1. Introduction
- Currently, the entire scientific structure is based on a publication system, based on a fair and honest refereeing process, which in turn is governed by ethical behavior.
- Plagiarism (the inclusion of other people’s work without due authorization and acknowledgement of the author) is a form of theft.
- Self-plagiarism (several publications of the same material, without explicit acknowledgement) generates an undue growth of publications without any benefit to the scientific community, distorting the evaluation process of researchers.
- Multiple submissions of an article or essentially similar works do not constitute self-plagiarism if the versions are withdrawn, in the case of multiple acceptances, but it calls into question the credibility of the entire scientific structure, in addition to constituting an unnecessary overload of work that devalues the refereeing process.
- Another type of infraction that can be produced by the authors of a work submitted to a congress, conference, symposium, workshop or similar, is to submit it for review and not to travel for its presentation.
- It is the duty of CLEI, as an international society that deals with the generation of knowledge in computer science and its optimal use in Latin America, to define and standardize the ethical principles to be practiced by the author(s) in the publication of scientific papers in its conferences and other means of dissemination, such as its electronic journal.
- Any violation , on the part of the author or authors, of these pre-established ethical rules will be sanctioned. However, no author may be sanctioned without due process, being able to present the defense of his or her case.
2. Scope
- This code does not innovate with respect to existing customs and practices, but regulates the fundamental rules of ethics to be taken into account by the informatics community to be applied in all areas where CLEI is involved.
- This Code shall govern the presentation and publication of articles and other scientific papers in all events organized by CLEI, be they journals, conferences, symposia and/or workshops.
- It is assumed that any authors are aware of this code of conduct and that it is part of the standard information on the CLEI website.
- Any other standards to be used at a CLEI event must be compatible with the spirit of this Code, in particular the principles of soundness, honesty and sustainability.
- This Code shall govern any event sponsored or organized by CLEI, being the responsibility of the organizers to identify possible conflicts with the rules of other participating organizations, in order to resolve them.
- The natural complement to the ethical conduct of the author is the ethical behavior of the reviewer. This document designates the CLEI Steering Committee as the arbiter of the Code of Conduct.
3. Rules
- Plagiarism is ethically unacceptable. Any inclusion of other people’s work, even if it is not a verbatim quotation, must be explicitly acknowledged (in addition to observing applicable copyright and intellectual property regulations).
- Self-plagiarism is ethically unacceptable. The following cases will not be considered self-plagiarism:
- A new edition of all or a significant part of a publication in a new context (e.g., when a topic presented at a conference is carried over to a journal article where the previous publication as well as its authors are explicitly acknowledged).
- Reuse of sentences or paragraphs from a previous publication, corresponding to a small proportion of a more recent publication.
- Multiple submissions of substantially similar papers are unacceptable. The following cases will not be considered as multiple submissions:
- Submissions that have been submitted to other events and have been rejected.
- Submission of the same or substantially the same material for publication in different languages, provided that the authors explicitly make clear to the organizers of both venues, at the time of submission, the existence of the other submission.
- Authors should acknowledge the contribution of each previous work and when describing them do so fairly and accurately with due respect (including for the purpose of pointing out limitations and possible improvements).
- If the organization of an event or publication medium requests the authors of a paper to mention cases of possible conflicts of interest with the list of potential reviewers, the response should include all legitimate cases and only these cases.
- The non-presence of at least one of the authors of an accepted paper in a congress, conference, symposium or workshop represents a lack of respect and solidarity since it directly harms the organizers of the event and indirectly harms other authors who also submitted their papers to that event and were rejected, since they might have had a place if the unsubmitted paper had not been submitted.
4. Diffusion
- It is the responsibility of the organizers of each CLEI-sponsored event or publication to enforce this Code, ensuring that members of program committees and editorial boards monitor and report to the CLEI Executive Committee all violations of ethical standards.
- It is the responsibility of the entire CLEI community and particularly the Steering Committee to make this Code widely known, especially to potential authors.
- It is the responsibility of the directors and scientists of the CLEI community to educate young people, potential collaborators, according to the ethical standards established in this Code.
5. Sanctions
- It is the responsibility of the organizers of an event or publication, when they suspect violations of this Code, to handle them with due promptness, discretion, efficiency and in collaboration with all concerned parties (including referees and/or reviewers, organizers of other affected events and/or publications), to maintain fairness among all parties involved and, if appropriate, to apply sanctions corresponding to each case.
- Before applying any sanctions, the organizers will give potential offenders the opportunity to explain their behavior and correct any unfounded accusations.
- The organizers shall ensure that a sanction is proportionate to the seriousness of the misconduct. A distinction shall be made between unintentional and conscious misconduct, and between young offenders and experienced professionals as well as first-time violators of this Code of Ethics, when they state in writing their commitment not to reoffend. In such cases, they shall not be subject to sanctions that may substantially damage their reputation or their respective professional careers.
- For a sanction to be applied, it must have the unanimous approval of the CLEI Executive Committee and the majority of the Steering Committee members.
- Sanctions may be of one or more types, as appropriate, at the discretion of the CLEI Executive Committee:
- Private reprimand to the offender(s).
- Rejection of proposals on grounds of principle, regardless of their content. In case of rejection due to multiple submissions, such sanction will be applied for all affected events. (If the affected submissions have been published, they will be removed from the digital libraries).
- Any sanction imposed will be notified to all parties involved, such as program committees, editorial boards and steering committees of the affected sites. In more serious cases, the sanction may be published on the CLEI website.
- Prohibition from submitting papers to CLEI events or publications for a certain period of time well specified in the sanction (e.g., one to two years).
- Exclusion for a specified period from all CLEI activities including workshops and conferences.
- The infraction(s) may be reported to supervisors, offenders and relevant institutions, including the institution where he/she serves.
- Violation(s) may be reported to the scientific and academic community at large.