where articles are fairly and impartially evaluated by experts in the field. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise and have no conflicts of interest with the authors. Each submitted manuscript is evaluated by at least 3 external members (outside the editorial board and the publisher Ludomedia);
Transparency and Data Integrity: We require authors to provide accurate and complete data in their articles. Manipulation or falsification of data will be considered serious violation of ethics and will be investigated thoroughly;
Exempt editorial process: ensuring that paper review is based exclusively on content quality, originality and scientific relevance, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, citizenship, ethnic origin, or political philosophy of the authors;
Proper Attribution: Authors must give proper credit to all sources used in research. Citations and references must be used by academic norms;
Authorship and Contributions: Authorship should be based on significant contributions to the research. All authors must have actively participated in the work and agreed with the final version of the paper;
Measures against any malpractice will be undertaken at any time, even after the publication, to detect, prevent and act on situations such as plagiarism; fabrication of research data; falsification or manipulation of existing research data; any other action that may compromise the quality and credibility of publication. NTQR reserves the right to use plagiarism-detecting software to screen submitted papers. If significant errors are identified after the publication of an article, NTQR will take appropriate action, including retraction, correction, or deletion of the article, as necessary;
Conformity to standards of ethical behaviour is expected of all parties involved: Editors, Reviewers, Authors, and the Publisher.
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI): The use of AI systems for text generation is permissible only when their role is adequately documented in the article, for example, when recounting experiences with these systems. However, the use of AI-powered systems to assist in refining human-authored text is allowed.

Declaration of Poor Publication Practice:

NTQR repudiates any form of bad publishing practice that threatens the integrity of scientific research and compromises the trust of readers and the academic community. Publishing malpractice includes, but is not limited to:

Plagiarism: The unauthorized copying of ideas, text, figures or data from other works without proper attribution;
Falsification and Data Fabrication: The intentional manipulation or fictitious creation of data to present misleading results;
Fraudulent Authorship: The inclusion of individuals as authors who have not contributed significantly to the work;
Dual Publication: Simultaneous submission or publication of the same work in more than one journal;
Copyright Infringement: The unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material without proper permission.

NTQR is committed to taking firm measures to deal with any form of publication malpractice, including rejecting papers, retracting articles and reporting such incidents to relevant institutions and bodies.

Duties of Editors

Publication decision

The editors are responsible for deciding which of the submitted manuscripts should be published;
The editor may be guided by the policies of the editorial board and constrained by legal requirements regarding copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may consult with other editors or reviewers in making this decision;
In the case of an article receiving opposing evaluations—one recommending acceptance and the other rejection—it is the editor's responsibility to determine the most appropriate course of action. The options include:

Assigning the article to a third reviewer, requesting an additional evaluation to resolve the impasse;
Conducting a meta-evaluation of the existing reviews, critically analyzing the observations and comments provided by each reviewer, and making a final, well-founded decision based on editorial principles and the article’s relevance to the journal’s objectives.

The editor can reject a manuscript without review in any of the following situations:
- the paper does not meet the NTQR’s quality standards;
- the paper is out of the NTQR’s scope (topics, themes, fields of application…);
- they detect plagiarism, duplicate publication, simultaneous submission, research errors, fraud, research standards violations, conflicts of interest, reviewer bias or any other action that may compromise the quality and credibility of the publication.

Fair Play

The editors must ensure that paper review is based exclusively on content quality, originality, scientific relevance, and overall academic merit, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, citizenship, ethnic origin, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editors must ensure that information included in manuscripts submitted by the authors is kept confidential;
The editors will not disclose any information about a submitted paper to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used in editor's own research without the author’s explicit written consent.
Editors may not be authors of manuscripts submitted to NTQR volumes in which they themselves are editors.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may also assist authors in improving their manuscripts.

Promptness

Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified or unable to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor and decline the invitation to review;
If an invited reviewer feels they are not able to complete the review of a manuscript within the stipulated time, he/she should notify the Editor as soon as possible, not to compromise the review deadlines.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be disclosed or discussed with others, except as authorized by the editor

Objectivity

Review of submitted papers must be done objectively and the reviewers should support their assessment and recommendations clearly, with concrete arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation, or argument that has been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation;
A reviewer should inform the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the paper under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Reviewers who have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscripts should decline the invitation to review;
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer-review must be kept confidential and not be used for the reviewer’s personal advantage.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards

Submitted papers must follow the NTQR submission guidelines;
Authors of submitted papers should present an accurate account of their original research, as well as an objective discussion of its significance;
Underlying data should be represented accurately. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and will not be accepted.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in conjunction with the manuscript for editorial review, should be prepared to provide public access to such data and should, in any event, be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must make sure that the manuscripts submitted to NTQR are entirely original;
Authors must acknowledge all sources of data used in their research and if they have used the work and/or words of others, ensure that this has been appropriately cited;
Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and will not be accepted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one publication/conference concurrently. It is also expected that the author will not publish redundant manuscripts or manuscripts describing the same research in more than one publication.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors must acknowledge all sources of data used in their research and if they have used the work and/or words of others, ensure that this has been appropriately cited.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors;
Other authors who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors;
The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript;
All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their submitted paper, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate with them to make all necessary corrections.