This Code of Ethics is expressly based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Etnografie del contemporaneo is an annual peer-reviewed journal published in both digital and print formats. Submissions may be made in Italian, English, French, or Spanish and are selected through a double-blind peer-review process. All parties involved in the publication process – authors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, and members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and Editorial Staff – are required to be familiar with and comply with the provisions of this Code.

4.1 Duties of the Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and Editorial Staff

The decision to accept or reject an article for publication is based on its scholarly quality and originality. The Editor-in-Chief oversees the assessment and revision process, with the support of the Editorial Board and Editorial Staff, taking into account the reviewers’ reports and, where necessary, the opinion of the Scientific Committee.

Articles are subject to double-blind peer review. Each submission is assessed by two reviewers selected on the basis of their expertise and scholarly qualifications in the relevant field. Their reasoned reports are forwarded to the authors in full and in writing, without disclosing the reviewers’ identities. The journal undertakes to preserve the mutual anonymity of authors and reviewers and to ensure that the review process is fair and impartial. Where the two reports reach conflicting conclusions, the Editor-in-Chief may seek the opinion of a third reviewer.

The journal ensures the confidentiality of all manuscripts submitted for publication throughout the assessment process. The same duty of confidentiality applies to personal, scholarly, or professional information obtained in the course of peer review. The outcome of the assessment of each article is retained in a restricted-access archive.

Articles submitted by the Editor-in-Chief or by members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, or Editorial Staff are subject to the same assessment procedures as all other submissions. Those concerned take no part in the selection of reviewers or in decisions relating to their own work.

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and Editorial Staff must disclose any conflict of interest arising from personal, professional, or financial relationships with the authors of a submitted article. In such circumstances, the person concerned must recuse themselves from the assessment of and any decisions concerning the submission, which shall instead be handled by a suitably qualified member who has no conflict of interest. Where the conflict concerns the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board shall appoint one of its members who is not involved in the matter to oversee the peer-review process and make the final decision.

The Editorial Staff shall ensure that the procedure is conducted in a timely manner and shall inform authors, within a reasonable period, whether their submission has been accepted, requires revision, or has been rejected.

4.2 Duties of authors

Authors submitting a manuscript to Etnografie del contemporaneo declare that the work is original, that it has not been published, in whole or in part, in any other journal, edited volume, or publication, and that it is not simultaneously under consideration by another publication venue.

Authorship must be attributed exclusively to those who have made a substantial intellectual, methodological, or creative contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the work. All co-authors must have approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission. Any subsequent change in authorship must be communicated to and approved by the Editor-in-Chief.

Authors are required to report their research accurately and to acknowledge the contributions of others through the proper citation of sources and attribution of the data and materials used. Plagiarism, data fabrication, and any form of falsification constitute serious breaches of research ethics and shall result in rejection of the manuscript or, where the work has already been published, in the measures provided for under § 4.5.

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflict of interest that could influence, or reasonably be perceived as influencing, the results of the work or their interpretation.

Where an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, they must promptly inform the Editor-in-Chief and cooperate in the publication of a correction or erratum or, where necessary, in the retraction of the article.

Authors are responsible for obtaining and documenting the informed consent of research participants who are identifiable in texts, photographs, or other visual materials intended for publication, in accordance with § 4.4.

4.3 Duties of reviewers

Reviewers undertake to assess manuscripts objectively, on the basis of their scholarly merit, methodological rigour, and originality, without discrimination on grounds of nationality, gender, religious or political beliefs, or the institutional affiliation of the authors.

Manuscripts submitted for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers may not discuss them with third parties, disclose or make use of their contents, or use information obtained during the review process for personal advantage or for purposes unrelated to the assessment itself.

Reviewers must promptly inform the Editorial Staff of any personal, professional, or financial conflict of interest involving one or more authors and must decline to review the manuscript. The same obligation applies where reviewers consider that they do not possess the expertise required to assess the work.

Reviews must be submitted within the agreed deadline. Any inability to meet that deadline must be communicated as soon as possible so that an alternative reviewer may be appointed. Reviewers must also report any substantial similarities or overlaps between the manuscript and other published or unpublished work of which they are aware.

4.4 Research involving human participants and the use of visual materials

In view of its ethnographic orientation, the journal places particular emphasis on safeguarding the dignity and rights of the individuals and communities represented in texts, photographs, and other visual materials.

Authors must certify that research involving human participants has been conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of their institution and has obtained, where required, the approval of the relevant ethics committee or other competent institutional review body. They must also obtain the informed consent of research participants whose images, testimonies, or other identifying information are published and must retain appropriate documentation of such consent, to be provided to the Editorial Staff upon request.

Particular care is required in research involving minors or individuals and communities in vulnerable circumstances, including, by way of example, Indigenous peoples, refugees, and marginalised groups. In such cases, authors must specify the measures adopted to protect the dignity, anonymity, and well-being of participants. Where consent for publication in identifiable form has not been obtained, or where identification would be inappropriate in view of the need to protect those concerned, identifying details must be removed or obscured in both texts and images.

The journal encourages dialogue with the individuals and communities involved in research and the sharing of research findings with them. Authors are therefore invited, where relevant, to specify how the findings have been or will be shared with participants.

4.5 Handling allegations of misconduct

Etnografie del contemporaneo follows COPE guidelines in handling allegations of research or publication misconduct, including, by way of example, plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, and failure to disclose conflicts of interest.

Allegations may be raised by reviewers, members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, or Editorial Staff, or by third parties, and are examined by the Editor-in-Chief, who may, where necessary, seek the assistance of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and Editorial Staff. Before a final decision is reached, authors shall be given the opportunity to respond to the allegations and provide clarification. Where an allegation concerns the Editor-in-Chief, or where the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, the replacement procedure set out in § 4.1 shall apply.

Where misconduct is established after publication, the journal shall, according to the nature and seriousness of the case, publish a correction, an erratum, or a retraction notice, in accordance with the relevant COPE guidelines. Retracted articles shall remain accessible but shall be clearly identified as retracted, together with the reasons for the retraction.

Authors who consider an editorial decision to be unfair or erroneous may submit a reasoned written request for reconsideration to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief shall reassess the case and may, where necessary, seek the opinion of an additional independent reviewer. The duties of recusal and the provisions governing conflicts of interest set out in § 4.1 shall also apply at this stage.

4.6 Use of artificial intelligence

Authors may use generative artificial intelligence tools to assist with writing, for example to improve clarity of expression. Such tools may not be credited as authors, since they cannot assume responsibility for the content, its accuracy, or its ethical and scholarly implications, nor can they provide the consent required of authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of the entire manuscript, including any text, citations, or data produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence. They must therefore verify that no fabricated or inaccurate references or statements – commonly referred to as “hallucinations” – have been introduced.

Any use of generative artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of text, images, or other materials must be disclosed in the acknowledgements or in the section devoted to methodology, specifying the tool used and the manner and purpose of its use.

Given the ethnographic and documentary nature of the images published by the journal, photographs and other visual materials presented as research documentation must be authentic. They may not be generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence tools in such a way as to present inauthentic content as authentic. Any use of images generated or processed using such tools solely for illustrative purposes must be expressly disclosed, and such images must be clearly distinguishable from ethnographic documentation.

In order to protect the confidentiality of authors’ work, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, and members of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and Editorial Staff must not upload unpublished manuscripts, or any part thereof, to generative artificial intelligence tools or to external platforms not authorised by the journal. Scholarly assessment and editorial decisions remain the sole responsibility of the individuals entrusted with them, irrespective of any support tools that may be used.

4.7 Copyright and licensing

Etnografie del contemporaneo is a fully open-access journal. Authors retain copyright in their contributions and grant the journal the right of first publication. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence, in accordance with the terms of the licence as specified in each contribution.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that they hold the rights required to reproduce and publish photographs, images, and other third-party materials included in their contribution and for obtaining any necessary permissions before submission.

The licence applicable to the article does not replace the informed consent of research participants or relieve authors of the obligation to respect their dignity and privacy. The requirements set out in § 4.4 therefore remain fully applicable.