Ethics policy and malpractice treatment

Económicas CUC declares its commitment to maintain the highest ethical standards in editorial matters to guide the Editor, Authors, and Peer Reviewers in performing their duties. The editor will be the guarantor of ensuring that at no time during the editorial process is inappropriate conduct that violates the ethical policies declared in the journal promoted and that any malpractice is avoided for publication. If there is improper conduct, the Editor may consult the Editorial Committee if necessary.

 Económicas CUC bases its ethical policies on the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics Ethics of COPE to which we are attached: Ethical oversight, ELSEVIER Publication Ethics Resource Kit for Publishers (PERK), and the Singapore Declaration on Research Integrity, when relevant in the article, authors should explain the procedures followed in the research to ensure compliance with the principles and ethical standards Declaration of Helsinki 1975.

In addition, Económicas CUC agrees and signs the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

Económicas CUC verifies the originality of all manuscripts through CrossCheck.

Likewise, all articles published in Económicas CUC comply with the principles of the different declarations and legislations on intellectual property and copyright, as well as national and international regulations. With this, Económicas CUC intends to limit as much as possible the omission of relevant data, plagiarism, and cases of falsification. These are understood as follows: (i) the omission of relevant data occurs when the authors deliberately hide data obtained in the research, which influences the results; (ii) plagiarism occurs when the authors present their data and information obtained by others.

Authors in other research, without due acknowledgment and (iii) falsification results from fraudulent manipulation of data by the authors.

All persons involved in the editorial processes of Económicas CUC are aware of their duties by recognizing their ethical responsibilities. Therefore, Económicas CUC guarantees that all content published is ethically correct.

If, after an article is published in its final version, it becomes evident that it does not comply with any of the ethical policies, the Editor will take the necessary measures according to the guidelines established by both COPE and PERK; if required, the Editor may consult the Editorial Committee.

1.  EDUCTOSTA Publishing Publishing Ethics Team

Educosta Publishing has a core Ethics in Scientific Publishing team composed of editors with scientific and editorial expertise and specialized experience in industry-wide policies, workflows, and guidance related to ethics and integrity issues (e.g., COPE). The Ethics team at Educosta Publishing supports and collaborates with Económicas CUC and follows up on concerns raised to the journal that have implications for the integrity, validity, or reliability of submitted or published papers.

The Publication Ethics team also contributes to developing Económicas CUC policies related to research ethics and reporting.

To contact the Publication Ethics team, please email educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co.

1.1. Biosafety and dual-use research of concern

The staff of the EDUCTOSTA Editorial Publication Ethics Team and the editorial boards of Económicas CUC are committed to the broad dissemination of research. They are sensitive to issues related to responsible publication standards. In this context, we evaluate the risks and benefits of publishing research. If the risks outweigh the benefits, we will not publish.

Author's requirements

Authors must disclose potential bioethical or dual-use concerns to the journal office at the time of initial submission.

Requirements for editors and reviewers

Editors and reviewers are expected to assess potential risks and alert the journal to concerns.

Policy compliance

We follow the standards set by national and public agencies, and the Económicas CUC editorial team may refer concerns to the "Dual Use" Committee on any proposal that may be submitted to evaluate the potential risks versus benefits of publication.

Económicas CUC reviews manuscripts at the time of submission for potential risks. Problems identified at the time of submission may result in the rejection of the manuscript.

If risks are identified after an article is published, we will take steps to minimize them per current guidelines. Depending on the severity of the problems, we may follow up with the authors' institutions. We invite you to read more here.

2. Authorship and contribution policies

The Económicas CUC authorship guidelines have been designed to ensure fair and transparent authorization for the editorial process of proposed manuscripts, properly acknowledging all authors' contributions, respecting authorship's ethical principles, and providing clear procedures for managing typical and atypical processes. This includes emphasis on each author's responsibility, using the CRediT system to describe contributions, and implementing good practices to avoid disputes and ensure transparency in the authorship of research work. These guidelines ensure that authorship credits are awarded fairly, transparently, and based on individuals' contributions to the proposed work.

2.1. Authorship Requirements Substantial Contributions

To be recognized as an author, each person must have made a substantial

Contribution in one of the following areas:

• - Conception or design of the work: It implies the central idea or the formulation of the objectives and general goals of the research.
• - Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Participation in the study's collection or interpretation.
• - Creation of new software: If new software has been created to analyze or process the study data.
• - Drafting or substantial revision of the article: Significant participation in the writing or modification of the article.

Final Version Approval

Before submitting the manuscript:

• - All authors must approve the final version of the proposal and be responsible for their and their co-authors' contributions.
• - Ensure the accuracy and integrity of all data and results
• - Accept any significant modification involving your contribution to the work.
• - They must be available so that in case of any doubts regarding the presentation of their data, they can be adequately investigated and resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.

2.2. Use of identifiers (ORCID)

Económicas CUC requires all authors to provide an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), a unique number that uniquely identifies each researcher. This identifier facilitates the visibility and tracking of each author's publications and scientific contributions and is used in the group authorship process to help identify team members.

Once the article is published, the ORCID identifiers of the authors (especially the corresponding author) are automatically linked to it.

2.3. Explicit consent for authorship

COPE recommends that before submitting a manuscript for publication, authors should explicitly agree to be included as authors. Which implies:

• - Informed consent: All coauthors must agree with the list of authors and the contributions that each has made to the work. This consent should be documented in writing (e.g., by formal confirmation in the manuscript submission process).
• - Review and acceptance of the final manuscript: Each author should have the opportunity to review the final version of the article before submission to ensure that their contributions are adequately reflected and that they agree with its conten

2.4. Consent and ethics

• - Compliance with ethical guidelines: All authors must comply with ethical research guidelines. This includes obtaining informed consent from participants, following data protection guidelines, and complying with good scientific practice in data collection and analysis.
• - Confirmation of conflicts of interest: All authors must declare whether they have conflicts of interest related to the work they are proposing, and this information must be included in the manuscript before submission.

2.5. Duties of authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that a secure and direct e-mail address is used for all correspondence concerning their contribution; shared accounts should not be used.

Económicas CUC starts with the principle of goodwill of our authors; however, evidence of honesty and ethics is expected in the research proposals they present to ensure the credibility and integrity of the scientific method process. These principles contribute to advancing knowledge and protect the confidence of the public, academic and professional communities, and funders in the research.

The duties of the authors are the following:

• - Acknowledgement and citation of sources: if data and/or words from third parties have been used in the preparation of the manuscript, these must be properly referenced.
• - Originality: the manuscript must be original and unpublished, derived from the authors' research.
• - Plagiarism: the manuscript must be submitted with full evidence that no plagiarism was committed in its preparation.
• - Multiple or concurrent publication: authors should not submit the same manuscript for publication to multiple journals simultaneously.
• - Funding: authors should specify the funding sources for the research from which the manuscript is derived. For more information, click here.
• - Fragmentation: since the fragmentation of more significant works by the same author may lead to confusion among readers, authors should duly cite other research already published by themselves without exceeding the limit of 4 (four) total self-citations (i.e., the final sum of self-citations by all authors); likewise, relevant information from other articles should not be repeated, as this could violate the established originality criteria.
• - Availability of data: Económicas CUC requires authors to allow the public to have all the data necessary to replicate the results of their studies at the time of publication. This approach aims to:

1. 1. Validate, replicate, and reanalyze research results.
2. 2. To facilitate the reproducibility of scientific studies.
3. 3. Encourage long-term data archiving, ensuring data are available for future analysis and use.
4. 4. Improve the visibility of scientific data by linking and citing them with related articles.

Económicas CUC promotes the use of open databases such as Papyrus to provide public access to article data, which allows for better scientific collaboration and the generation of discoveries by facilitating access and reuse of data. More information here (recommended)

• - Access and retention: if the journal deems it necessary, authors should make available the sources and other data on which the research is based and which are not included in the article; this information can be retained for a reasonable period after publication and possibly made accessible to readers upon reques.

If you have questions concerning the completeness, validity, or reliability of a manuscript, please contact the Universidad de la Costa publishing house at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co and s copy for the general journal at revecocuc@cuc.edu.co.

Económicas CUC urges its authors to explore the subject of authorship more deeply; more information is available here.

3. Editors' Policy and Duties

The following duties of editors are a fundamental part of the ethical and responsible operation of Económicas CUC:

• - Honesty and ethics: The editor must supervise that the manuscripts comply with the purpose and scope of the journal; he/she must also evaluate the articles that initiate the editorial process based on their content without distinction of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or political philosophy of the authors. They must declare any conflict of interest (more information here) and respect the code of conduct of the other editorial committee members and editors. They should not attempt to influence the contributions of others to peer review or attempt to use or manipulate the peer review process for their benefit.
• - Publication decisions: The editor is responsible for supervising the entire double-blind peer review process; he/she is also responsible for deciding in which volume of the journal the article approved by the peer reviewers will be published. The publication decision should be guided by the journal's ethical policies and editorial standards and based exclusively on the academic merits of the article. In any case, the editor-in-chief decides to accept or reject a manuscrip Editors are responsible for the content of decision letters. They are responsible for the content of their reviews; comments should reflect their assessment of the content, including whether the submission complies with the journal's editorial requirements and policies.
• - Indexing: The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that Económicas CUC complies with all the editorial standards of high-impact journals regarding indexing.
• - Confidentiality: The editor must promote the confidentiality of all information about the manuscript when sending it to anyone other than the corresponding author, such as potential reviewers, peer reviewers, and databases, as appropriate. In addition, he/she must guarantee the anonymity of the evaluators' data, which may not be disclosed outside the editorial team. Editors are responsible for ensuring that a secure and direct e-mail address is used for all correspondence related to the editorial process of a proposal; shared accounts should not be used.

If you have any doubts, please click here for more information.

4. Duties of the editorial committee

The Económicas CUC Editorial Committee is a technical advisory body specialized in the journal's topics. It comprises national and international researchers with a recognized track record in research through participation in projects, high-impact articles, and other products that generate new knowledge in the state of the art of science.

Editorial board members should not alter the content of reviews. Concerns about comments in reviews or decision letters should be referred to the journal office, which will intervene or follow up as necessary.

Under no circumstances should editorial board members disclose a reviewer's identity to authors or third parties (except in discussions between the editor-in-chief and Económicas CUC staff or editors). Editorial board members should raise any request about the reviewer's identity. Each committee member is responsible for ensuring that a secure and direct e-mail address is used for all correspondence in the editorial process; shared accounts should not be used.

Its functions are:

• - Review submitted manuscripts.
• - Advise on the policy and scope of the journal.
• - Identify topics for special issues, which they can edit as guests.
• - Attract new authors and presentations.
• - Promote the magazine to colleagues and peers.
• - Assist editors in making decisions on issues such as plagiarism claims and submissions where reviewers cannot agree on a decision.

Source: Editorial boards (elsevier.com)

The current composition of the Editorial Committee of the journal Económicas CUC can be consulted in the editorial team section.

5. Duties of peer reviewers

Although reviewer data is anonymous and may not be disclosed outside the editorial team, reviewers are responsible for ensuring that a secure and direct e-mail address is used for all peer review correspondence; shared accounts should not be used.

The duties of the peer evaluators are the following:

• - Confidentiality and ethics: any manuscript received for evaluation should be treated as confidential and not disseminated or discussed with people outside the review process. They must guarantee the ethical compliance of scientific research and declare no conflict of interest (more information here) to access the documen Should not attempt to influence others' contributions to peer review or attempt to use or manipulate the peer review process for personal gain. Please contact Universidad de la Costa Press at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co and send a copy to the journal's general contact at revecocuc@cuc.edu.co if you have any questions about or accept or decline the invitation to review.
• - Punctuality: any review process accepted by the peer reviewer must be carried out within the time limit established by the journal within its policies; if the peer reviewer selected to carry out the review is aware that he/she will not be able to comply with the established time limit, he/she must notify the Editor and exempt him/herself from the review process. Likewise, if necessary, peer reviewers may request an extension of the evaluation period to the Editor after presenting due justification.
• - Standards of objectivity: the entire double-blind peer review process should be conducted objectively; the peer reviewer should use arguments and justified reasons to recommend whether to publish the manuscript to the Editor. Reviewers should state on the review form whether they obtained third-party support for their review; the name of any person providing such support should be provided. Unpublished submissions should not be shared (even within the research group itself) with anyone who did not declare a collaborator in the peer review. All relevant sources should be cited in the review or the decision letter comments. All contributors to the peer review are expected to abide by Económicas CUC policies and the journal's best practices for reviewers.
• - Acknowledgement of sources and detection of plagiarism: peer reviewers must verify that any third-party argument presented in the manuscript is accompanied by the due reference to the source by the journal's editorial standards; they must also identify relevant published works or research that the authors have used without being correctly referenced. Peer reviewers should be attentive to any significant similarity or overlap between the article under review and any other published paper they have personal knowledge of and make the corresponding warning to the Editor.
• - Contribution to the editorial decision: any double-blind peer review process should assist the Editor in making editorial decisions about articles to be published in the journal. They are responsible for the content of their reviews; comments should reflect their assessment of the content, including whether the submission complies with the journal's editorial requirements and policies.

6. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools Usage Policy

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Challenges

Generative artificial intelligence is a tool that in a short time has broken into all areas of people’s lives, transforming the way we perform multiple tasks. From the simplest to the most complex. However, their use raises serious ethical and moral issues that must be taken into account to ensure their responsible use (Unesco, 2023).

Artificial Intelligence in Academic Research

In academia, artificial intelligence tools are increasingly being used for the different phases of research, as they help to optimize tasks that can be very complex manually. Therefore, not integrating the different models of AI that are available to researchers is lagging behind in today’s competitive academic world. However, their use must be accompanied by an ethical and moral responsibility of each researcher to ensure the objectivity and seriousness of their findings.

CUC Economics Policy on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

At CUC Economics we promote the responsible and ethical use of models of generative artificial intelligence in research, therefore, we establish guidelines that authors who apply and wish to publish in our journal must follow:

Authorship

The authors declare that they are solely responsible for the article submitted to Económicas CUC. Generative artificial intelligence tools are not considered co-authors or research assistants, because they have no legal responsibility for the content produced. However, authors should report whether they have used AI and describe how it was used.

Ethics, Transparency and Human Responsibility

The authors assume all ethical and moral responsibility for the use of artificial intelligence to ensure the transparency of the content produced. The following are some parameters to be taken into account:

Transparency

Authors must clearly and explicitly declare any use of artificial intelligence in their manuscripts. The statement will detail, if necessary, whether AI models were used and which ones were for the elaboration of the article, for example, in paragraph corrections, generation of tables and graphs, summaries or translations.

Scientific Integrity

Artificial intelligence is not able to distinguish between true and false content, so it is the responsibility of the authors to verify the information, contrast and give the scientific rigor to the content of the manuscript. In addition, because AI does not recognize social and moral biases either, researchers must take responsibility for not reproducing such biases in their articles.

Verification of Information

Any content produced by artificial intelligence must be verified by the authors and articles that have not had a thorough review by humans will not be published. This includes data analysis, wording and meaning of the text.

Limiting the Use of Artificial Intelligence

As stated, artificial intelligence is not co-author of the articles. Therefore, its use should be limited to assistance and optimization tasks, and it is not recommended to use it for the writing and structuring of key components of the article such as discussion, results, methodology and conclusions. Each of these parts of the article requires analysis and critical reasoning, as well as accountability.

Note

As stated, artificial intelligence should be used as an assistant for specific tasks, rather than for the organization and writing of the article. For this reason, all articles that apply to CUC Economics will be reviewed by the Ithenticate software to identify the use of AI. Any manuscript that exceeds 20% of writing with artificial intelligence models will be automatically rejected.

Further Reading

To deepen the ethical parameters in the use of Artificial Intelligence in scientific production, refer to: Penabad Camacho, L., Morera Castro, M., & Penabad Camacho, M. A. (2024). Guide for the use and reporting of artificial intelligence in academic scientific journals. Revista Electrónica Educare, 28(Suplemento Especial), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.15359/ree.28-S.19830

6.1. For authors

Económicas CUC expects articles to reflect the work and ideas of the authors mentioned. Any contributions made by other sources should be clearly and correctly attributed.

Contributions of AI tools and technologies to a study or the content of a proposal should be indicated in a dedicated section in Methods or in the Acknowledgments section for article types that do not have a Methods section (such as the letter to the editor).

This section should include the name of the tools used, a description of how the authors used the tools and assessed the validity of the tool results, and a clear statement of what aspects of the study, article content, data, or supporting files were affected or generated using AI tools.

In cases where large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence tools or technologies contribute to generating text content for submission to Económicas CUC, article authors are responsible for ensuring that:

• - The content is accurate and valid,
• - There are no concerns about possible plagiarism,
• - All relevant sources are cited,
• - All statements in the article that inform the study's hypotheses, interpretations, results, conclusions, limitations, and implications represent the authors' ideas.

Using artificial intelligence tools and technologies to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable.

Failure to comply with any aspect of this policy will be considered a misrepresentation of methods, contributions, and/or results. Suppose concerns arise about non-compliance with this policy. In that case, Económicas CUC may notify the authors' institution(s), and the journal may reject (before publication), retract (after publication), or publish an editorial notice about the article.

6.2. For Evaluators and Editors

Reviewer comments and decision letters from the Editor-in-Chief of Económicas CUC should reflect the reviewers' and editors' personal assessments of the submitted content. AI tools cannot act as reviewers or editors when making decisions.

Any use of AI tools in peer review (e.g., for data evaluation, translation, or linguistic editing) should be communicated to the authors in the review form (reviewers) or the decision letter (editors).

The content of unpublished submissions should be considered strictly confidential. Editorial board members and reviewers should not upload submissions to web platforms, databases, generative AI tools, or other services. If you have questions or concerns about using AI tools in peer review, please email the journal office at revecocuc@cuc.edu.co.

7. Policy on figures, images, or other types of Illustration

Económicas CUC stresses the importance of transparency and reliability of research results; the availability and integrity of data used to generate figures and images in scientific publications must be guaranteed. The original data mustn't be manipulated in a way that could lead to erroneous or biased interpretations. This policy reinforces good research practices and protects researchers and journals against misinterpretation or scientific fraud. If you have any doubts, please consult here.

8. Anti-plagiarism policy

For Económicas CUC, plagiarism is unacceptable; if any case is detected, the Editors will precede according to the COPE.

In this sense, all authors must demonstrate originality, the veracity of the data presented and the results and conclusions obtained, and that the manuscript has not distorted or copied previously published works on the subject under investigation.

Económicas CUC strongly rejects any violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties through plagiarism; similarly, redundant and multiple publications are also considered a violation of the ethical conduct of scientific research.

Económicas CUC Sociedad uses the iThenticate plagiarism verification software through the similarity report, which allows it to assess the originality of the work properly.

The journal will reject proposals that violate the work's declared originality; in case of concurrent behavior by the authors, the case may be sent to the authorities of the authors' institutions of affiliation.

Likewise, the journal manages a peer review process (double-blind) that may also report any indication of plagiarism within the evaluation process. Once the article is published, any reader may report any cases of plagiarism or bad practices; in this sense, the journal will adopt the COPE parameters to deal with such cases in conjunction with the Universidad de la Costa Ethics Committee, Colombia, and the Intellectual Property Office.

Published articles detected as plagiarism or malpractice will be retracted, and the editor-in-chief will contact the institutions affiliated with the authors.

Please contact the Universidad de la Costa Publishing House at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co and mark copy to the journal's general contact at revecocuc@cuc.edu.co if you have any questions about plagiarism.

8.1. Confidentiality of unpublished shipments

Económicas CUC guarantees its authors that the proposed materials will be treated with strict confidentiality until publication.

Editors and reviewers will not misuse papers submitted to the journal or take advantage of any information obtained through the peer review.

Editors and reviewers will not share information about unpublished submissions with anyone not directly involved in the peer review process of the submission without explicit permission from Económicas CUC.

As stated in our ethical peer review policy, submissions' content cannot be uploaded by handling editors or reviewers to generative AI platforms, websites, databases, or other tools; this is essential to protect the confidentiality of unpublished work.

9. Editorial notes, corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions

Económicas CUC publishes four types of post-publication notices:

• - Editorial notes
• - Corrections
• - Expressions of Concern (EOC)
• - Withdrawal notices

These notifications receive DOIs and are linked to the web pages of the affected articles. CrossMark also identifies them as article updates.

Económicas CUC uses these ads to try:

• - Major editorial updates to an article or post-publication notice.
• - Errors that affect the interpretation or indexing of an article.
• - Concerns about compliance with journal standards and policies.
• - Concerns that affect the integrity, reliability, and/or validity of articles published in Económicas

9.1. Editorial notes

Económicas CUC publishes editorial notes at the editors' discretion to inform readers of important updates or issues that may affect readers' interpretation of an Económicas CUC publication. We use editorial notes primarily for the following purposes:

• - Interim notices to inform readers of credible concerns for which editorial follow-up and/or investigations are pending and for which Económicas CUC does not believe an EOC or retraction is currently warranted based on the information we have received and evaluated to date.
• - Resolution of a post-publication case if the editors conclude that a published update to an article or notice is necessary. However, the update does not meet our correction, EOC, or retraction criteria.

The editor-in-chief of Económicas CUC writes editorial notes; we will try to inform authors before publishing an editorial note in Económicas CUC.

Unlike CORRECTIONS, Económicas CUC does not consider requests for editorial notes from authors.

9.2. Corrections

Económicas CUC publishes corrections to address errors in articles published in the journal. According to our editorial evaluation, correcting the articles in question must meet all of the following criteria:

• - Errors affect the main content or understanding of the article.
• - The general results and conclusions of the article are confirmed.
• - There are no concerns about the completeness or reliability of the work reported.

Económicas CUC may also publish a correction to address an error or omission that affects key aspects of the publication's metadata (e.g., an author's name or statement of competing interests, funding, or data availability) or to provide an underlying data set or additional information that the editors deem necessary to bring the article into compliance with the journal's research reporting standards.

In most cases, corrections are not incorporated directly into the article's content but are described in a separate notice that links to the Económicas CUC article web page.

In exceptional cases, Económicas CUC may republish an article's corrected version, replacing the original online version. When republishing an article, we generally publish an accompanying correction or republication notice linked to the article and document the changes. However, we make exceptions to this practice in certain circumstances. For example, we republish without accompanying notices (also known as "silent corrections") when we update author lists to reflect name changes of transgender or non-binary authors (see Económicas CUC's Authorship and Contribution Policies).

Económicas CUC does not publish corrections for typographical errors or other minor problems that do not substantially affect the article's scientific integrity, comprehensibility, or indexing. Please contact the University of Coastal University Press at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co and mark copy to the journal's general contact revecocuc@cuc.edu.co if you have any questions about whether a correction or comment should be used to correct an error in an Económicas CUC article.

9.3. Expressions of concern - EOC

Expressions of Concern are notices published at the editors' discretion to alert readers to serious concerns about a published paper or an article's compliance with Económicas CUC policies (e.g., Data Availability). In most cases, we will complete a follow-up on the article before publishing a notice, but in others, we may publish an EOC as an interim notice. At the same time, Económicas CUC investigates all the problems presented. An EOC may also resolve a post-publication case if we conclude our follow-up process and the issues remain unresolved.

EOCs are written by Económicas CUC staff and/or the editor-in-chief. When published, an EOC is made at the top of the article's web page in Económicas CUC and is linked to the article's publication record, like a correction. EOC does not change the publication status of the related article. After an EOC is published, the article itself may be corrected or retracted, or the EOC itself may be corrected or retracted, depending on the editors' evaluation of the information, data, and/or materials received in subsequent discussions.

Económicas CUC attempts to notify the authors of the affected article before publishing an EOC, but we do not require the authors' approval or agreement. Económicas CUC may try to publish data or other materials received from authors as supporting files with an EOC; in such cases, authors are consulted and may choose not to publish their files/materials, although this may affect the editorial decision to resolve the case with an EOC.

Económicas CUC may notify affected third parties about an expression of concern. This could include, for example, the author’s institution, an affected data repository, or another journal or publisher that has an article or submission related to the case.

How to report concerns about papers submitted or published in Económicas CUC?

If you wish to notify Económicas CUC of an error in your publication that may warrant a correction, please send an e-mail directly to the journal revecocuc@cuc.edu.co with relevant details (article citation and DOI, description of the error), the proposed correction text, and supplementary files

or revised figures, as appropriate. For corrections involving article results, include supplementary files with underlying raw data to support the results in question.

If you wish to notify Económicas CUC about concerns related to the integrity, validity or reliability of an article in the journal, please send an email to the Económicas CUC Editorial Ethics team at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co and mark copy to the journal's general contact revecocuc@cuc.edu.co. Include the full citation and DOI of the article in question and details about your specific concerns in your email.

In addressing issues raised about Económicas CUC publications, we respect the policies, publication criteria, and editorial standards and follow COPE guidelines when applicable. The Publishing Ethics team at EduCosta Publishing House of Universidad de la Costa works collaboratively with journal editors in post-publication cases involving serious ethical or integrity issues.

Económicas CUC issues post-publication editorial decisions (editorial note, correction, EOC, or retraction) based on our assessment of the issues raised, the materials and information received in follow-up discussions, and how the details of the case align with COPE guidance and Económicas CUC publication policies and criteria.

By COPE guidelines, we attempt to discuss concerns with the article's corresponding author before making a final editorial decision. In some cases, we also publish interim notices (editorial notes or EOCs) before completing our evaluation and/or follow-up discussions; interim notices are published at the discretion of the Económicas CUC editors.

Once a post-publication editorial decision has been communicated to authors, a brief comment period is held during which authors may respond to the decision or the text of the notice. The decision will be made at the end of the comment period, as specified in the decision notification letter.

9.4. Retractions

As discussed in the COPE Retraction Guidelines, retraction is a mechanism for correcting the literature and notifying readers of essential concerns about an article's completeness, validity, or reliability.

Authors may request retraction of their work if post-publication issues arise that call into question the scientific validity of the article or fit the criteria listed in the COPE Retraction Guidelines. Any request for retraction originated by an author is subject to review and approval by the Coastal University Editorial Publication Ethics team and the Editor-in-Chief and will be rejected if the issues raised do not conform to the COPE Guidelines and/or the Económicas CUC standards for retraction.

When concerns are identified internally or raised by third parties, Económicas CUC follows up according to COPE guidelines and retract an article if the editors determine that issues not resolved in post-publication discussions warrant retraction according to COPE guidelines.

Económicas CUC may retract an article if we conclude that it does not adhere to key aspects of the journal's editorial requirements or policies or if there are concerns about images or data for which the original raw data are not provided, are not available, or are not sufficient (based on our editorial assessment) to address the issues raised.

We may retract an article if the problems are due to honest mistakes or misconduct. According to COPE guidelines, the magazine makes no judgment about intent or individual-level responsibility for the issues raised, and we do not issue partial retractions.

When an article is retracted, Económicas CUC publishes a retraction notice explaining the reason for the retraction. The notice is published at the top of the article's web page and is linked to the article's publication record (DOI) in Económicas CUC. The editor-in-chief has the final say on the content of the retraction notice. Still, depending on the case's specifics, we may collaborate with the Universidad de la Costa Editorial Publication Ethics team and the authors in preparing the notice and/or give the authors of the article the option to be listed as authors of the retraction notice.

We attempt to notify all authors of a retraction decision and the notification's text before completing the retraction. Económicas CUC may also notify affected third parties of a retraction; this could include, for example, the authors' institution(s), an affected data repository, or another journal/publisher that has an article or submission involved in the case.

Once an article is retracted, it is no longer part of the current publication record. Except in exceptional circumstances (see "Removal of content in Económicas CUC"), retracted journal articles remain online and available according to COPE guidelines, with the retraction status indicated. At the time of retraction, we will update the downloadable PDF available on the article's web page in Económicas CUC so that, for subsequent downloads, the retraction status will be indicated in the PDF.

If a retracted article contains selected elements (e.g., figures or tables) that are similar to or duplicate published content, and if the original publication of that content is not available under a Creative Commons (CC) open-access license, we may update the copyright statement of the Económicas CUC article at the time of retraction to exclude those elements from the CC-BY license.

Appeal of EOC decisions and publication retraction

Económicas CUC will only consider appeals of retraction or expression of concern decisions if both of the following criteria are met:

• - New information and/or data is provided that directly addresses the issues underlying the decision (e.g., original raw data for cases involving imaging or data issues, documentation of the result of an investigation by an institutional official), and
• - The appeal is received by the specified comment deadline.

Appeals are considered by the Editorial Publication Ethics team of Universidad de la Costa and may be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief, the Editors, and/or external scientific advisors or members of the journal's Editorial Board.

Decisions on retraction and expression of concern appeals are final. We will not consider further rounds of appeals.

Content removal in Económicas CUC

Económicas CUC reserves the right to remove content from the web pages of our magazine in exceptional circumstances, such as:

• - A court or governmental order has requested the removal.
• - The content presents a risk to a third party's personal privacy or legal rights, and the risk cannot be adequately mitigated by an editorial notice or other updates to the article.
• - The research was not legally conducted or published, and/or its continued availability presents potential legal or personal privacy r
• - Cases of dual publication in which Económicas CUC content duplicates previously published material that is not available under an open access (Creative Commons) license or
• - According to the assessment of the editors of Económicas CUC, the content, even if marked as retracted, may present a substantial risk, for example, to public health or a specific community or ecosystem.

When Económicas CUC deletes an article, the title, author list, and metadata remain available on the article's web page in Económicas CUC, along with an editorial notice.

Publication of previously retracted works

After a retraction, if authors can resolve all issues underlying the retraction decision and wish to republish their article in Económicas CUC, they should contact the Económicas CUC Educosta office at educosta@cuc.edu.co and lcastro24@cuc.edu.co explain the specific case and ask about the requirements of the journal where they wish to publish for submission of previously retracted work. We will not consider a revised version of an article for publication if unresolved concerns involve possible misconduct.

Suppose a revised version of a retracted article is peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. In that case, it will receive a new DOI, and the original (retracted) article will remain available online, clearly marked as retracted unless the case warrants consideration for removal (see "Removal of content in Económicas CUC"). The original article, the retraction notice, and the updated article will be linked as related content throughout the Económicas CUC web pages.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy

The journal Económicas CUC promotes an inclusive, equitable editorial environment free from all forms of discrimination. In this regard, the editorial process and peer review are conducted in accordance with principles of impartiality, ensuring that there is no bias related to the authors’ gender, identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, religion, ideology, socio-economic status or institutional affiliation.

Furthermore, the journal recommends inclusive language in manuscripts, recognizing diversity, showing respect for all people, being sensitive to differences, and promoting equal opportunities.

Authors must ensure that their work uses inclusive language at all times and contains nothing that might imply that one individual is superior to another on grounds of age, gender, career, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health status.

No assumptions should be made about readers’ beliefs, and the writing must be free from bias, stereotypes, jargon, references to the dominant culture, and/or cultural assumptions.

These guidelines are intended to serve as a reference point to help you identify appropriate language.