Earth Sciences Research Journal

Editorial Ethics Policy

The Earth Sciences Research Journal, in accordance with the guidelines of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, is committed to presenting, issuing, and promoting the present Ethics Policy. This policy is based on the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and aims to ensure integrity, transparency, and quality in the editorial process.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

• Authors must ensure that their work is original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another publication.
• Any form of plagiarism, data manipulation, or fabrication of results will be considered a serious ethical breach.
• All listed authors must have significantly contributed to the work and agree with its submission. The authors will be free to declare any additional information related to the author's contribution to the work.
• Proper credit must be given to the sources of used information. Authors will not cite papers not used in the manuscript preparation.
• Conflicts of interest must be explicitly disclosed at the time of submission.

2. Responsibilities of Editors

• Editors will act fairly and impartially, without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or ideology.
• Editorial decisions will be based solely on the academic merit, originality, and validity of the manuscript.
• Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the peer-review process.
• Editors are committed to addressing any indications of scientific misconduct, following COPE-recommended procedures.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Peer reviews must be objective, critical, and constructive.
• Reviewers must alert the editor to any substantial similarities to other works or data irregularities.
• Reviewers are expected to maintain confidentiality and must not use the manuscript content for personal benefit.
• If a conflict of interest exists, reviewers must decline the review assignment.

4. Use of Artificial Intelligence

• Authors must explicitly disclose whether artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used at any stage of manuscript preparation, including writing, data analysis, image generation, or language editing.
• The use of AI does not exempt authors from full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.
• All AI tools used must be mentioned in the acknowledgments section, specifying their role.
• Under no circumstances should AI systems be listed as co-authors.
• Authors must ensure that the use of AI complies with ethical standards of transparency, originality, and confidentiality.

5. Misconduct and Retractions

• The journal will investigate all reports of misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, duplication, data/image manipulation).
• If misconduct is confirmed, corrective actions such as corrections, retractions, or publication bans may be applied.
• All actions will follow COPE-recommended procedures and ensure due process.

6. Transparency and Conflicts of Interest

• The journal promotes transparency in disclosing financial or personal interests that may influence the manuscript's content.
• Transparency in methods, funding sources, and author contributions is also encouraged.

7. Corrections and Retractions

• Significant errors detected after publication will be corrected through errata or retractions as appropriate.
• The correction policy will follow COPE guidelines and be communicated transparently.

8. Commitment to the Scientific Community

• The journal is committed to fostering a responsible scientific culture, encouraging academic debate, and advancing knowledge for the benefit of society.

9. Policy Review and Updates

• Earth Sciences Research Journal acknowledges that ethical standards in scholarly publishing are continuously evolving. Therefore, this policy will be reviewed and updated at least every two (2) years, or earlier if significant changes occur in international guidelines, especially those set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Updates aim to reinforce the journal's commitment to editorial ethics, transparency, and continuous improvement of the publication process.

The journal Earth Sciences Research Journal declares that this Editorial Ethics Policy was constructed using the Google tool NotebookLM and reviewed using the paid tool Grammarly.