The editorial board of Construction Entrepreneurship and Real Property adheres to the generally accepted principles, rules, norms and best practices for ethical conduct in publishing, which are set out in the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines and the Publishing Ethics Resource Kit for Editors (PERK) from Elsevier Publishing – https://www.elsevier.com/editors/perk.

The ethical guidelines are intended to establish standards and norms for ethical behaviour for all participants in the publishing process- publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers. They address issues of scholarly ethics such as objectivity, originality, transparency, independence, impartiality, confidentiality, and possible conflicts of interest.

Obligations of editors

  1. Objectivity – The Editorial Board evaluates submitted manuscripts and decides on their publication based on their scientific merit, topical relevance, significance, originality, degree of completion and relevance to the thematic scope of the journal.
  2. Equal Opportunities – The Editorial Board respects the principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination. Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to the gender, race, ethnicity, political, religious, social, or institutional affiliation of the authors. All decisions to edit or publish manuscripts are made by the journal staff without allowing influence from any other party.
  3. Confidentiality – The editorial board is not allowed to disclose information about a submitted manuscript except with the reviewers, publisher, and author.
  4. Publication Decision – Upon the suggestion of the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board will decide to publish an article based on the expert judgment of two independent reviewers, adhering to the journal’s editorial policy on copyright protection.
  5. Disclosure and Prevention of Conflicts of Interest – When a potential conflict of interest of a different nature arises, reviewers should refrain from reviewing and immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief. It is unacceptable for editorial board members and reviewers to use ideas and information for personal gain in unpublished manuscripts without the consent of the authors.
  6. Ethical Violations and Complaints – In cases of identified unethical behaviour such as plagiarism, misquotation, data manipulation, and conflict of interest with respect to a submitted or published manuscript, appropriate action will be taken in conjunction with the Editor-in-Chief to uncover the veracity of the ethical violations and, if necessary, the publication will be retracted.

If a manuscript is rejected, authors have the right to request reconsideration after presenting convincing evidence to the Editor-in-Chief of inaccuracies made by the reviewers. In this case, a new peer review may be appointed, which is final.

Obligations of reviewers

  1. Contribute to editorial decisions – Reviewers provide the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board with the peer reviews they have prepared, thereby assisting the editorial decision-making process regarding the submitted manuscripts. Reviewers’ comments and recommendations can contribute to the quality of manuscripts.
  2. Timeliness – A reviewer who is unable to review a manuscript submitted to him/her because of insufficient competence, or is unable to submit the review within the expected time frame, should immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief and withdraw from reviewing. In such cases, another reviewer will be assigned to prepare the review.
  3. Confidentiality – Manuscripts received for review are treated as confidential documents. They should not be shown or discussed with third parties except with permission from the Editor-in-Chief. Reviewers may not disclose the identity of the authors, use data from manuscripts received for review for personal purposes, or for their own publications without the express consent of the authors.
  4. Standards of objectivity – Reviewers must express their opinion on manuscripts submitted to them impartially, clearly and supported by sufficient arguments. Judgments of authors’ personal and professional qualities are not allowed.
  5. Reference to Sources – Reviewers must ensure correctness in citation and use of data and sources. In case of incorrect citation or if significant similarity is found between the manuscript under review and a previously published article, the Editor-in-Chief should be notified.
  6. Disclosure of Conflict of Interest – Reviewers should not review manuscripts where there is a conflict of interest based on professional, personal, financial, or other affiliations with the author. Reviewers may not use ideas and information from unpublished manuscripts for personal purposes or in their own research without the consent of the authors.

Obligations of authors

  1. Compliance with standards – Authors shall submit manuscripts for publication that are consistent with the thematic scope of the journal and the requirements adopted by the editorial board regarding length, required details, structure, and technical layout parameters.
  2. Access to and preservation of data – Authors must preserve the data used in the article and be willing to guarantee access to it to others after publication of the article, subject to copyright and ownership of the primary information.
  3. Originality – Authors are personally responsible for the originality of manuscripts submitted. When authors use portions of their own or others’ work, they must be properly cited.
  4. Plagiarism in all its forms – Presenting another’s work as one’s own, paraphrasing substantial portions of another’s work without attribution to the author, and presenting the results of another’s research as one’s own is unacceptable.
  5. Duplicate Simultaneous Publications – It is unacceptable and unethical behaviour to offer already published articles or submit for publication to more than one publisher the same manuscript.
  6. Correct Citation – Correct citation and reference to all sources of information used to create the manuscript is required. Sources should be listed after the article according to the technical requirements and citation style specified for the journal.
  7. Authorship/co-authorship of the article – Authorship should be limited to only those individuals with significant contributions to the conception, design, execution of the research. It is unacceptable to include as co-authors individuals who have not contributed to the research and writing of the respective articles.
  8. Disclosure of conflict of interest – Authors must disclose conflicts of interest that may affect the final results of the research. All potential conflicts of interest are disclosed in a timely manner.
  9. Identification of errors in previously published work – When significant errors or inaccuracies are identified in published manuscripts, authors should promptly notify the journal’s editorial board and publisher for assistance in retracting or correcting the publication.

Obligations of the publisher

  1. The publisher shall publish the journal electronically and assist in its distribution.
  2. The publisher shall ensure that advertising, reprinting or other commercial activities do not influence editorial decisions.
  3. The publisher shall facilitate communication with other journals and/or publishers in order to improve publication activities.
  4. The publisher collaborates with other publishers and organizations in setting standards for publication ethics and assists in tracking errors and publishing retractions.