The RBCS ensures that all authors review and certifiably accept responsibility for the content published and register individual contributions to the manuscript. If there is any authorship question, the corresponding author is contacted, and if necessary, the contact is extended to the other authors. In the event of an impasse, the institutions of affiliation of the authors or the funding institutions involved in the research development are consulted.

The journal uses the IThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software to check for duplications of already published texts to ensure the originality of the texts. In the event of an occurrence of similarity, the Editor-in-Chief contacts the corresponding author for clarification and, if necessary, contacts all the authors. If duplication is proven, the institutions of affiliation of the authors or the funding institutions involved in the development of the research are contacted.

In cases of doubt involving citations given and respective references, the document cited is checked or requested to be sent. If greater clarification is necessary, the Editor-in-Chief will contact the corresponding author and, if necessary, all the authors. If editors or reviewers identify an excess of self-citation of authors and/or of the journal during the editorial process, the corresponding author will be contacted and, if necessary, all the other authors as well, who will provide clarification as a basis for making a decision.

Editors and reviewers should practice impartiality, integrity, and confidentiality in their evaluation, prioritizing constructive criticism and the deadline agreed upon with the journal. When there are doubts or questions, the Editor-in-Chief should contact the corresponding assistant editor and/or the reviewers.

Fabricating or falsifying data and images is serious misconduct. RBCS has a careful evaluation process in identifying such misconduct and, if there are questions concerning the origin of the data, the authors will be required to send information corroborating the methodology and the results presented. If misconduct is identified, the institutions of affiliation of the authors or the funding institutions involved in development of the research will be informed. Suspicions of possible cases of misconduct can be sent to the e-mail: autores@sbcs.org.br.

Suspicions of misconduct will be investigated by the journal under the highest academic and ethical rigor standards so that all questions are settled. RBCS is committed to publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, and notes of concern if necessary. In the face of any complaint or observation of misconduct of whatever party, the editorial process of the manuscript under investigation will be suspended, and all parties involved will be informed of the reason for this action. The evaluation process can be resumed if misconduct is not substantiated. Otherwise, depending on the party involved, one or more actions can be taken: the manuscript will be removed from the process; the journal will not receive submissions from the group of authors; the editor will be removed from his/her functions in the journal; or the reviewer will not provide further contributions to the journal.

A published article, in which misconduct is identified, remains indexed in the SciELO database under the condition of being retracted. The retraction documents the reason for the retraction, which will be duly referenced through communication of the author or editor or other authorized agent, and published in the same journal. The retraction may be partial when the misconduct applies to a specific part of the article, without, however, compromising the whole of the published study. The article cannot be “unpublished”. Cases of errors or flaws, regardless of their nature or origin, that do not constitute misconduct, are corrected through errata / corrigenda. The journal will publish errata, corrigenda, or retractions as quickly as possible.