Code of Ethics - Kritika prekladu

Code of Ethics of the Journal Translation Criticism

PREAMBLE

The Slovak academic journal Translation Criticism (hereinafter referred to as “the Journal”) is an independent scholarly and academic periodical focusing on translation studies, translation and interpreting.

The Journal adheres to the principles of responsible scholarly publishing and is committed to upholding academic and publication ethics throughout the publication process. The dissemination of scholarly and professional work is based on the principles of honesty, transparency, impartiality, respect for copyright and the accountability of all participants in the publication process.

The Editorial Board recognises the social and cultural power of language and therefore maintains appropriate standards for the scholarly, linguistic and ethical quality of published articles. Authors are required to formulate their claims accurately, clearly, sensitively and professionally, to support them with verifiable sources and to observe the principles of factual and respectful academic discussion. The Journal promotes critical thinking, a plurality of scholarly perspectives and respectful dialogue not only within translation studies but also in the broader social and cultural context.

Specific ethical and professional responsibilities apply to authors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board and other persons involved in preparing and publishing the Journal. All participants in the publication process are required to act responsibly and impartially and in accordance with the principles of academic integrity.

To pursue these objectives, the Editorial Board adopts this Code of Ethics.

Article 1

Introductory Provisions

This Code of Ethics defines the ethical principles and responsibilities of authors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board and other persons involved in preparing and publishing the Journal. It is binding on all such persons.
The purpose of this Code of Ethics is to contribute to maintaining the Journal’s high scholarly and academic standards, to define ethical rules for the publication of articles and to prevent breaches of academic and publication ethics.
The Editorial Board oversees the editorial and peer-review procedures (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the publication process”). It ensures that the principles of academic and publication ethics are observed at every stage of the publication process and that the rights and legitimate interests of all persons involved are protected.

Article 2

Authors

Authors shall submit original manuscripts to the Editorial Board and must be able to demonstrate their authorship if required. When using ideas, wording, data, visual material or other outputs created by other persons, authors must acknowledge the sources accurately, fully and in accordance with the applicable citation conventions. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism and any other unauthorised appropriation of another person’s work constitute serious breaches of academic and publication ethics. Authors are responsible for the correctness and accuracy of citations to the literature and sources used. They must consistently apply the citation style prescribed by the Journal throughout the manuscript.
Authors shall submit only manuscripts that have not previously been published and are not simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publication. If a manuscript is based on a successfully defended degree thesis, rigorosum thesis, doctoral dissertation, conference paper or another publicly available output, the author must disclose this fact to the Editorial Board and appropriately acknowledge the original output.
Only persons who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the manuscript may be named as co-authors. All co-authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and consent to its submission to the Journal. The person designated to communicate with the Editorial Board is responsible for ensuring that all persons who meet the criteria for co-authorship are named and that no person who fails to meet these criteria is included. The omission of a legitimate co-author, the improper attribution of authorship or any other infringement of copyright constitutes unethical conduct.
Authors must present their methods, sources, data, results and conclusions truthfully, accurately and transparently. They must not fabricate, falsify, distort or conceal data or results in a manner that could lead to misleading conclusions. Misleading or intentionally false statements constitute serious breaches of academic and publication ethics.
Where research involves human participants, the processing of personal or sensitive data, interviews, questionnaires, recordings or comparable material, authors must comply with the applicable legal requirements and recognised ethical standards. Where those requirements or standards require informed consent, authors must obtain it in advance. They must also ensure appropriate protection of privacy and anonymisation of data.
Authors must promptly disclose to the Editor-in-Chief any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect the content of the manuscript or its impartial assessment. They must also disclose the sources of research funding and any other forms of support, whether technical or linguistic. Failure to disclose a conflict of interest or a source of funding constitutes unethical conduct.
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that they have familiarised themselves with the Journal’s policies and consent to the manuscript being subjected to double-blind peer review and assessment by the Editorial Board. Authors must respond to comments from reviewers and the Editorial Board in a factual and professional manner and within the specified deadline. If authors decide not to implement a particular recommendation, they must provide an appropriate justification for their decision.
If authors discover a serious error, inaccuracy or breach of publication ethics after submitting or publishing a manuscript, they must immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief. They must cooperate with the Editorial Board in correcting, supplementing or withdrawing the manuscript or, where applicable, in publishing a correction or a retraction notice concerning an article that has already been published. Concealing a serious error or refusing to provide reasonable cooperation constitutes unethical conduct.
Authors must transparently disclose their use of artificial intelligence tools where such tools have been used in preparing, processing or editing the manuscript in a manner that may have affected its content. An artificial intelligence tool may not be listed as an author or co-author. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, scholarly quality and integrity of the entire manuscript. Their use of artificial intelligence tools must not breach data confidentiality, personal data protection requirements or the rights of third parties.
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that they hold the rights necessary for its publication and that their use of textual, visual or other material does not infringe the rights of third parties. Authors retain copyright in their work and, if the manuscript is accepted, grant the Journal a non-exclusive licence for its first publication, dissemination, distribution and archiving in accordance with the Journal’s publication policy. Published articles are made available on an open-access basis under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en) unless otherwise specified for a particular article or material.
Authors may request the withdrawal of a manuscript from the publication process before the article is published. The Editorial Board shall respect their decision and terminate the publication process. The withdrawal of a manuscript shall not preclude the investigation of a potential breach of publication ethics identified before the publication process was terminated.
Authors’ names, affiliations, contact details and any other information necessary to identify authorship and administer the publication process shall be processed for the purposes of the Journal’s archives and published to the extent specified by the Journal’s policies and applicable personal data protection legislation.
Authors are responsible for the appropriateness of the research methodology selected, the accuracy of the results presented and their interpretation, as well as the conclusions formulated in the article. In the case of co-authorship, the authors shall agree on the order in which their names are listed. The order of authorship indicated in the submitted manuscript shall be deemed to have been approved by all co-authors. No additional authors may be added after the article has been published.

Article 3

Reviewers

Peer review is an essential part of scholarly and academic communication. Reviewers assist the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board in assessing the scholarly quality of manuscripts while providing authors with recommendations for their improvement.
Reviewers shall accept an invitation to review only if they possess the necessary expertise and are able to complete the review within the deadline set by the Editorial Board. If these conditions are not met, they must immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief and decline the invitation.
Reviewers must not assess manuscripts in relation to which an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest arises, particularly as a result of a competitive, professional, personal, financial or other relationship with an author or with the subject matter of the research. Reviewers must promptly disclose any such conflict to the Editor-in-Chief and recuse themselves from reviewing the manuscript.
Reviewers must preserve the confidentiality of all information contained in the manuscript or obtained during the peer-review process. They must not disclose the manuscript to any other person or discuss its content with that person without the prior consent of the Editorial Board. Unpublished information, data or ideas must not be used in a reviewer’s own research or for personal, professional or financial gain without the author’s express written consent. This duty continues to apply after the completion of the peer-review process, irrespective of whether the manuscript is accepted or rejected.
Without the prior consent of the Editorial Board, reviewers must not upload a manuscript or any part thereof to publicly available artificial intelligence tools or other external systems where doing so could compromise the confidentiality of the peer-review process, personal data protection or the rights of authors. Before using such a tool, reviewers must familiarise themselves with its terms of use and with how uploaded data are processed, stored and subsequently used. If reviewers use an artificial intelligence tool in preparing a review report, they must disclose this to the Editorial Board and state the name of the tool, the purpose, extent and manner of its use. The use of artificial intelligence must not replace an independent scholarly assessment of the manuscript. Reviewers bear full responsibility for the content, scholarly quality and accuracy of their review reports.
The peer-review process is double-blind. In double-blind peer review, reviewers shall not be provided with information identifying the authors. Reviewers must assess manuscripts solely based on their content and predetermined scholarly criteria. A manuscript must not be assessed based on the sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or social origin, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, property, family status or other status of its actual or presumed author.
Reviewers must prepare their reports professionally, impartially, objectively, clearly and respectfully. Personal criticism of an author is unacceptable. All comments and recommendations must be appropriately justified and supported by relevant arguments. Reviewers should identify substantial deficiencies in citation practices and relevant sources omitted from the manuscript where these are necessary for assessing its argumentation.
If a reviewer identifies substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript and another published or submitted text, they must report this to the Editor-in-Chief and, where possible, provide the evidence on which the concern is based. Reviewers do not themselves determine whether a breach of publication ethics has occurred; they provide the Editorial Board with the information required to investigate the matter.
In their reports, reviewers shall recommend that a manuscript be accepted, accepted subject to revisions, reconsidered following substantial revision, or rejected. The final decision on the manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief.
The Editor-in-Chief, in cooperation with the Editorial Board, oversees reviewers’ compliance with their responsibilities. A serious or repeated breach of the obligations laid down in this Code of Ethics constitutes unethical conduct.
Manuscripts shall normally be assessed by two independent reviewers. If their opinions differ substantially, do not provide a sufficient basis for a decision, or the manuscript requires further expert assessment, the Editor-in-Chief may appoint a third reviewer.

Article 4

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that conflicts of interest do not compromise the publication process. If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, they must immediately inform the Editorial Board, refrain from assessing or making decisions on the manuscript concerned, and assign these responsibilities to an impartial member of the Editorial Board. In performing their role, the Editor-in-Chief must comply with the applicable legislation, particularly in the areas of copyright and personal data protection.
The Editor-in-Chief must ensure equal and impartial treatment of all authors. Decisions on manuscripts shall be based exclusively on their scholarly quality, originality, significance, clarity and relevance to the Journal’s scope. A manuscript must not be accepted or rejected based on the author’s sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or social origin, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, property, family status or other status, or based on any circumstances unrelated to the scholarly assessment of the manuscript.
The Editor-in-Chief must preserve the confidentiality of information relating to submitted manuscripts and protect it against unauthorised disclosure, use, damage, loss or misuse. Neither the manuscript nor information obtained during the publication process may be used for personal, professional or financial gain without the author’s consent. The confidentiality of information must also be preserved when electronic systems and artificial intelligence tools are used.
The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that the peer-review process is scholarly, independent, impartial and double-blind. When selecting reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief shall consider their area of expertise and any potential conflicts of interest. Manuscripts shall be assessed based on their content and predetermined scholarly and formal criteria.
Before a manuscript enters the peer-review process, the Editor-in-Chief must ensure that it undergoes an initial internal assessment. This assessment verifies whether the manuscript falls within the Journal’s scope, complies with its formal requirements and observes the fundamental principles of academic and publication ethics. If the manuscript does not meet these requirements, the Editorial Board shall inform the author without undue delay.
The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that anonymised review reports are made available to authors. Authors shall have the opportunity to implement the recommendations or explain why they have not done so. The Editorial Board may accept or reject the manuscript, return it for revision or request that it undergo further review.
Where there is reasonable suspicion of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification or distortion of data, copyright infringement or another serious breach of publication ethics, the Editor-in-Chief may temporarily suspend the publication process. The matter shall be investigated in cooperation with the Editorial Board, and the persons concerned shall be allowed to respond and submit relevant evidence.
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject a manuscript. In reaching this decision, the Editor-in-Chief shall consider the review reports, the manuscript’s scholarly quality, its relevance to the Journal’s scope and its compliance with the principles of publication ethics. The decision must not be influenced by commercial, personal or other non-scholarly interests.
If a serious error or breach of publication ethics is identified after an article has been published, the Editor-in-Chief, in cooperation with the Editorial Board, shall take appropriate corrective action, including, as applicable, the publication of a correction, clarification or retraction notice. The nature of the action taken and the reasons for it shall be communicated transparently and appropriately.
The final decision to accept, return for revision or reject a manuscript shall be made by the Editor-in-Chief on the basis of the review reports, the Journal’s scholarly scope and the manuscript’s compliance with its ethical and formal requirements. In the event of a conflict of interest, the decision shall be made by another authorised member of the Editorial Board.
The Editorial Board oversees the Editor-in-Chief’s compliance with their responsibilities. A serious or repeated breach of the obligations laid down in this Code of Ethics constitutes unethical conduct.

Article 5

Editorial Board

The Editorial Board contributes to maintaining the scholarly and academic standards of the Journal and provides the Editor-in-Chief with expert opinions on submitted manuscripts. In assessing manuscripts, it shall consider the outcome of the peer-review process, the manuscript’s relevance to the Journal’s scope, its scholarly quality and originality, and its contribution to translation studies or related disciplines. The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief.
The Editorial Board must ensure that manuscripts are assessed independently and impartially and based on predetermined scholarly and formal criteria. Members of the Editorial Board must not assess a manuscript based on the author’s sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or social origin, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, property, family status or other status.
Members of the Editorial Board must preserve the confidentiality of information concerning submitted manuscripts and the publication process. Such information may be disclosed only to authors, reviewers, persons responsible for editorial or technical processing and other persons whose involvement is necessary to the publication process. Unpublished information, data or ideas must not be used in a member’s own research or for personal, professional or financial gain without the author’s express written consent.
A member of the Editorial Board affected by an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest must promptly disclose the conflict and refrain from assessing or making decisions on the manuscript concerned. The Editorial Board shall safeguard the Journal’s editorial independence and ensure that scholarly decisions are not influenced by commercial, political, personal or other non-scholarly interests.
The Editorial Board shall duly, impartially and confidentially investigate every complaint concerning a procedure or decision of the Editorial Board and every concern alleging a possible breach of publication ethics relating to a submitted or published article or to the conduct of persons involved in the publication process. The persons concerned shall be allowed to respond and submit relevant evidence. If the complaint or concern is found to be substantiated, the Editorial Board shall take appropriate remedial action, including the publication of a correction, addendum, supplement or editorial notice, or, where appropriate, decide to retract the article. A suspected breach of publication ethics may be investigated even after a considerable period has elapsed since the manuscript was submitted or published, particularly if the breach is serious and the available evidence allows it to be properly assessed.
A complaint or concern regarding the conduct of the Editor-in-Chief shall be considered by the Editorial Board without the participation of the person concerned. A complaint or concern regarding a member of the Editorial Board shall likewise be considered without that person’s participation. The Editorial Board shall ensure that the procedure for investigating complaints and concerns is proportionate, confidential and fair to all persons concerned.
Members of the Editorial Board are responsible for complying with the obligations arising from this Code of Ethics. A serious or repeated breach of these obligations constitutes unethical conduct, and the Editorial Board shall take appropriate corrective measures.
The Editorial Board shall securely retain documentation relating to the publication process, including submitted and revised versions of manuscripts, authors’ declarations, review reports, editorial decisions, requests for review, complaints and concerns relating to publication ethics, and related correspondence. Access to this documentation shall be restricted to authorised persons. The documentation shall be retained for the period specified by the Journal’s internal policies and in accordance with applicable personal data protection legislation.
Members of the Editorial Board may submit manuscripts for publication in the Journal but must not participate in their administration, the selection of reviewers, the peer-review process or the editorial decision. Such a manuscript shall be handled by another member of the Editorial Board who has no conflict of interest. The same procedure shall apply where the author of the manuscript is the Editor-in-Chief.

Article 6

Final Provisions

Matters of publication ethics not expressly regulated by this Code of Ethics shall be considered by the Editorial Board on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with generally accepted principles of academic integrity and responsible scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers and members of the Editorial Board must comply with the deadlines set or agreed upon during the publication process. If they are unable to meet a deadline, they must inform the Editorial Board without undue delay and, where appropriate, request a reasonable extension. The Editorial Board shall ensure that the publication process is not subject to unjustified delays.
Reviewers shall be selected by the Editor-in-Chief or by a member of the Editorial Board authorised by the Editor-in-Chief, with due regard to their expertise, independence and absence of conflicts of interest.
Reviewers and members of the Editorial Board must not require authors to cite their own works or articles published in the Journal unless such citations are directly relevant to the manuscript and academically justified. Suggested citations must be relevant to the content of the manuscript and must not serve to increase the citation metrics of particular persons or the Journal.
The Editorial Board may amend or supplement this Code of Ethics, particularly in response to developments in legislation, publishing standards and the principles of research ethics.
The current version of this Code of Ethics shall be publicly available on the Journal’s website.
Legal relationships and acts associated with the publication of the Journal shall be governed by the laws of the Slovak Republic.
If any provision of this Code of Ethics conflicts with a generally binding legal regulation, the applicable legal regulation shall prevail. The validity of the remaining provisions of this Code of Ethics shall not be affected.

This Code of Ethics was approved by the Editorial Board of the Journal August 31, 2026 on and shall enter into force on September 1, 2026.