Declaration of Ethics and Good Practices

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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 Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa.

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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 two external reviewers (independent from the editorial board and the publisher Ludomedia), under a double-blind peer review process. In cases of divergent evaluations, or whenever deemed necessary by the editor, a third reviewer may be appointed to ensure a well-founded and balanced editorial decision;
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. Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa reserves the right to use plagiarism-detecting software to screen submitted papers. If significant errors are identified after the publication of an article, Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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:

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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.

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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 Authors

Research Ethics Policy (Human Subjects and Vulnerable Populations)

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa requires that all submitted works involving human participants strictly comply with internationally recognised ethical principles, ensuring the protection of participants’ rights, dignity, and well-being.

All studies must:

Obtain ethical approval from an institutional ethics committee or equivalent body, with authors clearly indicating the approving institution and the corresponding approval number, where applicable;
Ensure the collection of informed consent, guaranteeing that participants are properly informed about the objectives of the study, procedures, risks, benefits, voluntary nature of participation, and their right to withdraw at any time;
Ensure confidentiality, anonymity, and data protection, including anonymisation or pseudonymisation whenever necessary;
Comply with ethical standards applicable to research involving sensitive data and socially vulnerable contexts.

In cases where the research does not involve human participants or does not require formal ethical approval, authors must provide an explicit statement justifying this condition.

Protection of Vulnerable Populations

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa pays particular attention to research involving vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to:

children and adolescents;
older adults;
institutionalised individuals;
individuals in situations of social or economic vulnerability.

In such cases, authors must demonstrate that additional protective measures have been adopted, including:

consent obtained from legal representatives, where applicable;
reinforced protection of participants’ privacy and dignity;
minimisation of risks and potential negative impacts.

Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa reserves the right to reject any manuscript that does not comply with these ethical principles or fails to provide clear and transparent information regarding the procedures adopted.

Commitment to Research Integrity

Authors must uphold the highest standards of scientific and professional integrity, ensuring that their studies are conducted in a transparent, responsible, and ethical manner. Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa is committed to evaluating all submissions according to these guidelines, ensuring the credibility and quality of published work.

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 reviews — one recommending acceptance and the other rejection — it is the editor's responsibility to determine the most appropriate course of action. In this case, the editor should conduct a meta-evaluation of the existing reviews, critically analysing the observations and comments provided by each reviewer and making a final 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 Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa quality standards;
- the paper is out of the Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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 Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa 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.