About the Journal

SCIENTIA: The International Journal on the Liberal Arts is the official scholarly multi-disciplinary journal of the College of Arts and Sciences, San Beda University, Manila, Philippines on the Liberal Arts.  As a peer-reviewed journal, it accepts scholarly writings, academic papers, and book reviews in the fields of Philosophy, Anthropology, Gender Studies, Historical Issues and Historiography, Language Studies, Hermeneutics, Politics and Governance, and Religious Studies.  The journal is published bi-annually in March and September.

Publishing Ethics

SCIENTIA is a peer-reviewed journal committed to the highest publication ethics standards. Publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is a direct reflection of the quality of the authors' and supporting institutions' work. All parties involved in the publication process (editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers) must adhere to a code of conduct. The following Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement principles are derived from the Publishing ethics resource kit and comply with Elsevier's recommendations.

 

Editorial Definition

Title: Scientia

Subtitle: The International Journal on the Liberal Arts

ISSN electronic edition: 2546-194X

Frequency: Biannual

Date of creation: 2011

Publisher: San Beda University, Mendiola 

 

Copyright and Access

Publication: in open access Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial NDerivatives 4.0

Subtitle: The International Journal on the Liberal Arts

Publication fees: none

Submission fees: none

Review process: double-blind peer review

Average time between submission and publication: 24 weeks

 

Duties of the Publisher

Guardianship of the scholarly record.

San Beda University, Mendiola is acknowledged by Scientia as its Publisher. The Publisher is devoted to assisting the Editorial Board and peer reviewers in their efforts. Additionally, it is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record.

The Publisher is responsible for ensuring that its publications adhere to best practices.

Duties of the Editorial Board

Publication decisions.

The Editorial Board of Scientia determines which of the submitted articles will be published. The validity of the work in question and its significance to researchers and readers are always decisive factors in such cases.

Fair play.

The Editorial Board of Scientia assesses articles solely on the basis of their intellectual content, regardless of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic background, citizenship, or political ideology.

Confidentiality.

The Editorial Board of Scientia is prohibited from disclosing any information about a submitted paper to anybody other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest.

Without the author's clear written approval, an editor may not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted work for his or her own research. Confidential information or ideas received through peer review must not be exploited for personal gain and must be kept private. Editors must recuse themselves when they have competing, collaborative, or other relationships or affiliations with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers. The editors ask all contributions to disclose relevant competing interests and to publish corrections if new competing interests are discovered after publication.

Involvement and cooperation in investigations.

If ethical objections are brought regarding a submitted manuscript or published work, the Editorial Board of Scientia will, in concert with the publisher, take measures that are suitably responsive. Even if an act of unethical publishing behavior is found years after publication, it will be investigated.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions.

Peer review aids the Editorial Board in making editorial choices and, through editorial contacts with the author, may aid the author in enhancing the manuscript. Peer review is an integral part of formal scholarly communication and the foundation of the scientific process. In addition to the specific ethical responsibilities outlined below, reviewers are expected to treat authors and their work as they would wish to be treated and to practice proper reviewing etiquette.

If a referee feels unqualified to evaluate the research described in a manuscript or believes that a prompt evaluation is impossible, he or she must contact the Editorial Board and decline to participate in the review process.

Confidentiality.

Manuscripts submitted for evaluation must be treated as confidential materials. Without the editor's consent, reviewers are prohibited from disclosing their evaluations or contacting the writers directly.

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript may not be utilized in the reviewer's own research without the author's express written permission. Information or concepts received through peer review must be kept confidential and not exploited for personal gain.

Alertness to Ethical Issues.

Every reviewer must be aware of any potential ethical issues in the manuscript and bring them to the attention of the Editorial Board, including any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which the reviewer has personal knowledge. Any assertion that a certain observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported must be backed by the appropriate citation.

Standards of Objectivity & Competing Interests.

Evaluations must be conducted with objectivity. When reading a document, reviewers are conscious of any personal biases they may have and account for them. Personal attacks on the author are improper. Referees must articulate their opinions with supporting evidence.

Reviewers having potential conflicts of interest stemming from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the articles must consult the Editorial Board before agreeing to review a manuscript.

If a reviewer proposes that an author include citations to the reviewer's (or their colleagues') work, this must be for real scientific reasons and not to increase the reviewer's citation count or the exposure of their work (or that of their associates).

 

Duties of Authors

Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources.

Scientia requests that authors guarantee that they have authored totally original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been cited or quoted appropriately, and permission has been acquired when necessary. A list of references should be provided by the author. In the case of multiple authorship, it must state that all authors have significantly contributed to the research. It is forbidden to publish the same research in more than one journal. In case of detection, the paper shall be automatically not accepted and or retracted.

Plagiarism can take several forms, including "passing off" another author's paper as one's own, copying or paraphrasing major portions of another author's paper (without acknowledgment), and claiming results from research undertaken by another. Scientia opposes all forms of plagiarism as unethical and immoral.

Fees and Financial Support.

Scientia does not have any fees for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in the journal. However, the authors must provide information on financial support or funding received for the research.

Notification of Fundamental Errors.

When an author discovers a serious error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's responsibility to swiftly tell the journal's Editorial Board and cooperate with the Editorial Board to retract or fix the manuscript, as appropriate. All authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes, in case of detection.

Image Integrity.

Authors should not improve, obscure, relocate, eliminate, or introduce a specific visual element. The alteration of photographs for increased clarity is permitted, but manipulation for other objectives may be viewed as a violation of scientific ethics and will be punished accordingly.