Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Treballs de Sociolingüística Catalana (TSC), a Catalan sociolinguistic research journal, is the official journal of the Societat Catalana de Sociolingüística (SCS), attached to the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC), an academic, scientific and cultural research body dedicated to aspects of Catalan culture.
 
TSC is committed to guaranteeing the ethics and quality of the articles published in its journal, in compliance with the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
 
 
1. Editorial team
TSC is overseen by an Editor, Editorial Committee, Content Committee and Scientific Committee, composed of recognized experts in the field, whose full names and affiliations are provided on the journal’s website.  Contact information for the editorial office is also provided on the journal’s website.
The relationship between the IEC, publisher of the journal, and the editorial team of the TSC is based on the principle of editorial independence. The editorial team determines which articles should be published based on their quality and suitability, without interference from the publisher.
 
2. Fees
Fees or charges required for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in TSC are clearly stated in the journal website.
 
 
3. Authors and their responsibilities
The admission or non-admission of a submission is based on the importance, originality and clarity of the article or contribution, as well as on the validity of the study and its relevance in accordance with the objectives and the mission of the TSC.
The editorial team may directly reject the works received, without resorting to an external review process, if they consider them to be inappropriate because they do not meet the required level of quality, they do not match the scientific or editorial objectives of the journals or they present evidence of malpractice. It also reserves the right to retract articles once they are published if they subsequently demonstrate a lack of reliability either due to involuntary errors or malpractice. If only a part of the article contains an error it will be rectified by means of an editorial note or erratum. In the event of dispute, the journals will ask the authors for the relevant explanations and evidence to clarify the case and will take a final decision.
The editorial team is impartial when it comes to handling the submitted works and will respect the intellectual independence of the authors, whose right to reply if they have been reviewed negatively is respected.
The responsibilities of authors are as follows:
- to participate in the peer-review process
- to have significantly contributed to the research
- to undertake to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes
- to provide lists of references
- to state any financial support received
- not to publish the same research in more than one journal.
 
4. Peer-review
Submissions to TSC undergo peer-review by at least two external expert reviewers, as described in the journal’s website. The objectivity of the review is guaranteed by the double-blind procedure.

The editorial team undertakes to ensure that the selected reviewers are apt and able to judge the works without conflicts of interests with the authors. Reviewers are expected to declare any possible conflict of interest and to consider the study they are reviewing as a confidential document until it is published. Under no circumstances may they disseminate or use information, details, arguments or interpretations contained in the text subject to review for their own benefit or that of other individuals, nor for the purpose of favouring or harming third parties. In their reviews, reviewers are expected to point out relevant published work which has not been cited.

 
5. Publication ethics
The TSC strives to respond to the needs of readers and authors and to constantly improve publications. It has processes to assure the quality of the published materials and it guarantees freedom of expression, ensures the integrity of academic content and prevents third-party or corporate interests from compromising its ethical and intellectual standards.
Reasonable steps will be taken to identify and prevent the publication of papers associated with research misconduct. In the event that TSC becomes aware of an allegation of misconduct, suitable steps will be taken, in accordance with COPE guidelines.  When necessary, corrections, clarifications, retractions and /or apologies will be published.
 
6. Copyright and access
Copyright and licensing information is clearly described on the journal’s website. How the journal and individual articles can be accessed is also described on the website along with any associated fees.
 
7. Archiving
TSC uses the open-code LOCKSS (‘lots of copies keep stuff safe’) system developed by the University of Stanford to create a distributed archiving system for participating libraries, which create permanent archives of the journal for conservation and restoration purposes.
 
 
8. Ownership and management
Information on the ownership and management of the TSC journal is clearly indicated on the journal’s website. No organizational names are used by the TSC journal that would mislead potential authors and editors about the nature of the journal’s owner.
 
9. Website
High ethical and professional standards are ensured in the maintenance of the TSC journal’s website and its content.
 
 
10. Publishing schedule
TSC is published once yearly and is available in hardcopy format and online in digital format as a PDF document.
 
11. Name of journal
The journal name, Treballs de Sociolingüística Catalana, is unique and cannot easily be confused with the name of any existing journal, nor will it mislead potential authors and readers about the Journal’s origins or association with other journals.