Duties of the Editorial Board
Publication decisions
The editorial board of a peer-reviewed Serdica Journal of Computing is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be accepted and published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editorial board must be guided by the policies of the journal and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editorial board may confer with reviewers in making this decision.
The editorial board should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
The editorial board will inform the authors about its decision. It can return the manuscript to the author for corrections or revision. In case of rejection, members of the editorial board are obliged not to make the submission available to third party.
In case of violation of ethical riles by authors, the editorial board is entitled to refuse to publish the materials at each stage of the editorial-publishing process.
Confidentiality
The editorial board and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author and reviewers.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editorial board’s members own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Editorial board’s members should withdraw (i.e. should ask other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, or (possibly) institutions connected to the submissions. Editorial board should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
Involvement and cooperation in investigations
The editorial board should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the relevant scholarly society. Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration of the respective complaint or claims made, but may also include further communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note, as may be relevant. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
