Publication Ethics

MATHEdunesa is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This policy sets out the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers, and the ethical requirements for research published in the journal.

Ethical Responsibilities in the Peer Review Process

Confidentiality. All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers must not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone outside the review process, and must not use unpublished data, arguments, or interpretations for personal advantage.

Reviewers. Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, and respectful assessments. They must decline a review if they cannot be impartial or have a conflict of interest, must not contact authors directly about a manuscript under review, and should report any suspected ethical concern to the editor.

Editors. Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their scholarly merit, without regard to the authors’ identity, affiliation, or personal characteristics. Editors must declare any conflict of interest and must not handle manuscripts in which they have one. Manuscripts authored by editors or editorial board members are handled by an independent editor.

Conflict of interest. All parties involved in the review process must disclose any conflict of interest, as described in the Conflict of Interest policy. The review procedure is described on the Peer Review Process page.

Ethical Requirements for Research

MATHEdunesa requires research involving human participants, animals, personal information, or other ethically sensitive subjects to be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, and relevant regulations.

Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants and/or animals must obtain approval from a recognized Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, or other authorized body, where such approval is required. Authors must report in the manuscript the name of the approving institution or committee and the approval or clearance number, including the year of approval.

Low and Negligible Risk Research

Where research is classified as low or negligible risk and formal Ethical Clearance is not required under applicable institutional or regulatory provisions, authors may provide an ethical self-declaration explaining why formal approval was not required and describing the ethical safeguards applied. For research conducted in schools or classrooms, permission from the school may serve as the site or institutional permission.

Such research must still ensure appropriate protection of participants, including voluntary participation, consent where applicable, privacy, and confidentiality.

Reporting Ethical Considerations in the Manuscript

Ethical Clearance or self-declaration information should be reported in the Methods section, preferably under the subheading Ethical Considerations. For low or negligible risk school- or classroom-based research, an appropriate statement may be:

The Authors declare that this study was classified as low or negligible risk and did not require formal Ethical Clearance under the applicable institutional requirements. Permission to conduct the research was obtained from the relevant school, and appropriate ethical safeguards, including voluntary participation, consent where applicable, and protection of participant confidentiality, were implemented.

Authors must adapt this statement to accurately reflect the circumstances of their research.

Consent, Privacy, and Identifiable Materials

Authors must obtain appropriate informed consent, permission, or authorization where applicable, and protect participants’ privacy, confidentiality, and other relevant rights.

For photographs, videos, personal information, or other identifiable materials, consent or permission must be obtained where required. When identification is not necessary for the scholarly purpose of the manuscript, identifiable features should be anonymized or obscured, for example by blurring faces, masking names or identification numbers, or cropping images. Such modifications must not alter or misrepresent information relevant to the scholarly interpretation of the material.

Author Responsibility and Editorial Action

Every manuscript must comply with the Declaration of Ethics in the latest official MATHEdunesa Manuscript Template and the ethical provisions of the Statement of Manuscript Authenticity. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of all ethical declarations and approvals.

MATHEdunesa may request evidence of Ethical Clearance, institutional or school permission, informed consent, ethical self-declaration, or other relevant documentation when necessary. Manuscripts with inadequate ethical information may be returned for clarification, suspended from editorial processing, or rejected.

Ethical concerns identified before or after publication are handled in accordance with the Research Misconduct policy and the Retraction and Correction Policy and, where applicable, the Crossmark & Post-Publication policy.