Publication Ethics

Out of concern for the highest quality of the articles published in the Journal, the Board of Editors and the Science Council of Studia Germanica Posnaniensia pay utmost attention to the observance of the intellectual property rights and reliability of the research reported in the Journal and observe the ethical standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at all stages of the work with scholarly texts.

These standards define the valid and final rules governing the process of reviewing and editing the texts submitted for publication.

Accordingly, the following responsibilities are established for the parties involved in the publication process:

Ethical standards for Authors

Authors of scholarly texts submitted for publication in Studia Germanica Posnaniensia are obliged to:

1. Guarantee to the Board of Editors of SGP that all the data contained in the articles submitted are original and true;
2. Guarantee to the Board of Editors of SGP that the scholarly text submitted has not been referred for review to another scientific journal;
3. Cooperate with the Board of Editors of SGP in the process of exchanging information on reviewing and editing the articles submitted; the Author is obliged to notify the Journal Editor about their identification of a significant error or inaccuracies in the published work and cooperate with the Editor in proofreading based on the medium of publication;
4. Disclose the place of previous publication of the text if it is a reprint in whole or in part;
5. Disclose the sources of funding of the research whose findings are presented in the article submitted;
6. Disclose the full list of authors of the article submitted and make sure that all the co-authors have seen and approved of the final version of the text and have consented to its submission for publication;
7. Obtain consent for the publication of other copyrighted elements of the article (e.g. illustrations, photographs);
8. Disclose information about any potential conflict of interest to emerge in the process of reviewing and editing the articles submitted.

Ethical standards for Reviewers

Reviewers of scholarly texts submitted for publication in Studia Germanica Posnaniensia are obliged to:

1. Review the articles submitted to them in a reliable and objective manner, in line with the ethical standards and abstaining from any forms of non-scholarly critique;
2. Make every effort to improve the scholarly value of peer-reviewed articles;
3. Refrain from reviewing a text if the field of the reviewed article is beyond their scholarly competence or/and there is a conflict of interest between the Author and the Reviewer;
4. Notify the Board of Editors should any breaches of ethical standards in peer-reviewed scientific articles, notably plagiarism and self-plagiarism, have taken place;
5. Comply with confidentiality rules regarding all information related to the review process. The reviewer may not use any part of the data or work reported in the submitted and not yet published papers without the Author's written permission.
6. Comply with the principles of the double-blind review, when the identities of the Reviewers and Authors are undisclosed. Once a text has been pre-qualified for publication, it is identified solely by its title.

Ethical standards for Editors

Members of the Editorial Board of Studia Germanica Posnaniensia are obliged to:

1. Decide on the publication of the texts submitted, taking into account their research value only, without regard to the Author's origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, citizenship, or worldview;
2. Make objective decisions on approving articles for publication and communicating these decisions to Authors of scholarly texts with justification;
3. Publish the rules of reviewing submitted scholarly texts on the Journal's website; the texts must be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers. If necessary, the Editor will ask for additional opinions.
4. Ensure complete anonymity in the reviewing process of scientific texts and never to disclose the content of reviews to third parties;
5. Abstain from the process of editing a scientific text if there is a conflict of interest with its Author;
6. Communicate to the Authors any and all suggestions for changes to scholarly texts;
7. Take appropriate action in the event of an ethical complaint regarding a published work, e.g. publish a corrigendum, explanation, retraction, and apology in the event of clear evidence of unethical research.

The ethical standards followed by the Board of Editors of Studia Germanica Posnaniensia are in full compliance with the Annex.