Ethical Considerations
Revista Filosofía UIS is committed to high ethical standards and takes all possible measures to prevent fraud and plagiarism. For this reason, all parties involved in the publication process—namely, the author, the reviewers, the staff affiliated with the Journal, and the Editor of the Revista Filosofía UIS as well as Universidad Industrial de Santander, the institution responsible for the publication of its contents—are subject to the same code of conduct and ethical behavior.
Our editorial ethics statement is based on the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines, the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (ethical principles for medical research involving human participants), and the Institutional Ethical Considerations for the Publication of Scientific Articles, documents that have become reference points in the fields of Social Sciences and the Humanities and should be consulted in case of any doubts.
All authors must submit original and unpublished manuscripts, clearly stating these characteristics upon submitting their work for consideration by the Editor or Editorial Committee. Likewise, the Journal is committed to ensuring a fair and objective review of manuscripts through a double-blind peer review system.
1. PUBLICATION DECISIONS
The Editor of the Revista Filosofía UIS holds the responsibility and authority to accept or reject a contribution. The Editor must be guided by these policies and ethical principles, as well as the policies of the Editorial Committee. Additionally, the Editor must consider current legal aspects concerning scientific ethics, defamation, copyright, plagiarism, and other relevant matters.
2. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE JOURNAL
The following principles apply to all processes and roles, particularly those of authors and reviewers.
2.1. Ethical Behavior
The Editor and the reviewers of the Journal will assess manuscripts solely based on their intellectual content, regardless of the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy, in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Political Constitution of Colombia.
If necessary, the Editor will allow the publication of corrections, retractions, clarifications, or apologies, following the rules outlined below.
2.2. Confidentiality
The Editor, reviewers, and all editorial staff must not disclose any information about a manuscript submitted for review. The Editor may share information only with the author, reviewers, editorial advisors, and members of the Editorial Committee, when necessary.
2.3. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished material submitted to the Journal by the author must not be used by any member of the Journal or its reviewers for their own benefit without the express consent of the author.
Therefore, all editorial staff must declare to the Editor or Editorial Committee any interest (academic, financial, or personal) that could influence the editorial process, manuscript evaluation, or publication.
2.4. Social Responsibility
Revista Filosofía UIS is committed to freely disseminating academic work that promotes critical and reflective knowledge, thereby contributing to social well-being and advancement through philosophical thought.
2.5. Integrity and Honesty
Revista Filosofía UIS adheres to principles that ensure transparency and fairness throughout the editorial process, especially during peer review and manuscript selection, in order to maintain trust in the editorial process.
2.6. Academic Rigor
Revista Filosofía UIS strives to guarantee intellectual excellence by applying strict criteria in manuscript evaluation, with the goal of preserving philosophical depth in its publications.
2.7. Transparency
Revista Filosofía UIS provides information on its internal and external procedures to interested parties, unless the information is confidential. It also discloses any known conflicts of interest or funding sources that may influence academic judgment.
2.8. Respect for Diversity and Equity
Revista Filosofía UIS values different philosophical schools of thought and, therefore, treats both authors and reviewers equally and respectfully, regardless of their personal, institutional, or academic background.
2.9. Respect for Human Dignity and Rights
Revista Filosofía UIS requires that all submitted texts respect the dignity and rights of individuals—particularly important given that it is a philosophy journal, where ethical reflection is central.
2.10. Beneficence and non-maleficence
Revista Filosofía UIS promotes the use of philosophical knowledge to maximize collective benefit, avoid harm, and foster critical reflection that contributes to a better understanding of human beings and society.
If a proposed text or already published article contains sensitive data or presents a debate or issue with potentially negative ethical or social consequences for an individual, society, or Universidad Industrial de Santander, the Editor will convene a meeting of the Editorial Committee to assess whether the potential harm outweighs the expected academic benefits. The Editor or the Committee may consult with interested communities and the author before making a decision. If the harm is deemed greater than the benefit, the Journal will seek an agreement with the author to mitigate the risks through a retraction or modification. If no agreement is reached, the manuscript will be rejected if under review or removed if already published.
2.11. Protection of Confidentiality
Revista Filosofía UIS safeguards the privacy and protects the information of all parties involved, which is essential for preserving the integrity of the editorial process.
2.12. Illustrative List of Principles
The above list of principles does not preclude the acceptance and application of other principles commonly recognized in scientific and academic publications within philosophy and the humanities. This reflects the firm commitment of Revista Filosofía UIS to responsible academic development.
3. REVIEWER DUTIES. CONTRIBUTION TO EDITORIAL DECISIONS
Each reviewer assists the Editor in making editorial decisions and, through the Journal’s institutional communication channel, may also help the author improve their article. To this end, reviewers may express their suggestions using the Evaluation Guide or the document to be reviewed, as provided by Revista Filosofía UIS.
3.1. Plagiarism or Fraud
Reviewers must promptly inform the Editor if a submission contains elements of plagiarism or fraud or closely resembles other academic or research work that has been published or is under review elsewhere.
3.2. Confidentiality
All manuscripts received for review must be treated with the utmost confidentiality. They must not be shared or disclosed to anyone without authorization from the Editor or the author.
3.3. Standards of Objectivity
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their opinions with academic arguments that support their evaluations.
Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript, unable to meet the deadline, or has a conflict of interest must inform the Editor as soon as possible and withdraw from the review process. In such cases, reviewers are encouraged to recommend another peer who may be able to assess the manuscript.
3.4. Recognition of Soucers
The reviewer must be familiar with relevant works published in the area of the manuscript that have not been cited by the author. The reviewer must ensure that any observation, derivation, or argument within the manuscript that has been previously used is properly cited. A reviewer must also inform the Journal Editor if they become aware of any similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and other works already published or under consideration for publication.
The reviewer has the right to request access to the underlying data when necessary to carry out the review of the manuscript, including those with restricted access. In such cases, the reviewer must maintain confidentiality and comply with the rules outlined in this document.
3.5. Disclosure and Clonflicts of Interest
The reviewer must maintain in strict confidence any information or ideas obtained through a manuscript under review and must not use such information for personal benefit or the benefit of others, unless previously authorized by the author or the Journal. The reviewer must not review a manuscript if it presents a conflict of interest with their own academic work, financial interests, close personal or professional relationships with the authors, or with institutions or companies they work for or advise. In the event of a potential conflict of interest, the reviewer must refrain from conducting or continuing the review and must immediately inform the Journal.
Once a conflict of interest or competence has been disclosed, the Editor or Editorial Committee will make a decision regarding the review after hearing the parties involved.
3.6. Principle of Beneficence and Respect fot Human Dignity and Rights
The reviewer must inform the Journal if the evaluated text involves sensitive information or data, or raises ethically or socially challenging topics or debates that may have negative consequences for specific individuals, groups, society, or Universidad Industrial de Santander.
The reviewer must ensure that the text respects human dignity; therefore, there must be no unjustified bias or prejudice that could cause harm through negative comments regarding genetic ancestry (biological constructs), race/ethnicity (sociopolitical constructs), sex (biological differences between men and women), gender (socially constructed roles), gender identity (self-identification as male, female, non-binary, etc.), religion, age, or disability.
Likewise, the reviewer must inform the Journal if biased or prejudiced language is used in the text, particularly regarding sexual and gender equity.
4. DUTIES OF THE AUTHOR
4.1. General Standards
Each submitted manuscript must be relevant to the thematic lines of the Journal. It must also comply with the requirements set out in the document entitled Guidelines for Authors.
The article will be reviewed by academic researchers who will recommend a decision to the Editor or Editorial Committee; however, the author may request a reconsideration of the decision or may retract or correct the text based on the evaluations within the time allotted. If the corrections are structural, the Editor may request a new review of the manuscript by the previous reviewers or by new reviewers.
Any retraction of an already published text must be authorized by the Editor or Editorial Committee, and the author may request it at any time. If the text has not yet been published, the author may make corrections during the stages allowed by the editorial process, such as during the review phases. Outside of those phases, any correction request must be submitted to the Editor, who will decide whether to proceed. For more information on the correction or retraction procedure, see Sections 5 and 6 of this document.
4.2. Access to, Retention, and Archiving of Information
The author must report the materials, data, codes, and protocols related to the research that support the information and conclusions of the manuscript for free access by readers, unless there are justified reasons such as confidentiality agreements, lack of intellectual property rights, or the sensitivity or potential danger of the information to third parties. Free access to this information increases transparency in academic processes, optimizes the use of scientific resources, and enables other scholars to build on previous work. Based on this principle, any restriction on the availability of data, materials, codes, and protocols must be expressly stated by the author within the manuscript and at the time of submission to the Journal.
The author is asked to provide the information related to the submitted article and the research data supporting the manuscript. This information must be accessible to the Editor and reviewers during the manuscript’s evaluation process, and to the general public, as far as possible, once the manuscript is published. In any case, the author must preserve the information and sources supporting the manuscript for a reasonable period after publication (a minimum of five years is recommended). Should the author fail to preserve or ensure free availability of such information without valid justification, they will bear full ethical and
legal responsibility. Therefore, the responsibility for the deposit, retention, archiving, and preservation of all research data and information underlying the manuscript and the manuscript itself lies solely with the author.
4.3. Originality adn Plagiarism
The author of any manuscript submitted to Revista Filosofía UIS must declare that the entire content of the manuscript is unpublished (has not been previously published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere) and original (is the result of the author’s own creativity and effort). If a portion of the text has been previously published by the author, it must be properly cited; otherwise, it will be considered self-plagiarism. If the previously published portion constitutes more than one-fifth of the manuscript, the author must inform the Editor or Editorial Committee, who will decide on a case-by-case basis whether the manuscript is acceptable. Once the article is accepted, the author must transfer the economic rights and reaffirm that the work is unpublished.
As a general rule, the Journal does not allow simultaneous publication in self-archiving systems or institutional repositories, except for theses or dissertations that are the author’s exclusive intellectual property. The manuscript will not be accepted if it is found to be in a preprint (before peer review) or post print (after peer review) version at the time of submission. Therefore, the author must remove the manuscript from such platforms before submitting it to the Journal, unless they have obtained express permission from the Editor or Editorial Committee. In the latter case, once the manuscript is published, the author must update the version stored in the authorized repository/repositories, including the full citation, DOI, and a direct link to the published version on Revista Filosofía UIS website.
All academic texts submitted to the Journal must include sufficient details, references, and citations to allow others to replicate the research or verify the sources. Fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements by the author are considered unethical and unacceptable.
4.4. Use of Images
The author may include images in their manuscripts, but must indicate that they hold the copyright or the rights for use and publication in the Journal. Likewise, if the image or photograph includes identifiable individuals, the author must have obtained their express informed consent. If the author does not explicitly confirm ownership of the copyright or usage rights, or lacks the informed consent of identifiable individuals in the image, it cannot be published in the Journal.
4.5. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
An author must not, in general, republish a work addressing the same topic, issue, or reflection unless the new text presents novel conclusions. Submitting a manuscript that violates this rule constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable from an editorial standpoint, as it undermines the originality required by the Journal.
4.6. Recognition of Sources
The author must give due credit to the work of others. Proper citation must be provided for all publications and information referenced, whether directly or indirectly. To this end, the author must follow the guidelines set out in the Guidelines for Authors.
4.7. Authorship
Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a significant and direct contribution to the conception, design, execution, interpretation, and writing of the manuscript. Therefore, all those who made significant and direct contributions must be listed as authors.
Others who contributed to specific aspects of the project must be acknowledged as collaborators either at the beginning of the manuscript or in the relevant section. The lead author (i.e., the first author listed) must ensure that all authors and collaborators are properly included and listed in the manuscript, and that all authors have approved the final version and agree to submit it to the Journal for publication.
4.8. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
The author must disclose to the Journal any potential conflict of interest, whether personal, financial, institutional, collaborative, or of any other nature, that may affect the evaluation, publication, or interpretation of their manuscript.
Likewise, the author must inform the Journal if they are bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent them from disclosing personal, academic, financial, institutional, or other interests that may affect the proper evaluation and publication of the manuscript.
Once a conflict of interest or competence has been disclosed, the Editor or Editorial Committee will make a decision regarding the review, after hearing the parties involved.
4.9. Errors in Published Works
If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they are obliged to promptly notify the Journal Editor and assist in correcting or, if necessary, withdrawing the publication. The Editor or Editorial Committee may authorize or reject the correction or withdrawal of the manuscript, as indicated later in this document.
4.10. Bioethics
The author must inform the Journal if the manuscript involved human or animal participants in the research. In such cases, the author must explicitly state, both to the Journal and within the manuscript itself, details regarding the informed consent of all human participants, as well as disclose the Ethics Committee that approved the research, including the date and reference number that allow verification of said approval.
4.11. Respect for the dignity and rights of individuals
The author must consider how their work submitted to the Journal may impact specific individuals, various social groups—understood not only from a biological perspective—or Universidad Industrial de Santander. Therefore, the author must respect the dignity of individuals in their writing, and unjustified bias or prejudice that may cause harm—such as comments on genetic ancestry (biological constructs), race/ethnicity (sociopolitical constructs), sex (biological differences between women and men), gender (socially constructed roles), gender identity (self-perception as male, female, non-binary, among others), religion, age, or disability—are not permitted. Consequently, Revista Filosofía UIS recommends that authors avoid using terms related to these characteristics unless they are strictly necessary for the academic argument of the text; in such cases, the exception must be well substantiated to avoid falling into stereotypes or unjustified generalizations.
If the author does not belong to the group being studied, it would be advisable to explain how the results could affect such groups and justify the relevance of the academic perspective present in the text.
Based on the above, Revista Filosofía UIS recommends that the author use bias-free and prejudice-free language in the manuscripts submitted, especially regarding gender and sexual equity. The author is encouraged to review the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) Guidelines for this purpose.
5. PROCEDURE TO MITIGATE HARM FROM SENSITIVE INFORMATION OR DATA OR BREACHES OF ANY ETHICAL RULE THAT COULD HARM A THIRD PARTY, A HUMAN GROUP, OR THE UNIVERSITY
If a proposed or published article involves sensitive information or data or raises ethically or socially challenging debates or topics that could have negative consequences for a specific individual, a human group, society, or Universidad Industrial de Santander, the Editor or Editorial Committee must assess whether the potential harm outweighs the expected academic benefits of the publication. The Editor or Committee may hear representatives from the concerned communities and the author before making a decision. If it is determined that the harm is greater than the benefits, an initial consensus with the author will be sought to mitigate the harm through retraction or modification of the text. If no agreement is reached, the article will be rejected if under review or withdrawn/deleted if already published.
6. PROCEDURE FOR AUTHOR NAME CHANGES, CORRECTIONS, AND ARTICLE WITHDRAWALS
Revista Filosofía UIS allows the addition or removal of a co-author, changes to author order, substantial corrections not requested by reviewers, and even the withdrawal or retraction of an unpublished text during the review and correction phases. In these cases, all authors must request the change from the Editor, providing a clear justification. The Editor may accept or reject the request; for substantial modifications, the Editor may reassign reviewers. If the request is rejected, the manuscript is considered rejected in full. Likewise, the editor may, on their own or at the request of a justified third party and without the authors’ request, reject a manuscript submitted for publication for reasons related to scientific or ethical integrity, copyright or intellectual property issues, the Journal’s reputation, or unjustified harm to individuals, groups, society, or Universidad Industrial de Santander.
If the text has already been published, one or more of the authors may request, at any time, the addition or removal of a co-author, changes to author order, specific corrections, or the withdrawal/retraction of the article. This request must be duly justified with clear evidence supporting it and addressed to the Editor. It may only be made on the grounds of scientific integrity, copyright or intellectual property issues arising from publication, or the Journal’s reputation. The Editor will seek the opinion of any co-authors not involved in the request and possibly other stakeholders. Following this, the Editor may accept or reject the request, which can only be reconsidered by the Editorial Committee. This is without prejudice to the legal responsibilities of the authors who originally submitted the manuscript.
The Editor may also, independently or at the request of a legitimate third party, withdraw a published article solely for reasons related to scientific integrity, copyright or intellectual property issues, damage to the Journal’s reputation, defamatory content, privacy violations, other legal infringements, or if a competent authority issues or is expected to issue an order against its circulation. However, if the authors agree and correct the identified problem, the necessary modifications may be made following the rules outlined in this regulation. In all cases, the Editor must seek the opinions of the authors and inform the Editorial Committee.
If a published article is withdrawn, it will no longer be available on the Journal’s official website. A note will be placed in place of the electronic file indicating its withdrawal. The Journal will retain the relevant records of the text, including PDF, HTML, and other versions, which may not be distributed or shared with third parties unless required by a competent authority.
Finally, the Journal will inform all bibliographic databases and repositories where it is indexed of any corrections or withdrawals. If applicable, the Journal may also disseminate a retraction via Retraction Watch or another similar ethical monitoring platform.
7. PROCEDURE FOR RESPONDING TO INQUIRIES FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Any person may make inquiries regarding the Journal’s operations or its published articles. In such cases, any member of the editorial team may respond to the inquiry or escalate it to the Editor through institutional channels.
8. EDITORIAL EXPRESSION OF CONCERN
The Editor, either on their own initiative or at the request of a legitimate party, may publish an "editorial expression of concern" on official platforms when there are justified concerns about a published text. This serves as a precautionary measure while the case is under investigation, allowing readers to be informed without prematurely retracting the article, thus ensuring transparency and editorial accountability. Such an expression will be issued when there is reasonable doubt about the authorship of a text or unjust harm to individuals, groups, society, or Universidad Industrial de Santander. Once the investigation concludes and a decision is made based on this regulation, the precautionary measure will end. In any case, it shall not last more than six months.
This measure will also apply when a published text contains defamatory content, infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights, violates privacy or other legal rights, is otherwise
illegal under national regulations, or when a judicial or governmental order has been issued or is likely to be issued against its publication.
9. EDITORIAL PROCESS INSTANCES FOR MATTERS RELATED TO EDITORIAL ETHICS
Any inquiries or reconsiderations related to the editorial process and the ethical rules outlined here must first be submitted to the Editor and, as a second instance, to the Editorial Committee, whose decision is final.
10. ON THE USE OF LANGUAGE MODEL TOOLS ADJUSTED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
In accordance with the ethical standards upheld by Revista Filosofía UIS, the creation of content or images using AI-based tools is generally not permitted. Their use will only be accepted if it clearly contributes to improving the quality of specific sections of the text, involves short excerpts necessary for the argument being made, if AI-generated texts are cited in quotation marks, if AI-generated images are explicitly identified, and if their use is clearly disclosed to the Journal and the reader, including the AI system used. This general prohibition aims to protect intellectual property rights, meet readers’ expectations for original scholarly contributions, and uphold the creative and reflective effort required of authors for academic writing of the kind published in this Journal. Therefore, Revista Filosofía UIS will strictly reject contributions that use AI-generated content or images without following these ethical standards or that violate the originality of the manuscript. Furthermore, the Journal reserves the right to inform the relevant institutions and individuals if an author attempts to publish a work not of their own direct authorship and academic effort, due to the serious implications such actions have for the future of scientific and academic publishing.
Editorial Committee
Revista Filosofía UIS