Code of ethics

Rights and responsibilities of Americae

1. The journal is committed to encouraging work of the highest scientific quality, and to respect the authors and peer reviewers throughout the process.
2. The journal reserves the right to refuse the review of an article that does not demonstrate an adequate level of scientific quality, or falls outside the scope of Americae’s editorial policy (decided in concertation with the editorial board).
3. The journal reserves the right to refuse the review of an article by authors who have been founded guilty of a breach of ethics (gender discrimination, moral or sexual harassment, plagiarism, abuse of power, etc.) by an official institutional investigatory body.
4. The journal reserves the right to refuse the review of an article that presents data that were not acquired/accessed in accord with the laws and regulations of the country of origin.
5. Americae must verify that articles reviews are carried out objectively and follow the guidelines and rules for reviewers.
6. Americae protects the confidentiality of all peer reviewers.

Rights and responsibilities of authors

1. Authors have the right to a fair and objective evaluation of their article by Americae. All evaluations must be justified by an explanation of the reasons for the editorial decision made.
2. Authors must propose articles that present original, unpublished data. If a part of the data or analysis has been previously published elsewhere, the authors must declare this upon submission to Americae.
3. The data presented must be acquired in compliance with the local rules and regulations of the country of origin. The rights of any additional participants involved in the data collection must be respected as well.
4. Any data that were not directly acquired by the author(s) that are presented in the article must be explicitly cited in the text.
5. All authors of an article must have access to the manuscript and consent to their participation prior to its publication.

Rights and responsibilities of reviewers

1. Reviewers must declare any and all potential conflicts of interest with the author(s) of an article prior to its review.
   1. Personal relationships (close relative, friendship, conflict).
   2. Close institutional relationships (same department or laboratory).
   3. Close professional relationships (collaborations and/or co-authorship, within the last 5 years).
2. Reviewers are expected to provide a clear and objective review of the article. Criticisms of articles must be explicitly presented and well-argued. Criticisms should be accompanied by constructive suggestions for improving the content of the article.
3. Reviewers must respect the deadlines set by Americae. If the reviewer is unable to meet the specified deadline they must notify the journal immediately so that a replacement reviewer can be sought.
4. The reviewer must respect the confidentiality of the author and article. This rule also applies to individuals who are invited to review but do not accept the request.
5. Americae guarantees the anonymity of all reviewer (with the exception of those who wish to have their name revealed to the author[s]).