Notes to Editorial

To the Editors of RETEL Journal

To ensure editorial ethics, editors should be careful not to discriminate authors with respect to their genders, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin and should handle all the articles in the same way to assess academic merit only. Every submission to the RETEL Journal should be evaluated in the same way and ethical complaints should be subjected to reasonable procedures as follows:

Any unethical behaviour or misconduct reported to or noticed by editors should be thoroughly investigated. Identification of the violation should require further procedure. Any suspicious case should be taken seriously and an initial decision should be made by the editors.

If the initial decision of the editor approves an unethical behaviour or misconduct, all the evidence should be collected and further negotiated with a group of editorial board members formed to deal with the case. In case of a minor misconduct, the editor should keep the group small and the editor should give the chance to respond to the author. If there is a serious misconduct, then the employers of the accused may be needed to be notified of the case. Involvement of the employer should be decided as a result of a brief investigation and consultation with editorial board members and experts.

Outcomes of an ethical violation or misconduct may include informing or educating the author or reviewer where there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards or a more strongly worded letter to the author or reviewer covering the misconduct and as a warning to future behaviour. If the case is very serious and the editorial board members decides to do so, a formal notice or even an editorial detailing the misconduct may be published detailing the misconduct. If the case requires, a formal letter may be sent to the head of the author’s or reviewer’s department or funding agency. And in case the violation or misconduct is out of reach of the editorial board members and requires further investigation, then the case and outcome may be reported to a professional organisation or higher authority for further investigation and action.