Publication Ethics

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Responsibilities of editors, reviewers, and authors concerning publication ethics and publication malpractice are described below.

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS

In accordance with the generally accepted standards of scholarly publishing, Pennsylvania Teacher Educator does not alter articles after publication (except for errors due to copyediting). If there are concerns expressed about the integrity of a published article, editors will follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) retraction guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines). The Pennsylvania Teacher Educator will retract a published article if:

• The manuscript and findings are published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification
• The manuscript has plagiarism
• The findings in the manuscript are a result of data fabrication or unreliable data.
• The research conducted was unethical  

 If an article is retracted, the editors will replace the online published article with a retraction notice.

PLAGIARISM

The editors have the right to check submissions for plagiarism using plagiarism-checking software. Manuscripts with suspected plagiarism will be rejected. Plagiarism in manuscripts found after publication will follow the guidance outlined in Corrections and Retractions. 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

Authors are responsible for authorizing their submission as their original work and attesting that it has not been previously published nor is it being considered for publication in another journal. Authors are responsible for assuring that the sources within the work are attributed correctly using citations or quotations and are obligated to ensure that the data used within their manuscript is authentic. 

When using copyrighted images or artwork, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain written permission for inclusion of the images/artwork within the manuscript. The authors agree to provide written permission to the journal editors upon acceptance of the submission for publication. 

Authors should list their names on the article in order of contribution to said article. Only people who made a meaningful contribution should be listed as authors. People who have contributed marginally (e.g., reviewed drafts, provided proofreading) should not be listed as authors but instead can be referenced in “Acknowledgements.”  

It is the responsibility of the authors to amend any errors or inaccuracies in an article that has been published (e.g., incorrect attributions, errors that alter meaning, errors in data). 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

Reviewers for the Pennsylvania Teacher Educator work on a volunteer basis. Reviewers can decline to review a manuscript at their discretion. Reviewers should only accept invitations to review articles when they know they can complete the review in a timely manner and have the expertise to provide an honest review. Reviewers should decline invitations to review manuscripts on topics or methodologies with which they are unfamiliar.

Once reviewers accept an invitation to review a manuscript, they are expected to submit their reviews within 30 days. If, during the review, reviewers find they do not have the level of expertise needed or believe there may be a conflict of interest (i.e., think they recognize the author based on the subject or research or are connected to any of the authors, etc.), they should recuse themselves from the review by contacting the editor.  Reviewers agree to keep all manuscript information confidential.

Privileged information or ideas obtained by reviewers through the peer review process must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the Editors.

Reviewers should identify in their reviews relevant published work that has not been cited by the author(s), together with any instances in which proper attribution of sources has not been provided. They should call to the responsible editor’s attention any significant resemblances between a manuscript under consideration and other published articles or papers of which they are aware, as well as any concerns they might have in relation to the ethical acceptability of the research reported in the manuscript.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

It is the responsibility of the editors of the Pennsylvania Teacher Educator to decide whether to publish or reject an article for publication within the journal once it has gone through the double-blind peer review process. Editors are tasked with ensuring the integrity of the journal by thoroughly reviewing all manuscripts during the publication process, consulting with associate editors, and relying on reviewer feedback when making publication decisions.

 During the evaluation process, editors will consider the rigor of the work within the manuscript and its contribution to the field, and ensure that the research conforms to ethical guidelines. All manuscripts are evaluated for intellectual content only. Personal information such as race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and/or political or philosophical views about the authors is never collected or considered when making publication decisions. The editors adhere to the integrity of the double-blind review process during manuscript review and do not reveal the identity of author(s) to reviewers nor reveal the identity of reviewers to author(s).