Quality Policy

QUALITY POLICY AND BEST PRACTICES

Requirements for Publication

1. Authors shall submit original manuscripts, which must be unpublished, must not have been presented as papers or communications at any conference, and must not be under consideration for publication by other publishers. The sole exception applies to translations of works that are difficult to access.

2. Prior to submission, authors are expected to carefully review spelling, grammar and style, and to ensure that bibliographic references and typographical conventions are applied consistently throughout the text, particularly in collective works.

3. As a general rule, the Real Academia Española (RAE) serves as the reference authority for copy-editing and text preparation. However, in certain cases this criterion may not be the most appropriate, as legal and scientific texts follow their own established conventions. In duly justified cases and by prior agreement with UCOPress, alternative criteria may be adopted, provided that they are applied consistently throughout the entire book.

4. Once receipt of the manuscript has been acknowledged, compliance with the Press’s guidelines shall be reviewed. Works submitted to UCOPress may be rejected at an initial evaluation stage by the Editorial Board on formal grounds, such as spelling errors, lexical imprecision and unnecessary anglicisms, poor punctuation, incoherent syntax, lack of clarity, inconsistencies, or similar issues.

5. Communication of the decision on submitted proposals shall take place immediately following the Editorial Board’s decision, in accordance with the reports received.

6. Reduction of the production timeframe to six months from the signing of the publishing contract, subject to prior approval by the Editorial Board.

7. Enhancement of information provision and international dissemination through the available digital channels.

8. Guaranteeing UCOPress’s participation in national and international book fairs within the publishing sector.

9. Progressive internationalisation of the catalogue of authors and titles.

10. Dispatch of orders to distributors and booksellers within a maximum period of three days.

11. Enhancement and management of the impact and visibility of publications in national and international databases.

12. Response to duly substantiated complaints and suggestions within a period of fifteen days.

13. Compliance with international publishing standards, in accordance with ISO 690.

14. Respect for the environment, in accordance with national and international environmental regulations, incorporating environmental sustainability criteria throughout the entire editorial process. In particular, the digitalisation of the proof correction process results in a significant reduction in the amount of paper waste generated by UCOPress and, indirectly, contributes to a lower carbon footprint associated with this activity.

Peer Review Process

All publications under the UCOPress imprint undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process in order to ensure their scientific quality. Once the Editorial Board has given its approval, the manuscript is sent to two reviewers (referees) with recognised expertise in the subject area of the work.
Reviewers are external to the Press and act independently. They are selected by the Editorial Board and/or the Director of the relevant collection to assess the suitability of the manuscript for publication and, where appropriate, to propose any necessary revisions. The review method applied is double blind, ensuring the anonymity of both authors and reviewers, with a member of UCOPress acting as the intermediary between the parties. If necessary, a third reviewer may be appointed.

Authorship conditions

The publishing contract sets out the authorship conditions, which stablish that the author is the holder of the intellectual property rights to the work. The author must also warrant its originality of the work and guarantee that no prior commitments or encumbrances have been entered into, nor will be entered into, that could infringe upon the rights vesting in UCOPress Editorial Universidad de Córdoba.
Furthermore, the author guarantees that the work does not infringe upon the personal rights, intellectual property rights, or any other rights of third parties that could give rise to any liability in connection with its publication. In this regard, the author guarantees ―and must provide a Declaration of Responsibility― that they hold all the necessary permissions to make sufficiently broad use of any illustrations, photographs, quotations, and any other content included in the work (Annex I).

Publishing contract

The publishing contract signed with the authors and/or editors of works accepted for publication establishes a seven years term for the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, public communication and adaptation, for worldwide exploitation, either directly or through third parties, in all languages, and in any publishing format and mode of edition.

As a general rule, UCOPress Editorial Universidad de Córdoba authorises the deposit of the original manuscript versions in open-access institutional repositories (in the case of the University of Cordoba, Helvia) for publications included in this Collection that have received public funding. In all other cases, a two-year (24-month) period is established for such deposit. After this period, authors may request authorisation from the Press to deposit, likewise in open-access institutional repositories, an electronic file of their works.

Ethical responsibilities

UCOPress has a duty to identify and address the following forms of unethical or dishonest practice, in any of their manifestations:

  • Data fabrication, falsification or omission during the research process.
  • Plagiarism: Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions to reproduce, in whole or in part, material (texts, images, tables or figures) from other publications and for properly citing its source. Such permissions must be obteined from both the author(s) and the publisher of the original material. The Press may apply anti-plagiarism software to submitted manuscripts.
  • Redundant publication: the publication of a chapter or work that essentially coincides with another already published—except for compilations or tributes to an author. This contravenes international copyright laws, professional ethics, and the efficient use of resources.
  • False authorship: Only individuals who have made an intellectual contribution to the development of the work shall be listed as authors.
  • Conflicts of interest: Authors are expected to declare any commercial or personal associations that may give rise to a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted work.
  • Violation of laws or of human or animal rights during the research process.

It is a mandatory requirement that authors sign the Declaration of Authorship, Originality and Transfer of Rights, available on UCOPress’s institutional website.

Confidentiality Policy

UCOPress guarantees, at all times, confidentiality throughout the evaluation process, including the anonymity of reviewers and authors, the content under review, the reports issued by reviewers, and any other communications issued by the Editorial Board, where applicable.

The identity of individuals who submit a manuscript for evaluation and possible publication shall be safeguarded by Director of UCOPress, the Editorial Board, the staff of the Press, and the Director and Scientific Committee of the relevant collection as long as the manuscript is under consideration, and shall remain anonymous in the case that the manuscript is rejected. Names and email addresses provided to UCOPress shall be used exclusively for the purposes stated by the Press and shall not be disclosed for any other purpose or to any other party.

Manuscripts rejected for publication shall be archived in UCOPress’s OMP platform and shall be permanently destroyed within a period of one year.

Ethical Considerations for Research at the University of Cordoba

For full information on the Code of Responsible Practices and Research Integrity, please consult the website of the University of Cordoba’s Research Integrity Committee: https://www.uco.es/investigacion/portal/comite-de-integridad-en-la-investigacion

Anti-plagiarism policy

UCOPress Editorial Universidad de Córdoba condemns plagiarism and will not publish works that are not original and/or that have been previously published. UCOPress maintains a strict policy to ensure the originality of the submitted works: all manuscripts submitted for publication are subject to a similarity analysis using Turnitin software.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

All our digital books —except those published under open access— are protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM). DRM embeds a set of usage rules within the file as defined by each publisher, including the number of devices on which the content can be accessed, permissions to copy or print parts of the content, and whether the content has an expiration date, among other restrictions.

Our digital books are marketed through UNEBOOK, a university book sales platform, which offers titles in an HTML5 streaming format with perpetual access from any authorised device. Books protected by DRM cannot be downloaded, printed, copied or transferred to unauthorised devices.

Helvia. UCO Repository