Ethics declaration

The Editorial Team of Yachay is committed to the scientific community to ensuring the ethics, integrity, and quality of published articles. The Journal follows the code of conduct and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as the recommendations of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the SciELO Guide to Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publishing.

These guidelines govern the conduct of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publishing institution throughout all stages of the editorial process, from manuscript submission and evaluation to publication and, where appropriate, correction, amendment, or retraction. The Journal seeks to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record and to act transparently in any situation that may compromise the reliability of published content.

Duties of Editors

Editors must ensure the independence and objectivity of editorial decisions, the confidentiality of manuscripts and the peer-review process, the appropriate management of conflicts of interest, and the responsible handling of matters related to publication integrity, in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Editorial decisions are based on the manuscript’s relevance to the Journal’s scope, originality, scientific quality, methodological rigor, and academic contribution, without discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic or geographical origin, nationality, institutional affiliation, political position, religion, or other personal characteristics of the authors.

Editors must refrain from participating in the evaluation of or decision-making on manuscripts when a conflict of interest could compromise their impartiality. They are also responsible for addressing requests for corrections to published articles, examining potential irregularities reported to the Journal and, where appropriate, facilitating the publication of corrections, amendments, expressions of concern, or retractions in order to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers contribute to editorial decisions by providing timely, objective, well-founded, and confidential evaluations. Their comments should be aimed at improving the academic quality of the manuscript and should be expressed respectfully and constructively.

Reviewers must identify relevant sources that have not been considered by the authors and inform the Editorial Team of any potential substantial similarity, plagiarism, redundant publication, manipulation, or other circumstances that could compromise the integrity of the manuscript.

Information, arguments, data, or results contained in manuscripts submitted for review may not be used for personal benefit or disclosed to third parties. Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest that could affect their objectivity and, where appropriate, decline to participate in the review process.

Duties of Authors

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of the submitted content. They must ensure that the manuscript has not been previously published and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal, and they must avoid any form of plagiarism or duplicate, redundant, or concurrent publication.

Authors must properly acknowledge the sources used, disclose any conflicts of interest, and provide, when requested, information concerning the data supporting the research findings. They must also comply with applicable ethical requirements for research involving human participants or animals.

All individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work, approved the version submitted for publication, and accepted responsibility for its content. Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet the criteria for authorship should, where appropriate, be acknowledged in the acknowledgments section.

Following publication, authors remain responsible for the content of their articles. If they identify significant errors or inaccuracies, they must promptly inform the Editorial Team and cooperate in any actions necessary to correct the published record.

Duties of the Publisher

The publishing institution, together with the Editorial Team, is responsible for safeguarding the independence of editorial decisions, supporting the implementation of policies on ethics and scientific integrity, and ensuring the preservation, availability, and accessibility of the content published by the Journal.

In the event of allegations or evidence of potential conduct contrary to scientific integrity, the publisher will support the corresponding investigations and ensure that such matters are examined objectively, confidentially, and with appropriate documentation.

When errors, irregularities, or misconduct that could compromise the reliability of a published article are identified, the publisher, together with the Editorial Team, will facilitate the necessary measures to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record through corrections, amendments, expressions of concern, or retractions, depending on the nature and severity of each case.

Authorship and Contributions

Yachay recognizes as authors only those individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work and are able to assume responsibility for its content. Honorary, guest, gift, or ghost authorship practices are not accepted. Contributions that do not justify authorship should be acknowledged in the appropriate section. Accordingly, the Journal requires authors to specify their contributions using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT).

Requests to add or remove authors or modify the order of authors after manuscript submission must be properly justified. The Journal may request written consent from all individuals involved before accepting any such modification.

Once an article has been published, changes to authorship will be considered only in duly justified circumstances. When accepted, such changes must be documented through a formal correction linked to the original article.

Authorship disputes will be handled in accordance with COPE recommendations. When a dispute cannot be resolved based on the documentation provided by the parties, the Journal may request the involvement of the relevant affiliated institutions. The editorial process may be suspended while the dispute is under review.

Informed Consent for Research Involving Human Participants and Research Ethics Committees

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical principles and ensure the protection of participants’ privacy, dignity, and rights.

Where applicable, authors must declare that informed consent was obtained from participants for the collection, use, or publication of personal information. Data must be presented in a manner that preserves anonymity unless explicit authorization has been obtained to disclose information that could identify participants.

Authors must identify, where applicable, the ethics committee or equivalent body that approved the research and provide the name of the responsible institution and available information concerning such approval. When ethics committee approval is not required because of the nature of the study, this circumstance must be stated and a justification provided if requested by the Journal.

Yachay may request documentation to verify the declared informed consent or ethical approval. The publication of photographs, testimonies, life histories, or other information that could directly or indirectly identify an individual requires the corresponding authorizations.

Corrections, Amendments, Expressions of Concern, Retractions, and Complaints

Yachay addresses allegations related to plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, authorship disputes, duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and any other circumstances that could compromise the scientific integrity of published content.

Complaints and allegations will be examined objectively, confidentially, and with appropriate documentation. When necessary, the Editorial Team may request additional information from authors, reviewers, institutions, or other parties involved before reaching a decision.

Corrections and amendments. When an error is identified after publication that does not invalidate the results or main conclusions of the article, the Journal may publish a correction or amendment. The notice must identify the affected article, clearly describe the aspect being corrected, and remain electronically linked to the original publication. Where appropriate, the article should indicate that it has subsequently been corrected.

Expression of concern. When there are well-founded concerns regarding the integrity or reliability of an article, but the investigation has not yet been completed or the available evidence is insufficient to determine whether a retraction is warranted, the Editorial Team may publish an expression of concern linked to the article.

Retraction. An article may be retracted when there is evidence that the published findings are unreliable due to serious errors, fabrication or falsification of information, plagiarism, redundant publication, unethical research, or other circumstances that substantially compromise the integrity of the work. The retraction notice will clearly identify the article and explain the reasons supporting the decision.

A retracted article will remain available as part of the scholarly record but must be clearly identified as retracted and linked to the corresponding retraction notice.

The decision to correct, amend, issue an expression of concern, or retract an article rests with the Editorial Team and the publishing institution, taking into consideration the available evidence, the nature of the issue, and COPE recommendations. Authors will be informed of the decisions taken and will have the opportunity to provide relevant information during the investigation process.