The authors must declare in the cover letter of the manuscript that the ethical guidelines regarding the integrity of the research activities have been respected, as well as informing the sources of funding. If applicable, the author must state that the ethical principles adopted have been submitted to and approved by the ethics committee of the institution responsible for carrying out the research. Compliance with good research ethics practices is the sole responsibility of the authors.

RBCS adopts the ethical guidelines of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure integrity in all steps of the editorial process and the integrity of all those involved. Responsibilities and actions assumed by the journal to promote integrity in the publication process and procedures foreseen in cases of suspicion or proof of misconduct are described below.

Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for implementing the policies established for publication and for supervising the publishing process and relations of the journal with the authors, reviewers, readers, indexers, research support agencies, the scientific community, and the general public. It is incumbent upon the Editor-in-Chief to designate Associate Editors based on their scientific production and area of soil science knowledge. In addition, the Editor-in-Chief is responsible for ensuring transparency and quality control in the publishing process.

Responsibilities of Associate Editors

Associate Editors should ensure that the peer review process is based on academic neutrality and impartiality; safeguard the confidentiality of the reviewers; contribute to the investigation and evaluation of cases in which there is suspicion of misconduct or anti-ethical behavior; detect whether there are financial interests compromise the ethical standards of publication; ensure, in the best manner possible, that there is no plagiarism or fraudulent data or results; and ensure that the links indicated regarding Preprint deposit and/or data repository are valid and meet the criteria of RBCS.

Responsibilities of the Reviewer

Reviewers must respect the confidentiality of the review and non-disclosure of any manuscript detail during or after the review process, as well as the guidelines that RBCS promotes. The journal is committed to the principles of Open Science and will progressively offer reviewers and authors the possibility of revealing their identities if they so desire. Thus, reviewers must manifest their prior agreement through consultation made by the Editorial Committee.

Reviewers must: decline to evaluate any text if there are, in view of their own analysis, conflicting interests; accept invitations only when they are able to carry out the assessment within the stipulated deadline; maintain confidentiality about revised texts; not use the information contained in the manuscript for their benefit until the publication of the article; verify that the data are available in open access repositories and that they are valid and reliable; indicate possible relevant published references that are not cited in the text.