Editorial Policies

ETHICAL CODE AND BEST PRACTICES

The Revista Lusófona de Educação adopts the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and international best practices in scholarly publishing.

The journal is guided by the following principles:

  • Scientific integrity
  • Editorial transparency
  • Academic responsibility
  • Respect for human dignity and diversity

EDITORIAL TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

The Editorial Team:

  • Ensures the scientific and editorial quality of the journal
  • Guarantees a rigorous and impartial peer review process
  • Selects qualified and independent reviewers
  • Maintains confidentiality throughout the editorial process
  • Acts independently from external pressures

The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for all editorial decisions, including acceptance or rejection of manuscripts and special issues.

Conflicts of interest

Editors must declare any conflicts of interest and abstain from editorial decisions when such conflicts exist.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

All manuscripts are subject to a double-blind peer review process, carried out by at least two independent reviewers.

The evaluation is based on the following criteria:

  • originality
  • scientific relevance
  • methodological rigour
  • clarity of results
  • quality of references

SPECIAL ISSUES

Manuscripts submitted to special issues follow the same peer review process as regular submissions.

Guest editors are supervised by the Editorial Team.

? The Editor-in-Chief retains final responsibility for all editorial decisions.

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Authors commit to:

  • Submitting original and unpublished work
  • Not submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously
  • Ensuring accuracy of data and results
  • Properly citing all sources
  • Declaring conflicts of interest
  • Disclosing funding sources
  • Complying with ethical research standards (including informed consent when applicable)

Authorship

Authorship must reflect meaningful scientific contributions and be agreed upon by all co-authors.

Data availability

Authors must provide access to supporting data upon request.

REVIEWER RESPONSIBILITIES

Reviewers must:

  • Provide rigorous, impartial, and confidential evaluations
  • Respect agreed deadlines
  • Declare conflicts of interest
  • Decline review when ethical or professional conflicts exist
  • Not use manuscript content for personal advantage

SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY

The journal does not tolerate:

  • Plagiarism
  • Data fabrication or falsification
  • Citation manipulation
  • Undeclared authorship

All submissions may be screened using similarity detection tools.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

In cases of suspected misconduct:

  • The Editorial Team will investigate the case
  • An independent panel may be appointed
  • COPE guidelines will be followed

If misconduct is confirmed:

  • The manuscript will be rejected or retracted
  • A retraction or correction may be published
  • Author institutions may be informed

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS

The journal is committed to publishing:

  • Corrections (errata)
  • Retractions
  • Clarifications

whenever necessary to ensure scientific integrity.

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Authors may appeal editorial decisions.

  • Appeals must be formally justified
  • They will be independently reviewed
  • A written and reasoned response will be provided

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The use of AI tools:

  • Must be declared by authors
  • Must be limited to language and writing support
  • Does not replace human responsibility

Not permitted:

  • Listing AI as an author
  • Using AI in peer review processes
  • Uploading manuscripts to systems that compromise confidentiality

RESPECT AND NON-DISCRIMINATION

The journal:

  • Does not discriminate based on origin, gender, religion, or any other factor
  • Does not accept discriminatory or offensive content

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSING

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which permits sharing and adaptation with appropriate attribution.