Code of Ethics
Axis Mundi is a scholarly journal with high standards in publication ethics, practices and scientific integrity.
The journal’s ethical standards are consistent with the European Code of Ethics and Research Integrity, pursuant to Internal Regulation No. 23/2016 of the Code of Ethics of Comenius University in Bratislava (Article 6) and Internal Regulation No. 13/2019 of the Code of Ethics of Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts (Article 4). Any suspected violation of the publication ethics will be dealt with by the Axis Mundi editors based on the Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) issued by Elsevier and the European Code of Ethics and Research Integrity.
-Any person making a significant contribution to the research or manuscript is considered to be an author of the submission. The non-inclusion of any of the authors or individuals involved in the research or the writing of the manuscript is considered a gross violation of the publication ethics and scientific integrity.
-The authors are responsible for agreeing the order in which the authors of the paper are listed.
-Authors must include all the information sources referred to as part of the research or writing up.
-All the information sources used should be referenced in line with the journal’s citation standards.
-Authors must guarantee that permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted materials.
-Authors must not include irrelevant references. Such practices are considered a deliberate attempt to manipulate the peer-review process or citation standards. They will be considered a violation of the publication ethics and scientific integrity.
-Authors are responsible for ensuring that the research is conducted in an ethical manner and that the data obtained are published in line with the ethical standards.
-Authors must disclose any sources of funding for the research (where relevant).
-Authors are obliged to give their professional affiliation.
-All forms of plagiarism (including autoplagiarism) and/or the manipulation of data are considered a gross violation of the publication ethics.
-Authors should include only accurate, authentic data and information.
-Publication of false or biased data is unacceptable.
-The research results must not have been published or be in the process of being published elsewhere.
-The journal welcomes the publication of both negative and positive findings. Conscious reinterpretation of negative research findings in order to make them appear positive constitutes a violation of the publication ethics and scientific integrity.
-The manuscript author(s) and peer reviewer(s) guarantee that the data published are factually accurate.
-All authors are obliged to engage with the peer review process.
-The editorial staff are responsible for ensuring that all communication between the author(s), the editors and peer reviewers is of the required standard.
-All the authors must be involved in providing retractions or corrections of any errors.
-Peer review is a process whereby an expert in the field provides advice and suggestions on the manuscript.
-The peer-review process is anonymous and the Axis Mundi editorial staff will not reveal the identity of the peer reviewer to the author. Likewise, the peer reviewer will not learn the identity of the author. This avoids any potential conflicts of interest arising during the peer-review process.
-Articles that have been reviewed or are awaiting review must be treated confidentially.
-Peer reviewers must not engage in personal criticism of authors.
-Peer reviewers must use objective, concise and factual language in the peer-review. Peer reviewers must be objective.
-Reviewers should point out any published work that has not been cited by the author(s) that is of key relevance to the manuscript.
-Reviewers should point out any irrelevant work cited.
-Reviewers must complete the peer review in a timely fashion.
-All submissions are peer-reviewed.
-The editors will not tolerate third-party interventions in the peer-review or publication processes. Where third-party intervention is suspected, the editorial staff have the right to immediately halt the peer review and to remove an already published article from the journal’s digital sites.
-The editors shall adhere to the publication ethics and scientific integrity.
-No fees are charged for the peer review, publication and access to and/or archiving of the manuscript.
-Decisions on whether to accept a manuscript are based on objective academic criteria (such as originality, importance and clarity) and are the full responsibility of the editors.
-Editors with a conflict of interest in relation to a manuscript must abstain from the peer review process.
-The editors shall endeavour to systematically improve the scientific standards of the journal.
-All manuscripts will be treated with confidentiality until such time as they are published.
-The editorial office respects the conclusions of the peer-reviewed manuscript.
-The editorial staff respect and accept the author’s right to appeal against the decision of the editorial office.
-The editorial staff will deal promptly with any additional corrections, editing and modifications, or recall of published manuscripts.
-The editorial staff will adhere to the peer-review process and publication schedule.
-The editorial staff will ensure as far as possible that all the relevant information is up-to-date and accessible insofar as the peer review and publication processes are concerned.
-The editorial staff will ensure as far as possible the accuracy of the information and published submissions.
-The editorial staff will follow and uphold the publication ethics.
-The editorial staff will communicate promptly with all parties involved (authors, peer reviewers, readers) in cases of a suspected violation of the publication ethics and scientific integrity.
-The editorial staff will not set barriers to authors intending to publish the submitted manuscript in pre-print form. However, where this is the intention, the editorial staff should be informed in advance.
-The editorial staff will not set barriers to authors seeking to freely distribute a previously published manuscript.
Axis Mundi is funded by the Department of Comparative Religion (Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava) and Tatra Banka Foundation. It does not charge any editorial or processing fees, and is financially independent of the authors.