Publication Ethics Statement

Frameless Journal Ethical Standards and Responsibilities

Frameless Journal is committed to upholding the integrity of the work we publish and the relationship among the members of the Editorial Board, Peer-Reviews, and the Author community. Our journal community comprises scholars, practitioners, and emerging professionals from many fields whose backgrounds engage a range of practices across the spectrum of theory and praxis: we ask that Peer-Reviewers and members of the Editorial Board strive to act fairly, even if approaches may differ from one’s own practice.

The publication process is a collaborative venture: authors, the Journal Editors, members of the Editorial Board, and the publisher (RIT’s Open Access Scholarly Publishing) contribute to and benefit from the journal in a range of capacities. This document outlines ethical standards and responsibilities of all entities.

RIT’s Open Access Scholarly Publishing support the journal’s work in the following ways:

Authors

As a general rule, authors should be transparent. Authors should ensure that:

their work is original and written by them
their work has not been previously published
their work has been submitted only to Frameless Journal, and is not under review anywhere else during any point from the date of original submission
material is taken from other sources (including their own published writing) cites a source clearly, and accompanied by appropriate permission
their work does not infringe on any rights of others, including privacy rights and intellectual property rights
their data is true and not manipulated
their data is their own or that they have permission to use data reproduced in their paper
any real or apparent conflicting or competing interest is clearly stated on submission of their paper (this would include funding assistance)
they adhere to all research ethics guidelines of their discipline, particularly where human or animal subjects are involved
they contact the Journal Editors to identify and correct any material errors upon discovery, whether prior or subsequent to publication of their work
authorship of the paper is accurately represented, including ensuring that all individuals credited as authors participated in the actual authorship of the work
all authors are credited and have given consent for publication

In any instance, if an author is unsure about a submission, they should contact the Journal Editors.

Peer-Reviewers

As a general rule, Peer Reviewers should hold matters concerning the journal in confidence, free of conflict, and with impartiality. Peer-Reviewers must:

maintain the confidentiality of the review process
immediately alert their journal editor of any real or potential competing interest that could affect the impartiality of their reviewing and decline to review where appropriate
conduct themselves fairly and impartially

We are aware, of course, that academics and practitioners will come from a particular school of thought and/or may have strong ties to a particular interest. All we ask is that reviewers strive to act fairly. If in doubt about whether a conflict exists, a reviewer should be transparent and seek the views of the journal editors.

Members of the Editorial Board

Like Peer-Reviewers, members of the Editorial Board should hold matters concerning the journal in confidence, free of conflict, and with impartiality. Members of the Board must:

maintain the confidentiality of the peer-review process
immediately alert their journal editor of any real or potential competing interest that could affect the impartiality of their reviewing and decline to review where appropriate
conduct themselves fairly and impartially

Editors

The Journal Editors should hold matters concerning the journal in confidence, free of conflict, and with impartiality. Reviewers must:

maintain and promote consistent ethical policies for their journals
oversee and act to enforce those policies as needed in a fair and consistent manner
ensure the confidentiality of the review process
exercise the highest standards of personal integrity in their work as editor of the journal, recognizing and planning for instances where they could have a competing interest or the appearance of a competing interest
work with Authors, Peer-Reviewers, and member of the Editorial Board as necessary to ensure they are sufficiently informed regarding their journals’ most current ethics and publishing policies and that the journal’s stewardship on ethical matters is fair, unbiased, and timely

Everyone involved in the publication process

agrees to:

promote fairness and equality and oppose discrimination
promote the transparency of and respect for the academic record
respect the confidentiality of others
be transparent about real or apparent competing interests

The aforementioned points are only intended to give a broad overview and are not exhaustive. We encourage our authors and editors to refer to resources from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), in particular the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

Resources

American Educational Research Association (AERA), updated 2011: http://www.aera.net/Portals/38/docs/About_AERA/CodeOfEthics(1).pdf

Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications, https://c4disc.org/

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) -- http://publicationethics.org/

Toolkits for Equity: An Antiracist Framework for Scholarly Publishing, published in Serials Review, (2020): https://doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2020.1806653; https://c4disc.org/toolkits-for-equity/