Ethical code

Koinonia is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is inspired by the code of ethics of publications developed by the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

It therefore takes all the necessary decisions against any fraud that may occur in the course of the publication of an essay in the journal itself.

The parties involved – authors, editors and referees – must know and share the following ethical requirements.

Duties of the editors and / or directors

The editors and / or directors:

  • are responsible for the decision to publish or not the articles received, after reading and considering the comments of the referees;
  • evaluate the articles proposed for publication on the basis of their content, without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, political orientation of the authors;
  • undertake not to disclose information on the proposed articles to other people other than the author, referees and publisher;
  • undertake not to use the contents of an article proposed for publication in their own research, without the explicit consent of the author.


Duties of referees

The Referees:

  • they help, through peer-review, the editors to make decisions on the articles proposed and can suggest changes to the author that improve the work;
  • promptly notify the editors of any inability to read within the required time;
  • undertake to keep any text assigned to them for reading confidential and not to discuss the texts with other people without the explicit authorization of the editors;
  • carry out the review objectively, giving adequate reasons for their judgments;
  • report to the editors any substantial similarities or overlaps of the text received for reading with other works known to them;
  • undertake to keep all confidential information or indications obtained during the peer-review process confidential and not to use such information for personal purposes.


Duties of the authors

The authors:

  • provide the correct indication of the sources and contributions mentioned in the article;
  • do not submit articles to the journal that are essentially the same as others already published by themselves or by other authors;
  • correctly attribute the authorship of the work and indicate as co-authors all those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, organization, realization and re-elaboration of the research that is the basis of the article, also undertaking to explicitly recognize the contribution of any other persons who have significantly participated in some phases of the research;
  • undertake to check the correctness of the information contained in the article, including bibliographic information, before sending the article and promptly inform, and in any case within a few days from the publication of the work, the editors of the journal if they identify in the own article any errors or inaccuracies.