Ethics code
Ethics code
URBEāctĭo. Revista de Urbanismo, Territorio y Arquitectura*—published by the Postgraduate and Research Section of the School of Engineering and Architecture Tecamachalco (ESIATEC) at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN)—is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and quality across all its editorial processes.
This Code of Ethics is based on the best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Its purpose is to establish the principles and procedures guiding the conduct of all parties involved in the publication process: authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.
1.- Identity, Ownership, and Management of the Journal
URBEāctĭo is a specialized scientific publication of the School of Engineering and Architecture Tecamachalco (ESIATEC) at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). The journal holds the e-ISSN number 3061-8290 and maintains a dedicated website for the management and dissemination of all its content: https://urbeactio.esiatec.ipn.mx/index.php/esiatec/index
Intellectual property and editorial management of the journal are held by the Postgraduate and Research Section of ESIATEC-IPN, ensuring its editorial independence and its commitment to knowledge as a public good.
2.- Mission, Objectives, and Approaches
The objectives, scope, and areas of interest of URBEāctĭo are described in detail in the "About the Journal", "Editorial Policy", and "Author Guidelines" sections. The journal invites original, previously unpublished contributions that address the fields of urbanism, territory, and architecture from inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives.
URBEāctĭo is committed to disseminating this knowledge openly and free of charge—without economic barriers—in line with its mission to foster critical dialogue between academia and society.
3.- Ethics and Author Responsibilities
Authors who submit a manuscript to URBEāctĭo agree to the following:
- Originality and authorship: The work must be original and previously unpublished, and not currently under review by another publication. All authors must have made a substantial contribution to the research and drafting of the manuscript and must agree to its final version. The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools must be explicitly declared, detailing their purpose and scope.
- Contribution and transparency: The journal promotes transparency in authorship through the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework, which is detailed in the Guidelines for Authors. The author order must reflect everyone’s level of contribution. The roles and types of contributions that URBEāctĭo recognizes as constituting authorship are presented below.
|
Contribution Type |
Description |
|
Conceptualization |
Formulation or development of research objectives and/or scope Formulation of ideas underpinning the research |
|
Data curation |
Activities related to the classification, organization, integration, and cleaning of data collected from various sources |
|
Formal data analysis |
Application of numerical methods and/or models Probabilistic analysis Computational mathematics Applied machine learning Applied deep learning Other formal techniques for analyzing and synthesizing data. |
|
Investigation |
Field data acquisition Data acquisition via controlledobservations or experiments Data acquisition during experiment execution Data validation |
|
Methodology |
Methodological development and design Creation of test models |
|
Software |
Software Computer program designProgramming and development of specialized softwareCode implementation and algorithmic supportTesting of existing code components |
|
Validation |
Validation of observations/experiments and verification of results and other research outputs |
|
Visualization |
Drawings or 3D modelsPhotographsVisualizations or rendersIllustrationsInfographics |
|
Drafting the article |
Writing and editing the article draft |
|
Review and editing of the article |
Drafting, editing, and critical review of the final article submitted to the journal. |
|
|
|
- Prohibition of unacceptable practices: Plagiarism, data falsification or fabrication, redundant publication ("salami slicing"), citation manipulation, and simultaneous submission to other journals are not tolerated.
- Authorship management: Once the review process has begun, adding, removing, or changing the order of authors will not be permitted without a valid justification and written approval from all listed authors. In the event of a dispute, the publication process will be suspended until the matter is resolved.
- Conflict of interest: Authors must declare any conflict of interest (financial, personal, institutional, etc.) that could influence the results or interpretation of their research.
- Data availability: Authors are encouraged to share the data supporting their research in open-access repositories or to include a data availability statement in the manuscript.
- Ethical oversight: When research involves human subjects, animals, or sensitive data, authors must declare that they have obtained approval from an institutional ethics committee and have followed established protocols.
4.- Ethics and Responsibilities of the Editorial Team
The URBEāctĭo Editorial Team is guided by the following principles and responsibilities:
- Independence and objectivity: Editorial decisions are based on the academic and scientific merit of the manuscripts, regardless of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
- Confidentiality: The editorial team is committed to safeguarding the confidentiality of all manuscripts, preserving the anonymity of authors and reviewers throughout the double-blind peer review process.
- Management of conflicts of interest: Editors must declare any conflict of interest regarding a manuscript and refrain from participating in its evaluation. The journal has a clear process for handling such situations.
- Process transparency: The peer review process is clearly described in the Guidelines for Authors. The journal is committed to handling manuscripts in a timely manner and communicating decisions clearly and with proper justification.
- Handling complaints and appeals: The editorial team will formally and promptly address any complaints or appeals regarding the editorial process, following the procedures established in this Code (point 6).
- Continuous training: The journal promotes ongoing training for its editorial team and reviewers regarding publication ethics and good editorial practices.
5.- Ethics and Responsibilities of Evaluators
External evaluators collaborating with URBEāctĭo play a fundamental role in ensuring academic quality and accept the following responsibilities:
- Competence and confidentiality: Reviewers shall only agree to evaluate manuscripts within their area of expertise. They shall maintain the strict confidentiality of the material reviewed and refrain from using it for personal gain.
- Objectivity: Evaluations must be objective, constructive, and based on the scientific merit of the work rather than personal opinions.
- Declaration of conflicts of interest: Reviewers must inform the editorial team of any potential conflict of interest that could bias their evaluation and, should one exist, recuse themselves from the process.
- Adherence to deadlines: Reviewers shall respect the established deadlines for submitting their reports, thereby contributing to the efficiency of the editorial process.
6.- Peer Review Process and Dispute Resolution
URBEāctĭo operates under a double-blind external peer-review system, ensuring objectivity and impartiality in the evaluation of manuscripts.
- Evaluation process: All manuscripts meeting the formal requirements undergo evaluation by at least two external academic peers. The process is detailed in the "Evaluation Process" section of our website.
- Appeals: Authors have the right to appeal an editorial decision. To do so, they must submit a formal letter to the Editorial Committee outlining their arguments. The Committee will review the case and may send the manuscript to a new reviewer to obtain an alternative opinion.
- Complaints: Any complaint regarding the editorial process, the conduct of editors or reviewers, or any other aspect of the journal must be addressed in writing to the Editorial Committee. All complaints will be investigated confidentially, and a formal response will be provided within a reasonable timeframe, depending on the specific case.
- Conflicts of interest: Should an editor or reviewer declare a conflict of interest, they will be replaced, and a substitute will be appointed to ensure the impartiality of the process.
7.- Open Access, Intellectual Property, and No-APC Policy
URBEāctĭo is a non-commercial, open-access journal. All its content is available free of charge and without economic barriers to readers worldwide.
- No-APC: The journal does not charge manuscript submission fees or article processing charges (APCs). Funding is provided by the Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
- License and copyright: Authors retain the rights to their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. Articles are distributed under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which allows others to share the work with appropriate attribution.
- Self-archiving: The journal permits and encourages the self-archiving of articles—in their final published version (post-print)—in institutional or subject-based repositories, as well as on personal websites.
8.- Mechanisms against Plagiarism and the Misuse of AI
URBEāctĭo uses similarity and plagiarism detection tools to verify the originality of all submitted manuscripts. This process is applied at the time of submission and, if necessary, during subsequent stages of review.
- Mandatory AI declaration: Authors must declare the use of generative AI at any stage of the research or writing process. This declaration must include the name of the tool, the purpose of its use, and the extent of its involvement.
- Human responsibility: Under no circumstances shall AI be considered an author or co-author of the work. Authors bear sole responsibility for the accuracy of the data, the originality of the arguments, and compliance with citation standards.
- Procedure in cases of suspected misuse: Should improper or undeclared use of AI be detected, or substantial similarities to unattributed sources be identified, the journal reserves the right to reject the manuscript or, where appropriate, initiate the corresponding ethical review process.
9.- Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Debate URBEāctĭo is committed to maintaining the integrity of the academic record and correcting any errors detected after publication.
- Errata: An erratum will be published to correct editorial or author errors that do not affect the article's main findings.
- Correction: A correction will be published for significant errors that affect the interpretation of results but do not invalidate the work.
- Retraction: In cases of serious misconduct (plagiarism, data fabrication, errors invalidating conclusions, etc.), the journal will retract the article. A retraction notice will be published and linked to the original article.
- Post-publication debate: The journal encourages academic debate through letters to the editor or comments on its website.
10.- Digital Preservation and Transparency
- Digital preservation: The journal uses the LOCKSS digital preservation system (via the PKP Preservation Network) to ensure perpetual access to its content.
- Funding sources: The journal is funded by the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, which guarantees its sustainability and editorial independence.
- Acknowledgments: An acknowledgments section may be included to recognize institutions, laboratories, or individuals who contributed to the research (funding, resources, supervision, etc.). This section is added after the article has been accepted in order to preserve anonymity during the review process.
Commercialization: URBEāctĭo does not commercialize its content or charge access fees. All content is open access.
- Acknowledgments: An acknowledgments section may be included to recognize institutions, laboratories, or individuals who contributed to the research (funding, resources, supervision, etc.). This section is added after the article has been accepted in order to preserve anonymity during the review process.
11.- Acknowledgments and Ethical Oversight
- Acknowledgments: An acknowledgments section may be included to recognize institutions, laboratories, or individuals who contributed to the research (funding, resources, supervision, etc.). This section is added after the article has been accepted in order to preserve anonymity during the review process.
- Ethical oversight: URBEāctĭo is subject to the oversight of its Editorial Board and is open to having its processes reviewed by academic bodies or evaluators to ensure transparency and continuous improvement.
12.- Posthumous Publication If an author passes away during the evaluation process, the Editorial Committee, in consultation with the research team, will decide on the continuation of the process, always ensuring the integrity of the manuscript and respect for the author's memory.
