Ethics Policy

Ethics Policy and Best Publication Practices

Tabula Rasa adheres to the ethical guidelines for academic publications set out by Elsevier COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

Authors are encouraged to comply with the following:

• Carefully ensuring proper citation of third-party contributions in their articles, making appropriate use of direct quotations, paraphrases, or references, and clearly indicating the source.
• Limiting self-citations to a maximum of 5% throughout the manuscript and, whenever possible, to prioritize the use of primary sources.
• Citing transparently data from previous research. Similarly, we reject the practice of redundant publication. As academic publications rely on public funding, in the interest of financial and academic integrity, we consider this practice should be avoided.
• In the same line, we encourage our authors to disclose any conflict of interest related to their topics and—in the case of multi-authored articles—to clearly specify each author’s contribution to the submitted work, as well as each author’s explicit declaration of acceptance of responsibility for the product to be published.

Specifically, on our editorial team duties, authors and peer reviewers shall bear in mind the following:

Authors

• As noted elsewhere, manuscripts submitted by authors shall be original and unpublished, not having been previously released in other journals, books, blogs, web pages or other publication media (in print or digitally), and shall not be undergoing simultaneous review processes by other journals or publishing houses.
• Authors shall attest that the content of their article is their own work and has not been written by other parties. Authors must be respectful of the moral and economic rights of other authors or entities. Therefore, they must explicitly state their authorship and respect for the intellectual and copyrights of other parties in a signed letter addressed to the journal.
• Authors shall fill out the authorship statement form that can be downloaded here, clarifying the contribution by any undersigned author in any manuscript submitted for review and potential publication in Tabula Rasa.
• Tabula Rasa discourages practices that involve false attribution to authors who were not directly involved in the research leading up to the article or in its writing. This includes gift authors (i.e., individuals who have not made a direct contribution in the writing or research process but appear as co-authors). It is also considered a bad practice for students or professors to include their thesis advisors or research group directors as co-authors simply on the grounds of their position of authority.
• Besides stating that the manuscript submitted to Tabula Rasa is original, has not been published previously, and is a product of their research work, the undersigning author(s), must state that no plagiarism was made and that generative artificial intelligence was not used in its writing, adding bibliographic references or generating data for the research.
• Likewise, we encourage our authors to disclose any conflict of interest in the treatment of their topics, and —in the case of collectively written articles— to clearly specify each author’s contribution to the final work, as well as each author’s express statement accepting responsibility for the product to be published (see our Authorship Form).

Peer reviewers

• Peer reviewers are expected to be rigorous in their assessment of manuscripts submitted for their opinion.
• Peer reviewers shall fill out all review forms requested by Tabula Rasa journal.
• Peer reviewers must inform the Editor of any conflict of interest in a timely manner, so that the Editor can find another reviewer and proceed with the review process.
• Peer reviewers must explain clearly their opinions on the manuscripts submitted for review.
• Peer reviewers must report any clear evidence or suspicion of plagiarism (or self-plagiarism) and/or falsification or improper manipulation of data.

Policy on post-publication/reproduction

• Should authors identify an error or inaccuracy in an article that has already been published, they must notify the editor and cooperate in the necessary actions for amendment or retraction.
• Upon detection of substantial errors in manuscripts published by Tabula Rasa, the University will work with the journal’s director to ensure the timely publication of corrections, clarifications, or retractions, depending on the severity of the case.
• Correction and Retraction Protocol: The Editorial management will address any complaints regarding published content. If inaccuracies or falsehoods are detected, the corresponding clarifications will be published on the Tabula Rasa website. In cases of critical errors or malpractice, the manuscript will be immediately unpublished, and the academic community will be informed of this via the journal website.

Policies on Data Sharing and Reproducibility

Tabula Rasa journal promotes transparency, reproducibility, and open access to information as paramount tenets of scientific research. Below are listed our policies on data sharing and reproducibility:

• In certain legitimate instances, data may not be made available to readers for legal or ethical reasons. When this is the case, authors should justify this in the main text of the article. Even in these cases, the code and other related materials are expected to be shared, unless legal or ethics restrictions prevent this.
• Researchers working with qualitative datasets—e.g., interviews or participant observations—are not required to submit a replication package. However, it is recommended that, where feasible, they share such data and consider making supplementary materials available, such as interview protocols or coding schemes.
• When requested by the journal, authors must provide data supporting the content of the article for editorial review purposes. This submission shall include informed consent forms from participants, authorizations for the use of images, endorsements issued by the relevant ethics committee, among others.

Peer Reviewers

• Peer reviewers shall conduct reviews of the manuscripts submitted for their opinion with the utmost rigor.
• They shall fill out the review forms requested by the journal in full.
• Peer reviewers must report any potential conflict of interest to the Editor as soon as they detect it, so that the Editor can assign the submission to another reviewer and resume the due process within the timetable.
• Peer reviewers must provide clear assessments on the manuscripts submitted for review.
• Peer reviewers shall point out whenever they clearly find or suspect plagiarism (or self-plagiarism) and/or falsification or improper manipulation of data.
• Peer reviewers must guarantee strict confidentiality of the manuscripts submitted for review, and refrain from disclosing, reproducing, or using any information contained in the manuscripts reviewed. Likewise, sharing ideas, excerpts, or data from the manuscript with third parties is prohibited.

Corrections and retractions policy

Whenever authors become aware of a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article, they should promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate in taking the necessary steps to correct the error or, if required, retract the article.

Errata, retractions, and corrections:

• The editorial team will respond to any requests for retractions, corrections, complaints, or clarifications addressed to the journal.
• If evidence of falsified or inaccurate information is detected in content that has already been published, the editorial team will apply the necessary corrections or clarifications and will publish them on Tabula Rasa‘s website. In cases of serious errors, the content will be removed and an announcement will be issued on the platform.

Handling Complaints and Claims

Tabula Rasa adheres to the guidelines by the Committee on publication ethics (COPE) regarding the complaints and claims handling in a transparent, impartial, and timely manner. The procedure to follow is detailed below:

1. Submitting complaints

• Contact and subject matter: send an e-mail message to tabularasa@universidadmayor.edu.co, clearly describing the purpose of the communication in the subject line, as follows:
• “Complaint”: if raising ethical or procedural issues.
• “Appeal”: when you wish to challenge editorial decisions.
• “Notice”: should you need to address general remarks.
• Content: provide a detailed explanation of the problem, attaching documentary evidence and the applicant’s contact details, if you choose to submit an identifiable application.
• We accept complaints about peer reviews, errors in publications, plagiarism detected after publication, conflicts of interest, or other forms of malpractice, provided they are substantiated.
• While there is no strict deadline, we recommend that any complaint be submitted within 30 days after notification or publication.

2. Reception

• The Editor will confirm receipt of complaints via e-mail within five working days informing the estimated time for the initial response, which shall not exceed four weeks.
• Complete confidentiality will be kept on the matter, revealing information only to essential actors, such as the Editorial Committee or external experts.

3. Investigation and resolution

• The Editorial Committee will examine the complaint with the help of internal or external experts, following the procedures described in COPE’s flowcharts.
• Any decision shall be communicated in writing with detailed justification, and changes will be made to the journal’s website and databases, as appropriate.

Feasible actions: publication of an erratum, retraction, withdrawal of the article, or reasoned decline.