Publication Ethics Statement

1. Introduction

The journal VITAE is a four-monthly official publication of the School of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences, and its mission is the diffusion of the scientific and investigative knowledge in the various fields of pharmaceutical and food research, and their related industries. The journal VITAE is an open-access journal that publishes original and unpublished manuscripts, which are selected by the Editorial Committee and then peer-reviewed. Since its creation in October 1991, journal VITAE has been conceived as a specialized media for the promotion and diffusion of scientific research results carried out worldwide, in the Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences fields. The journal proclaims freedom of expression and research.

The Code of Ethics, presented here, tries to show the expectations of the journal belonging to the University of Antioquia concerning publishing ethics and related to the journal's theme, emphasis, and scope. This code presents the basic ethical standards for authors and reviewers and the functions and responsibilities of the Editor.

2. Editorial structure

Journal VITAE has a Director, who is the administrator and also an editor. The Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences nominate the Director/Editor, and its work is to lead the Editorial Board and be in charge of the editorial progress and the layout process. The editorial assistant and the Editorial Board support the Editor with the revision of the potentially publishable material. The Editor is in charge of the previous and final review of each published issue of the journal. The positions mentioned above are occupied under the principle of the free will of each of its members.

3. Duties and general responsibilities of the Editor

The Editor is responsible for:

Working for the journal's improvement.
Attempting to meet the needs of readers and authors.
Using processes that ensure the quality of the published material.
Protecting the freedom of expression.
Maintaining the integrity of the academic records.
Ensuring manuscript review as double-blinded.
Preventing business needs from compromising the journal's intellectual and ethical standards.
Publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.

4. Relationship with readers

Readers will be:

Informed about the funding sources of the published research and weather the funders played a role in the research and its publication.
Ensured that suitably qualified reviewers have reviewed all published articles.
Informed about the measures adopted to guarantee that the papers or the Editorial Board will receive an objective and impartial evaluation.

Readers will be sure that:

The decisions of the Editor to accept or reject a paper for publication will be based on topic, originality, and clarity, as well as the scientific rigor and relevance to the journal.
The Editor will not reverse the previous Editor's decisions to accept manuscripts unless the Editor identifies serious problems.
Journal Vitae provides a detailed description of the peer review processes, and the Editor will justify any significant deviation from it.
Journal Vitae has a mechanism for authors to review editorial decisions, through communication with the Editor.
Journal Vitae has published a guide for authors, which will be updated regularly.

5. Relationship with the Editors

The Editor of the Journal Vitae is committed to:

Guiding the reviewers through the evaluation process and keep the evaluated manuscripts as confidential.
Asking the reviewers to declare potential conflicts of interest before agreeing to evaluate a document.
Guaranteeing identity protection of reviewers.
Encouraging reviewers to be aware of the manuscripts' originality, redundancy, or plagiarism.
Sending the full reviewers' comments to the authors, unless they contain abusive or defamatory terms.
Recognizing the reviewers' contribution to the journal.
Monitoring the reviewers' performance and taking measures to ensure their effectiveness.
Developing and maintaining a database of qualified reviewers and update it based upon their accomplishments.
Discontinuing interaction with the reviewers who recurrently make inadequate, discourteous, or low-quality evaluations.
Using a wide range of sources (not only personal contacts) to identify possible new reviewers (e.g., bibliographic databases).

6. Relations with the Editorial Committee

The Editor of the Journal Vitae provides to the new members of the Editorial Board with the guidelines and expectations of the Journal and will keep them updated on the new policies and developments. Besides, the Editor is committed to

Establishing management policies for the manuscripts from the Editorial Board members to ensure an impartial review.
Identifying members for the Editorial Board, adequately qualified, and who can actively contribute to the development and proper management of the Journal.
Regularly examining the composition of the Editorial Committee.
Offering a clear orientation to the Editorial Board members about their functions and expected duties that include:

Acting as ambassadors of the Journal
Supporting and promoting the Journal
Searching for best authors and works
Actively promoting the submission of papers
Encouraging specialists to write editorials, reviews, and comments on articles in their area of expertise
Attending and contributing to meetings of the Editorial Board.

Periodically consulting the members of the Editorial Board about opinions on the journal progress, informing them about any changes in their policies, and identifying the challenges for the future.

7. Editorial and peer reviewer processes

The Editor of Journal Vitae must:

Ensuring the peer review is fair, impartial, and timely.
Having systems to ensure that the submitted materials for publication are confidential during the evaluation process.
Taking measures to ensure the quality of the published material, recognizing that sections within the journal have different aims and standards.

8. Handling cases in which misconduct may be incurred

The Editor of Journal Vitae is in the duty of:

Acting when there is misconduct suspicion or when it is alleged. This obligation extends to either published or unpublished articles.
Not merely rejecting documents that raise doubts about possible misconduct, but to investigate them.
Requesting an explanation from those who are engaging in misconduct. In case of a response dissatisfaction, the Editor must request an investigation in the institution in which the authors belong.
Ensuring the adequate investigation of the misconduct. On the otherwise, the Editor must pursue until obtaining a solution.
Following the indications given by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for each case.

9. Promotion of the academic debate

The Editor of Journal Vitae is committed to

Promoting academic critiques of the works published in this journal.
Permitting the criticized authors, the opportunity to reply.

10. Conflict of interests

The Editor has ways to regulate the conflicts of interest, aroused by authors, reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board.
The management of the manuscripts presented by editors, teachers of the School of Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences, or members of the Editorial Board will follow the Committee on Publication Ethics parameters (COPE).

Multiple Submission of the same Research Data

It is improper for an author to simultaneously submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal.

Plagiarism or Self–plagiarism

The Editorial Board of the Journal VITAE does not accept plagiarism. This includes the exact or partial copy of previously published works COPE

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

During the submission process, the corresponding author must provide a statement describing any financial conflicts of interest on behalf of all authors of the manuscript. If no conflict of interest is declared, the following statement must appear in the article: “The authors declare no competing financial interest”.