Authors, journal managers, editorial staff, peer reviewers, and all parties involved in the act of publication should agree to the following ethical standards. The « Statement on publication ethics and practices » for journals published at the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Cocody (Abidjan) is based on the guidelines of the Publications Ethics Committee (GPEC), available on the website http://publicationethics.org.

Important Note

Any article received by the Revue REGARDSUDS is subject to screening by management. The main objective is to ensure that the content of the article complies with the objectives and mission of the review. Once this step is completed, the article is submitted in strict anonymity to an evaluator. The task of the evaluator is to make an objective evaluation explicitly focused on the contribution of the text to the advancement of geography and development and especially to the knowledge of the South. The report submitted by the evaluator is considered acceptable when it contains precise and substantiated explanations of the originality of the content, the consistency of the methodology used, the relevance of the results obtained and the importance of the sources used. If the article is submitted with maps, tables and graphs, an infographic assessment will be conducted. In addition to this infographic, there is an automatic language evaluation to ensure the quality of English or French.

Responsibilities of the author

Authors who submit articles to the Journal « Revue de Géographie, d’Aménagement Régional et de Développement des Suds (REGARDSUDS)  » of the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Cocody (Abidjan) certify that:

  • Their manuscript is original and unpublished, it has not been copied or plagiarized and the author’s other works on the same subject have been cited or referenced appropriately if they have been the subject of another publication.
  • They have not presented essentially the same research in previously published works.
  • Authorship of the study is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the reported study.

All those who have made a significant contribution have been listed as co-authors. Other researchers who participated in important aspects of the research project have been acknowledged or cited as contributors. All co-authors have been clearly indicated at the time of article submission.

Authors presenting the results of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed. The underlying data should be accurately represented in the manuscript or made accessible by indicating a link to a database, or some other type of repository. An article should contain enough detail and references to allow others to reproduce the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

When an author discovers an error or an important inaccuracy in his own published work, it is his duty to promptly notify the editor or publisher of the journal and to cooperate with them in either withdrawing the article, either issue a statement of correction or an appropriate erratum.

Authors whose articles have been accepted cede the rights permanently to EDUCI and REGARDSUDS. These rights cannot be disputed or called into question for any reason.

Editor’s Responsibilities

The editors of each issue:

  • Are responsible for the decision to publish submitted articles.
  • Must take into account the evaluation made by the reviewers.
  • Can meet with the management and the scientific committee of the journal.
  • May be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and are subject, under the editor’s control, to legal and ethical requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
  • Must evaluate manuscripts based on their intellectual content without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship or political philosophy of the author(s).
  • Must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors, and the publisher, if any.
  • Must not use in their own research any unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript without the express written consent of the author.

Responsibilities of reviwers

Peer review helps the editor make editorial decisions, and through editorial communication with the author, he can also help the author improve their article.

Any selected reviewer agrees with the following statements:

  • If a reviewer feels himself unqualified to review the research presented in a manuscript or knows that it is not possible to meet the deadline, he must immediately notify the issue to the volume’s coordinator so that the article can be sent to a another reviewer.
  • Manuscripts received for review should be treated as confidential. They must not be shown or discussed with other people, unless the scientific committee authorizes it.
  • Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal reviews of the author or authors are not accepted. Reviewers must clearly express their point of view, with supporting arguments.
  • Reviewers should identify relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors. A reviewer should also report to the journal management any similarity or substantial overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published article of which he has personal knowledge and which is not mentioned and referenced in the text under review.
  • Inside information or ideas obtained through peer review should be kept confidential and not used for personal gain. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or ties with any of the authors, companies, or institutions related to the articles.

Plagiarism

All articles published by REGARDSUDS must be original material only. Passing off another’s article as the author’s, copying or paraphrasing substantial portions of another’s article (without attribution), or claiming the results of research conducted by others are all considered forms of plagiarism. Plagiarism in any form constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Duplicate Submission

Authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Data Fabrication and Falsification

Authors should not include spurious data or false research results in the manuscript. Also, manipulation of the research process or the arbitrary alteration or omission of data which leads to the distortion of the contents or the results of the research should not be done.

Responsibilities of the editor and the scientific committee

The publisher is ultimately responsible for monitoring and enforcing the obligations of authors, guest editors and reviewers.

Competing interests policy

Archiving & indexing

Copernicus Publications makes sure that the preprints and open-access journal articles are indexed and archived worldwide in as many (e-)archives, search engines, and databases as possible, in order to guarantee their maximum dissemination and impact.