Publication Ethics and Malpractice
PAM upholds the highest standards in academic research declared by the University of Warsaw (see here), where we are based, and comply with the detailed Publication Ethics of our Publisher, the University of Warsaw Press (see here), fully in accordance with the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. The Chief Editor and the University of Warsaw Press (Publisher) are responsible for implementing the above policy.
The Editors work together with the Author(s) in full compliance with the standards of ethical behavior in academia, fair play, confidentiality, and avoiding conflicts of interests. Manuscripts submitted to the journal are evaluated on their academic merit and significant contribution to the field, taking into account the clarity of presentation and intelligibility.
Research Integrity
The Editors at PAM are dedicated to ensuring and encouraging research integrity as well as the integrity of the academic record. Manuscripts need to comply with the Journal’s ethical publication standards. The Chief Editor and the University of Warsaw Press (Publisher) are charged with supervising the implementation of this policy at all stages of the process. The Editors are aided in this task by the Editorial Board and Advisory Committee, safeguarding the scientific reliability of the published content through a controlled process of review and editing.
Sufficient information should be presented to reliably identify the sources used as well as to follow the Author’s reasoning. Presenting and interpreting data and research results not in compliance with universal ethical publication standards is unacceptable.
It is considered unethical also to present the same research in more than one journal. However, in archaeology, reporting on primary research results often takes on a partial and interim form, which is not in conflict with later more comprehensive and conclusive studies.
Originality
All submissions to the journal must be original. They cannot be submitted simultaneously for consideration elsewhere or already published (either in printed form or online), whether in English or another language. The editors reserve the right to pass all manuscripts through appropriate anti-plagiarism software as well as to check for unreported redundancy or duplication. The Chief Editor and the University of Warsaw Press (Publisher) are responsible for the fulfillment of the above policy.
Authorship and Contribution
Co-authors include all persons actively involved in writing and editing some or all of the submitted manuscript. Responsibility for portions of the text should be indicated in clear and unambiguous fashion, preferably in the form of initials in brackets following relevant sections of text. Research experts and team members who studied the material should be mentioned in the text; their role as co-authors may be acknowledged only if they wrote and contributed a specific section to the manuscript.
In the case of articles with multiple authors, one of them undertakes to be the corresponding author and takes over all contacts with the Editors on behalf of all of the contributors.
The Authors are expected to submit their own original work and clearly cite contributions from other scholars (using the Acknowledgments section for those not meeting criteria of authorship). All sources of financial support, as well as other forms of sponsorship, should be indicated to the best of the Author’s knowledge; it is expected that ownership of the data will also be acknowledged.
Ghostwriting and guest authorship are treated as scientific misconduct. They are, however not to be mistaken for extensive editing, copyediting, and language revision, which the Editors can request or provide to aid the Authors in meeting the journal’s goals of clarity of presentation and language intelligibility.
Authors are made fully aware and participate in the editing work, which is carried out by the PAM editorial team under the supervision of the Chief Editor, and need to approve the final draft of their work before publication.
Intellectual Property Rights
Breaches of intellectual property are tracked down actively and treated accordingly; should cases of academic misconduct go untraced prior to publication, the Editors undertake to publish appropriate rectification, explanation, or apology. Content will be removed if there is evidence of unreliability or falsification of the data, unintentional error, previous publication, or plagiarism. Errors, if discovered by the Author after publication, will be amended by the Editorial team in the online version of the article (but not the paper version), indicating the nature and date of the modification.
Third-party Permissions
The author is responsible for obtaining permission (and payment of related fees, if relevant) to publish illustrations from copyrighted sources; written confirmation from the copyright holder should be submitted and should include the Publisher’s right to reproduce the content in all formats (including digital) and in all geographical regions. Restrictions or conditions added by the copyright holder should first be consulted with the Editors.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments and financing sources should be clearly mentioned. In the case of excavation reports, lists of team members and fieldwork data are also presented in a separate section.
Preprints and Sharing
PAM supports the early sharing of research via repositories, preprint servers and other early sharing platforms. All versions of the paper (submitted, accepted, published) may be deposited in an institutional repository, or other repository of the author’s choice without embargo.
Authors are permitted to share a Preprint of their article, i.e. the version of the article before peer review or editing, as submitted by the author to the journal, anywhere at any time. The authors must not transfer or assign copyright when sharing the Preprint, or make the Preprint available under any exclusive license. After publication in PAM, we encourage the Authors to add citation details of the Version of Record and its DOI link to the Preprint in order to maximize the readership and citation of the final Version of Record.
Authors are free to arrange for non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the article (e.g., post it to a repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Data Sharing
The PAM Journal encourages best practices in sharing and archiving research data. Where possible, data associated with the research in a manuscript should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR), enabling other researchers to understand and verify the interpretations, as well as build on the research. Authors are encouraged to deposit the data underpinning their research in appropriate repositories. Where this is impossible, authors may include the supporting data as part of the article Supplementary Information or Appendix.
Data should be submitted to a discipline-specific, community-recognized repository where possible, or alternatively to an institutional repository, or a general repository. The choice of repository is the author’s decision, provided it is in line with institutional or funder guidelines.
The Authors should follow the TRUST principles for digital repositories – Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability and Technology – when selecting a repository. We encourage the use of repositories offering persistent identifiers, such as DOIs, for deposited datasets and to formally cite associated datasets as bibliographic references. For guidelines on citing data and other digital content, see Author Guidelines.
Complaints and Appeals
Policy and Process: Appeals to editorial decisions, complaints about failure of processes such as long delays in handling papers and complaints about publication ethics should in first instance be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. If they are the subject of the complaint, the Editorial Secretary should be approached with a request to pass the complaint to the Permanent Members of the Editorial Board for further consideration.
Appeals against rejection: the Editor-in-Chief considers the authors’ argument and the reviews and decides whether to uphold the rejection or consider the appeal. In case of doubts, the Editor-in-Chief may choose to seek the opinion of Editorial Board member(s) or external specialist(s). The complainant is informed of the decision with an explanation if appropriate. Decisions on appeals are final.
Complaints about processes, including time taken to review: the Editor-in-Chief investigates the matter and offers appropriate feedback to the complainant. Measures are taken to improve processes and procedures.
Complaints about publication ethics, e.g., researcher’s, author’s, or reviewer’s conduct: the Journal editors follow guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Complaints should be filed to the Editor-in-Chief, who decides on a course of action and provides feedback to the complainant. He/she may ask the publisher (University of Warsaw Press) for advice on difficult or complicated cases. If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint, he or she can submit the complaint to the Committee on Publication Ethics (click here for more information).
Conflict of Interest
The PAM Journal is committed to transparency, academic integrity, and unbiased scholarship. All contributors (authors, guest editors, etc.) and editorial team members must disclose any conflicts of interest to the Editor-in-Chief. Conflicts of interest can include, but are not limited to, financial or personal relationships, academic competition or rivalry, sponsorships or funding. Decisions regarding possible conflicts of interest will be made following COPE’s ethical guidelines.
- Authors must present all research in an unbiased and accurate manner and be transparent about any possible competing interests upon submitting their material. Declarations about competing interests should be included in the manuscript in an Acknowledgment or Conflict of Interest note.
- Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the submission. Editors will select alternate reviewers when conflicts of interest interfere with providing an unbiased review.
- Editorial board members should declare any conflicts upon assuming their role and should notify the Editor-in-Chief of any changes.
- Editors must recuse themselves from reviewing a manuscript, making editorial decisions, or assigning peer reviewers if they are unable to perform their editorial duties in an unbiased manner due to a conflict of interest. Another editor or member of the editorial board should be assigned if needed.
Failure to report conflicts of interest could result in rejection or retraction of an article/review, an addendum added to the article, removal of reviewers or editors from the Journal or other consequences as determined by the Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board.
Ethical Oversight
Both the authors and the editors of PAM must adhere to the publishing ethics outlined herein. In case of identification or allegations of research misconduct or other unethical behavior (e.g. plagiarism, authorship falsification, falsification or fabrication of research, redundant or duplicate publication, peer review manipulation, or failure to disclose conflicts of interest) the PAM Editor-in-Chief will follow procedures outlined in the COPE flowcharts and may additionally seek advice from the Board, University of Warsaw Press representatives, or external experts.
Corrections and Retractions
If conclusive evidence of unethical behavior and research misconduct is found, steps will be taken to correct the scholarly record. The Editors will undertake to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies as needed.
Privacy Statement
The Author’s or Reviewer’s personal data (names and contact details) submitted to the journal will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or disclosed to any other party (for data protection clause, see also the Annex to the License Agreement above). Correspondence between Authors, Editors, and Reviewers will be treated as confidential.