Ethical Standards

Passerelle (hereafter "the Journal") is unequivocally committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in all aspects of its publication process. The Journal's editorial board believes that the scrupulous maintenance of these standards is essential to the preservation of the academic record and the legitimate advancement of knowledge. Our ethical framework is therefore guided by the best practices and principles as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Journal expects all parties involved in the act of publishing, specifically authors, reviewers, and editors, to adhere strictly to these principles and to the specific policies of the Journal as detailed herein and in related documents.

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

It is incumbent upon authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal to adhere to the following standards. Authors must guarantee that all work submitted is entirely original. Any ideas, data, or text originating from other sources must be appropriately and accurately cited according to the Journal's formatting guidelines. The submission of a manuscript to more than one journal concurrently, or the submission of any work that has been previously published in whole or in substantial part (including "redundant publication"), constitutes unethical publishing behavior. Such behavior is strictly unacceptable. For a detailed definition of unacceptable practices, authors are directed to consult our Plagiarism Policy.

Furthermore, authorship of a submitted work must be limited exclusively to those individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All persons who have made such significant contributions must be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication. Authors must present an accurate and unabridged account of the work performed, including the data collected. Authors are responsible for the absolute integrity of their data and must provide proper acknowledgment of the work of others at all times. Specific requirements regarding data availability are detailed in our Data Sharing policy.

Authors must also include two separate, mandatory declarations in their manuscript:

  • Conflict of Interest Statement: All authors are required to disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be reasonably construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. This disclosure is a mandatory condition of submission, as further detailed in our Conflict of Interest Policy.
  • Funding Statement: Authors must explicitly declare all sources of financial support for the research described in the manuscript. This statement must be included as a separate section in the manuscript before the References.

Funding Statement Templates

The statement must be included in the manuscript as a separate section, titled "Funding" or "Funding Statement", placed immediately before the References section.

Authors must use one of the following templates, modifying the brackets to include specific grant numbers and funding organizations where applicable.

Template 1: Funded Research (Required Details)

Funding Statement

This research was supported by [Name of Funding Agency/Institution] under Grant/Award Number [Insert Grant Number, e.g., XYZ-2025-XXXX].

Note: If multiple funders exist, list them separately in the same style.

Template 2: Unfunded Research (Mandatory Declaration)

Funding Statement

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Individuals who accept an invitation to review a manuscript for the Journal assume a position of trust and are bound by the following ethical obligations: Reviewers must treat any manuscript received for review as a confidential document. It must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. Reviewers are obligated to conduct their assessments objectively. All observations and judgments should be formulated clearly and supported by relevant arguments. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate and will not be accepted. Reviewers must agree to complete their reviews within the specified timeframe requested by the editorial office to ensure an efficient publication process. Should a reviewer encounter a conflict of interest, this must be addressed. If a conflict results from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript, the reviewer must immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review.

For detailed instructions on the review process, formatting the review, and judging criteria, please consult our full Reviewer Guidelines.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The Editorial Board of the Journal holds ultimate responsibility for the academic integrity and content of the publication. Editors are responsible for making fair, impartial, and timely decisions regarding the publication of manuscripts. These decisions must be based solely on the manuscript's academic merit, its originality, and its relevance to the Journal's scope. Decisions must be made without any regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. Editors and all editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and other editorial advisers, as appropriate and necessary. The specifics of this process are outlined in our Peer Review Process policy. The Editorial Board is further charged with protecting the integrity of the published academic record. This includes the investigation of any allegations of misconduct, whether pre-publication or post-publication, and taking appropriate action to correct the record as necessary. The procedures for such actions are defined in our Publication Malpractice Statement and our Withdrawal / Retraction Policy.

Core Ethical Policies

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the ethical standards to which Passerelle subscribes. For detailed information on specific procedures, definitions, and protocols, all users are directed to consult our dedicated policy pages. These pages include the following:

This policy was last reviewed and updated on November 12, 2025.