Trends in Sociology is committed to obey the code of ethics at all stages of the publication process. Authors are expected to comply with the best ethical publication practices when publishing with Berger Science Press.
We follow the Guidelines on Good Publication Practice provided by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), an organization that provides advice and resources on all aspects of publication ethics and research and publication misconduct.
The editors enforce a rigorous and anonymous review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure that only high-quality scientific works are published. Trends in Sociology adopts a zero-tolerance policy regarding cases of plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation, and inappropriate authorship credit. All the submitted papers are checked for duplication from existing publications using relevant software.
The following guidelines outline the publishing ethics and responsibilities adopted by Trends in Sociology, and imposed upon its authors, peer reviewers and editors. The papers submitted to this journal must abide by the following principles:
(1) Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is not tolerated.
(2) A submission translated from already published papers in other languages is not permitted. Moreover, republishing/splitting of the same research is not tolerated.
(3) Any possible conflict of interest of the author(s) must be clearly disclosed at the point of initial submission.
(4) Data and methods used in an article should be presented to a level of completeness that enables other researchers to replicate their findings.
(5) Papers should accurately present their research findings and include an objective discussion of the significance of their findings.
(6) If some inaccuracies are found after publication, the authors need to promptly contact the journal and submit a formal corrigendum.
(7) Manuscripts should where possible not contain any elements that have already been published, including figures and images. If they wish to do so, the necessary permissions from the copyright holder should be obtained.
(8) Data fabrication, plagiarism, and image manipulation are not tolerated.
(9) If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed during the peer review process, the manuscript will be rejected. If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed after publication, we may correct or retract the paper.
(10) Plagiarism includes copying text, ideas, images, and data from another source, without giving due credit to the original source.
(11) Reuse of text that is copied from another source must be between quotes and the original source must be cited.
(12) If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript will be unconditionally rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the paper will be retracted.
(13) On submissions of a paper, all authors will be expected to confirm their involvement and verify their affiliations. Any malpractice in this regard, e.g. providing false affiliations or including authors without their consent, will lead to papers being rejected or retracted.
(14) On submissions of a paper, all sources of funding must be accurately and fully disclosed. Any malpractice in this regard, e.g. failing to acknowledge funding source or misrepresenting financial support, will lead to papers being rejected or retracted.
(15) Prior to acceptance and publication, the specific contributions of all the listed authors to a paper must be clearly explained. Individuals that have not made any contributions to the paper must not be included as authors. Editors may reject papers if they consider that one or more of the authors has not been involved in the preparation of a paper.
Anyone who believes that research published by Trends in Sociology has not been carried out in line with these principles should formally submit their concerns to the Editor-in-Chief, or send them via email to contact@bergersci.com. Any allegations of publication misconduct will be carefully assessed by the journal’s office and the concerns raised communicated to the authors, and the authors’ institutions and funders, if necessary. If evidence of misconduct is found, appropriate action will be taken to correct or retract the publication.
