Commitment to Bibliometric Ethics
Commitment to Bibliometric Ethics
RSV reaffirms its commitment to scientific integrity and to internationally recognized best practices in academic publishing by adopting an explicit policy to prevent improper citation manipulation.
The journal recognizes that bibliometric indicators — such as citation counts, h-index, and impact metrics — must legitimately reflect the scientific relevance of published work and must never be subject to artificial inducement or coercive practices.
Fundamental Principles
RSV adheres to the following principles:
Prohibition of Citation Coercion:
No author shall be requested to include citations to RSV or to specific articles published in the journal as a condition for manuscript acceptance.
Justified Editorial Recommendations:
If reviewers or editors suggest the inclusion of additional references, such recommendations must be based exclusively on scientific relevance, methodological pertinence, or theoretical contextualization — never for institutional benefit.
Prohibition of Editorial Self-Promotion:
The journal does not adopt strategies to artificially stimulate self-citation, nor does it implement internal policies aimed at improperly inflating bibliometric indicators.
Self-Citation Monitoring:
RSV conducts periodic monitoring of the journal’s self-citation rates, including annual analysis of relevant indicators and the implementation of corrective measures when necessary, ensuring alignment with international evaluation standards.
Transparency and Editorial Auditability:
Bibliometric data are managed transparently and may be audited through indexing databases and publicly accessible academic metrics platforms.
Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers
Members of the editorial board and ad hoc reviewers are instructed to:
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Avoid systematic recommendations of citations to the journal;
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Prioritize internationally recognized and methodologically relevant references;
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Justify any suggestion for additional bibliographic inclusion based on objective scientific criteria.
Conduct that may constitute bibliometric manipulation will be assessed by the scientific editorial board and may result in the removal of the collaborator involved.
Commitment to International Standards
This policy aligns with internationally recognized editorial ethics guidelines and widely accepted standards in academic indexing processes.
RSV understands that scientific credibility is built upon methodological quality, thematic relevance, and editorial integrity — not through artificial strategies to increase performance indicators.
Our commitment is to ensure that citations received by published articles result from their genuine scientific impact.
