1. Introduction

Pervasive Justice is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in the research it publishes. Ethical oversight is a shared responsibility involving authors, their institutions, funding bodies, peer reviewers, and the journal itself. This policy outlines Pervasive Justice's procedures for ensuring that research is conducted and reported responsibly, with respect for the rights, dignity, and welfare of participants, the integrity of data, and compliance with ethical and legal frameworks. Pervasive Justice adheres to the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in formulating and implementing this policy.

2. Description

Ethical oversight in scholarly publishing refers to processes and policies designed to ensure that research is conducted and disseminated ethically. For Pervasive Justice, this primarily involves:

• Protection of Human Participants: Ensuring that research involving human subjects (e.g., in surveys, interviews, or studies within legal, social, or organizational contexts) obtains appropriate informed consent, protects participant privacy, and considers the welfare of vulnerable populations.

• Data Privacy and Confidentiality: Safeguarding sensitive information, whether from individuals or organizations (e.g., proprietary legal data), and complying with data protection regulations.

• Responsible Conduct of Research: Upholding principles of research integrity by avoiding fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other forms of misconduct.

• Transparency and Disclosure: Ensuring that all relevant ethical considerations, approvals, and consents are clearly reported in submitted manuscripts.

• Animal Welfare (if applicable): Though research involving animals is not typical for Pervasive Justice, any such work must adhere to strict ethical guidelines for animal care and use.

• Journal's Ethical Practices: Pervasive Justice is committed to ethical practices in its operations, ensuring that editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit and are not influenced by commercial interests.

3. Policy

• Compliance with Ethical Standards: All research submitted to Pervasive Justice must comply with relevant national, local, and international ethical guidelines and legal regulations. Authors are responsible for ensuring this compliance.

• Research Involving Human Subjects:

  • Informed Consent to Participate: For all studies involving human participants, freely given informed consent must be obtained from each participant or their legally authorized representative. Authors must confirm that consent was obtained and be prepared to provide documentation if requested by the journal.

  • Confidentiality and Anonymity: Authors must ensure the protection of participant confidentiality and anonymity. Identifying information (names, specific job titles, detailed locations) should not be included unless essential for scholarly purposes, with explicit consent for the publication of such information.

  • Vulnerable Populations: If the research involves vulnerable individuals (e.g., economically disadvantaged groups or employees in precarious work conditions), authors must provide justification for their inclusion and describe additional measures taken to protect their rights, welfare, and privacy.

  • Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval: Research involving human subjects should be reviewed and approved by an appropriate independent ethics committee or IRB before the research commences. Authors must state the name of the ethics committee/IRB and provide the approval number or identifier. If approval was waived, a justification must be provided.

• Research Involving Animals (if applicable):
  In the rare case that research submitted to Pervasive Justice involves animals, it must adhere to institutional and national guidelines for the ethical care and use of laboratory or other animals. Evidence of approval from an appropriate animal ethics committee must be provided.

• Data Privacy, Security, and Organizational Confidentiality:
  Authors must ensure that all data, especially personal or sensitive/proprietary data, are handled, stored, and reported in a manner that respects privacy and complies with data protection laws. For research involving specific organizations, authors must confirm that they have obtained necessary permissions from the organization(s) involved, especially if proprietary or confidential information is included.

• Consent for Publication of Identifiable Information:
  Beyond consent to participate in research, explicit informed consent for publication must be obtained if a manuscript contains any personally identifiable information (e.g., images, case descriptions, or verbatim quotes) or identifiable company information. Pervasive Justice may require authors to provide evidence of such consent.

• Responsible Research Conduct:
  Pervasive Justice expects all authors to conduct their research with integrity, adhering to established principles of responsible research conduct and avoiding all forms of research misconduct, as outlined in Pervasive Justice's "Policy on Allegations of Misconduct."

• Journal's Ethical Business Practices:
  Pervasive Justice is committed to maintaining ethical standards in its own publishing operations. Editorial decisions are made based solely on the scientific merit of manuscripts, the relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with ethical standards, without influence from commercial interests.

4. Technicalities to Achieve and Materialize the Policies

A. For Authors

• What to Disclose: Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial relationships or activities that could bias or be perceived as biasing their work. This includes:

  • Financial Interests: Direct or indirect financial support for the research; employment or consultancy with organizations with a financial interest in the research outcome; stock ownership, patents, royalties, honoraria, grants, or other payments received from interested parties.

  • Non-Financial Interests: Affiliations with or involvement in organizations with an interest in the research; personal, academic, or professional relationships with individuals or organizations that could influence the work; strong personal convictions related to the topic that might impair objectivity.

  • Funding Sources: All funding sources for the submitted research must be explicitly declared. Authors should indicate the role of the funding body in study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication.

• How to Disclose:
  Authors must complete and submit a Conflict of Interest disclosure form with their manuscript submission. Pervasive Justice may use the ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form or a specific form provided by the journal.
  A summary statement of the disclosures (or a declaration of no conflicts) must be included in the manuscript, typically before the reference section.

• Consequences of Non-Disclosure:
  Failure to fully disclose conflicts of interest during the submission or review process may lead to delays, manuscript rejection, or, if discovered post-publication, corrective actions such as corrections or retractions of the article.

B. For Peer Reviewers

• What to Disclose: Reviewers must disclose any interest that could affect their ability to provide an unbiased and objective assessment of a manuscript. This includes:

  • Recent or current collaborations with the authors.

  • A close personal relationship or professional rivalry with the authors.

  • A financial interest in the outcome of the research or in competing work.

  • Prior involvement in reviewing or developing the manuscript for another journal.

  • Strong personal beliefs that could affect objectivity.

• How to Disclose:
  Reviewers must inform the editor of any potential conflicts of interest when invited to review a manuscript, preferably before agreeing to accept the invitation. If a conflict becomes apparent during the review process, the reviewer must notify the editor immediately.

• Action on Disclosure:
  If a significant conflict of interest is disclosed, the reviewer may be asked to recuse themselves from the review process. The editor will make the final determination based on the nature and extent of the disclosed interest.

C. For Editors and Journal Staff

• What to Disclose: Editors and journal staff must disclose any interests that could influence, or be perceived to influence, their editorial responsibilities and decisions. This includes:

  • Financial relationships with relevant organizations or companies.

  • Personal or professional relationships with authors or reviewers.

  • Personal research interests that overlap with a manuscript under consideration.

  • Manuscript submissions authored by themselves or their close associates.

• How to Disclose:
  Editors and journal staff should proactively declare any relevant conflicts to the Editor-in-Chief or the publisher. Pervasive Justice may maintain a public record of its editors' relevant interests.

• Management and Recusal:
  Editors or staff with significant conflicts regarding a manuscript must recuse themselves from the review and editorial decision-making process. An alternative editor or board member will manage the manuscript.

D. Journal's Conflicts of Interest

Pervasive Justice ensures editorial independence, with editorial decisions made based on the scholarly merit of manuscripts and in compliance with ethical standards. Commercial or non-scientific interests will not compromise editorial integrity.

E. Record Keeping

Pervasive Justice will maintain confidential records of all conflict of interest disclosures made by authors, peer reviewers, and editorial personnel.