This section outlines the best practice principles that are applied in Research in Corpus Linguistics (RiCL), the official journal of the Spanish Association for Corpus Linguistics, in order to maintain the integrity of its academic content and publishing. The principles described here have been outlined on the basis of Elsevier recommendations and the Best Practice Guidelines  published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In submitting an article to RiCL, authors acknowledge these principles have been applied to the research reported in the article by ticking the corresponding box in the Submission Preparation Checklist.

 

1. Reporting standards

Submissions to RiCL must present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately and with an appropriate academic style in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work.

Authors are responsible for submitting their articles following the general and style guidelines of RiCL. Otherwise the articles will be immediately returned to their authors and will not be sent to the two blind reviewers until compliance with the style sheet guidelines is satisfactory. A template to help you format your article can be downloaded here.

Authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with the General and Style guidelines by ticking the corresponding box in the Submission Preparation Checklist.

 

2. Article selection policy

Submission to RiCL are evaluated on the basis of the paper’s importance originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. See Peer Review Process.

 

3. Originality, Plagiarism and Acknowledgement of Sources

Submission of an article to RiCL requires the assurance that it is an original work which has not been published previously (fully or a substantial part of it) and that it is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

All manuscripts received in RiCL are run through a plagiarism software to ensure they are no (partial) duplicates of already published papers. By ticking the corresponding box in the Submission Preparation Checklist, authors certify that the article was written by them and in their own words, except for quotations from published and unpublished sources, which are clearly indicated and acknowledged as such. They also certify that they are conscious that the incorporation of material from other works or a paraphrase of such material without acknowledgement will be treated as plagiarism. The source of any figure, picture, map or other illustration is also indicated, as is the source, published or unpublished, of any material not resulting from their own experimentation, observation or data-collecting.

 

4. Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list by ticking the corresponding box in the Submission Preparation Checklist. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

 

5. Research with Human or Animal Subjects

If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that they have been approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

 

6. Libel, Defamation and Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression is of crucial importance in RiCL. However, RiCL will not publish false statements, fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements which may harm the reputation of others. It is understood that any opinions expressed in published articles do not necessarily coincide with those of the journal's Editors, who will not accept liability for the contents included in the articles. When necessary, authors should explicitly accept liability for the ethical aspects related to the contents of their study.

 

7. Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editors, the members of the editorial board and the reviewers for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent.

Editors and members of the advisory board and the board of referees will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers.

 

8. Confidentiality

The editors or any member of the editorial staff, the advisory board or the board of peer reviewers must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

 

9. Fundamental errors in published works

Post-publication changes involving content will be made only if there is a problem with comprehensibility or a fundamental error. Such changes will be accompanied by a note of revision. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in form of an erratum.