This code is based on the principles of transparency and good practices in academic publications of the Committee on Publication Ethics COPE (http://publicationethics.org/).

Salmanticensis has a firm commitment to the advancement of theology, so its main objective is to constantly improve, taking into account the point of view of authors, reviewers and Editorial Board and establishing processes that ensure academic quality.

Director and editors

Responsibility. The Editor is responsible for deciding whether or not to publish the articles received, and will therefore ensure that the articles are reviewed by experts in the field.
In making these decisions, the Editor should be guided both by the policies of the journal's Editorial Board and by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor may consult with other members of the Editorial Board or with reviewers in making publication decisions.

Management of the journal. The Editor will work closely with the diverse and effective Editorial Board. He/she shall communicate regularly with the members of the Editorial Board and meet with them as often as necessary.

Fairness. During the evaluation process, the Editor shall evaluate only the scientific content of the articles, without letting other aspects that may involve any type of discrimination affect his/her decisions. He/she will avoid any bias in the editorial decision making process.

Authorship. The Editor is not responsible for possible conflicts arising from the authorship of the papers published in the journal. The ideas, data and opinions expressed in the published works will be the sole responsibility of the authors, who are also responsible for obtaining the corresponding permissions for publication, that the published works are carried out in accordance with the ethical criteria that govern research and that they are in accordance with professional ethics.

Confidentiality. Texts and data will be treated according to the criterion of confidentiality. The Editor and members of the Editorial Board may only share information regarding submitted manuscripts with the author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and others involved in the publication process.
Unpublished materials in a submitted manuscript should not be used in the Editor's own research without the express consent of the author. Similarly, privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review should be kept confidential and not used for personal gain.

Conflicts of Interest. The Editor should seek to ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process. Editors should refrain from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Non-coercion of citation. Salmanticensis undertakes not to condition in any way, either by way of demand or suggestion, the publication of originals to the inclusion of citations of articles of the journal itself in the articles submitted by the authors, even if there are articles on the subject matter.

In the event of malpractice. In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, such as copyright infringement, fraudulent publication, plagiarism or self-plagiarism, the editorial manager, in collaboration with the journal editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and modify the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of a note of clarification and, in the most severe cases, the complete retraction of the work concerned.
In case of possible retraction, the Editor will be guided by the COPE Article Retraction Guidelines.
In case of infringement of rights, the author shall be solely responsible for the consequences.
In cases of defamation and plagiarism, the Editor will reject the received papers.
In case of self-plagiarism, each case will be considered on a case-by-case basis. A decision will be made on the basis of the amount of reused text, its nature - original research or not - the original source and the copyright. The decision will be based on the COPE Text recycling guidelines.

Complaints and claims. Salmanticensis will respond to all complaints or suspicions of poor research or publication practices raised by readers, reviewers and other editors. The Editor will take reasonable action when ethical complaints are raised in connection with a submitted manuscript or published article. The journal will evaluate cases of possible plagiarism or duplicate/redundant publication related to a submitted manuscript or published article.

Each reported act of unethical behavior will be reviewed, even if it is discovered years after publication. The Editor shall maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, prevent commercial needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards, and always be ready to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies, if necessary.

In cases of editorial or reviewer malpractice the journal may request an investigation by the institution itself or other appropriate bodies.

Reviewers

Responsibility. The publication of an article in the journal Salmanticensis involves a double-blind peer review system. The reviewers will assist the Editorial Board in editorial decisions and will collaborate, if necessary, to help the author improve his or her work.

Qualifications and timeliness. All selected reviewers must state whether they are qualified to review the proposed article and, if so, to deliver the evaluation on time.

Confidentiality. Any manuscript received by the reviewer should be treated as a confidential document. It should not be shown or discussed with anyone, unless authorized by the Editorial Board.

Objectivity and respect. The reviewer's function is to guarantee the scientific quality of the paper. His task is not to correct it. He/she will make his/her evaluation as objectively as possible, assessing the quality of the article based on what the author proposes and avoiding projecting what the reviewer would like it to be.
The reviewer should express his or her considerations clearly and provide arguments. Evaluations should be carried out with total objectivity and using language that is respectful of the author and the work: personal criticism of the author, ironic comments and anything that may seem derogatory are always inappropriate. If it is considered that the article should not be published, it should be said clearly and simply explain the reason, which helps both the Editor and the author.
Salmanticensis is committed to select the best reviewers available to evaluate each article, avoiding sending new reviews to those who have made disrespectful criticisms or do not have an ethical behavior.

Acknowledgement of sources. When possible, reviewers should identify relevant publications that have not been cited by the authors. Reviewers should advise the Editor of any substantial similarity between the manuscript and any other publication of which they are aware.

Conflict of Interest. Privileged information obtained in the review process should be considered confidential and may not be used for personal gain. Reviewers may not evaluate manuscripts that conflict of interest due to competitive, collaborative or other relationships with the authors, companies or institutions linked to the article in question. To ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process, reviewers who have a conflict of interest should decline the request for review.

Against malpractice. Reviewers should avoid situations of citation coercion, suggesting to authors citations of the journal in the reviewed articles (logically, they may indicate gaps in the citations or recommend extensions of them according to their independent scientific criteria), as well as alteration of their own anonymity in double-blind peer review, any type of predatory practices, such as the use of false names, demand for payment and false review and simulated coordination of monographs.

Evaluation of reviewers. The journal will evaluate the work of the reviewers by publishing a list of those who have contributed during the year. It will try to expand the list of contributors as much as possible, trying to consolidate a staff that reflects the diversity and interdisciplinarity sought by the journal.

Authors

Responsibility. The opinions expressed in the works published by Salmanticensis are the exclusive responsibility of their authors. Authors who wish to include images, figures, tables, or passages of text that have already been published elsewhere must obtain permission from the copyright owner for print and online formats and include evidence that such permission has been granted upon presentation of your documents. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to have come from the authors.

Personal information. Authors must provide their contact information to be used during the evaluation process and, where appropriate, publication of the article. They will not be provided to third parties or used for other purposes.

Presentation of the articles. Authors must present original articles of scientific rigor. They must also present an accurate description of the work performed, as well as an objective discussion of its importance. The underlying data must be presented accurately in the manuscript. The work must contain enough references that allow the evaluators to make their replicas.

Acknowledgment of sources. The authors will provide appropriate recognition of the bibliographic sources that have made the preparation of their work possible. In the case of use of an observation, derivation or argument that has been previously communicated, the author must accompany it with the corresponding citation.

Originality and plagiarism. Authors undertake to submit original works and to cite appropriately, in accordance with the journal's standards, the works of other authors. When submitting, the author or authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript is a completely original text and does not include research already published without properly citing its source.
In the case of plagiarism or redundant content, the author or authors will assume full responsibility for the consequences derived from it (economic, legal or any other nature).

To avoid bad practices, the journal will use an anti-plagiarism system (Turnitin) that reviews several sources of digital content and prepares a report with percentages of similarity between the manuscript and the sources consulted.

If plagiarism is detected prior to publication, the article will be automatically rejected and, if it is later, the journal reserves the right to record it and will withdraw the article from publication.

Articles in which any bad practice related to falsification of sources or manipulation of citations is detected will also be rejected. In the case of gaps in the identification of sources, the editorial process will be suspended until the error is corrected, with the assigned Editor reserving the power to reject the text based on the lack of scientific rigor.

Procedure. Sending the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time constitutes behavior that violates the ethics of the procedure and is unacceptable.

Authorship of a manuscript and contribution. Authorship will be limited to those people who have taken part in the creation, design and execution of the work. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. When there are other people who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they must be named in an acknowledgment section.
The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors and none who are not co-authors appear in the author list of the manuscript and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the work and have accepted its submission for publication.

Sources of funding. Where appropriate, the author will mention the sources of financing for the project that gave rise to the article.

Errors in published works. When an author discovers a significant error in his already published work, it is his obligation to promptly communicate this fact to the Editor of the journal and cooperate with him in withdrawing or correcting the article.