Publication Ethics

Studia Theologica Transsylvaniensia (StThTr) is committed to safeguarding the academic integrity of the research it publishes and therefore regards the publication-ethics principles formulated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as authoritative. We encourage our authors, editors, and reviewers to consult COPE’s guidelines and resources at https://publicationethics.org.

All manuscripts published in StThTr must comply with the ethical standards set out by COPE; accordingly, submissions sent for peer review are expected to follow COPE’s guidance on responsible research and publication practice.

To support the work of our editors, authors, and reviewers, we summarize below the most important ethical obligations.

 

EDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief decides on the publication of each article submitted to the journal: publish, publish after revision, decline. He/she may consult the Associate Editor and/or members of the Editorial Board in reaching a decision.

Submitted manuscripts will be evaluated without regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The decision to publish is based solely on the quality of the manuscript (e.g., relevance to the journal's field of study, originality, validity, clarity).

Members of the Editorial Board and International Advisory Board may only publish if they are completely excluded from the evaluation process of submitted manuscripts. If a manuscript is submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, the decision on publication will be made by the Associate Editor alone, on the basis of the opinion of an external and independent reviewer.

Peer-Review Assignment

If the Editor-in-Chief considers that the submitted manuscript meets the basic requirements of the journal, he/she will forward the manuscript to an Associate Editor who will manage the peer review process.

The Associate Editor will assign the manuscripts for double-blind peer review.

The peer reviewers may but are not required to be members of the Editorial Board and International Advisory Board.

Confidentiality

The Editor-in-Chief, the Associate Editor and all editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, and other editorial advisors, as appropriate.

Avoidance of Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a proposed manuscript must not be used in any way by the editors for their own research or publication purposes without the author's explicit written consent.

 

AUTHORS RESPONSIBILITIES

Originality

Authors warrant that the submitted manuscript is their own original work and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. AI must not be used to generate false data, references, or conclusions.

Appropriate Use of Sources

Authors will cite the work of others appropriately and refer to any publications that have influenced their own research. Any form of plagiarism will result in the rejection of the manuscript. AI may be used for minor tasks in the publishing process (e.g., language editing, data visualization) but must not replace human intellectual contributions or produce fabricated content. If you used generative AI or AI-assisted technology, include the following statement directly before the reference list at the end of your manuscript: "All intellectual content, research design, and data analysis were conducted solely by the author(s)". The statement should include the name(s) of the tool(s) used (e.g., ChatGPT); specific tasks where the tool was applied (e.g., language editing, visualization).

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the execution or writing of the reported study. Unethical use of authorship will result in the rejection of the manuscript. Using AI-generated content without proper attribution is a violation of ethical publishing standards. Authors must not misrepresent AI-generated work as their own intellectual contribution.

Avoidance of Conflicts of Interest

Authors must include a statement disclosing any financial or other relevant conflicts of interest. All sources of financial support for the conduct of the research should be disclosed.

 

REVIEWERS RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

The peer review process assists the editors in deciding whether to publish the submitted manuscript and the author in improving the paper, if necessary.

Competence and Meeting Deadlines

Any selected reviewer who does not feel qualified to review the specific topic of a proposed article, or who knows that it will be impossible to review it in time, should inform the editors and ask to be excused from the review process.

Objectivity

Peer review must be unbiased and objective, and the reviewer's evaluation should be based solely on the statements made in the article. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Checking Sources and References

Reviewers should identify instances where the author does not properly cite sources or ignores previously published relevant literature on the subject of the study.

Reviewers should inform the editors of any significant similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and other published work of which they have personal knowledge.

Confidentiality

Any manuscript submitted for peer review must be treated as a confidential document. Therefore, the reviewer is not permitted to disclose any information about the manuscript to any person not involved in the review process.

Avoidance of Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest due to collaborative or other relationships with the author(s).