Editorial Best Practices

Open Access Policies

Nullius is an open-access journal that makes all its contents available to the scientific community in digital format, free of charge and immediately, without embargo periods and with no restrictions on reading, downloading, copying, distributing, or linking to the published texts, if authorship and the original source are properly acknowledged.

License for use and distribution

All content published in Nullius is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This license allows the use, distribution and reproduction of the material in any medium, provided that appropriate credit is given to the authors and to the journal, without commercial restrictions or limitations on the creation of derivative works.

Self archiving and Open Science policy

In line with Open Science practices, Nullius adopts self archiving policies consistent with the guidelines set out in Sherpa/Romeo. Authors are allowed to self archive their manuscripts in institutional or subject repositories, as well as on personal websites or academic networks, in accordance with the conditions of the CC BY 4.0 license.

The following versions may be deposited:

  • The preprint version (before peer review).
  • The accepted postprint version (after peer review).
  • The version of record published by the journal (publisher’s version), provided that the full reference to the original publication in Nullius and the corresponding DOI are preserved.

Digital preservation

The journal is committed to the long term digital preservation of its publications. To this end, it implements the following actions:

  • Periodic backups in repositories and digital preservation services such as Zenodo, OpenAIRE and Google Drive.
  • Conversion and storage of files in safe and open formats, prioritising the use of PDF, RTF, TIFF and JPG over proprietary formats.
  • Regular verification of file integrity to prevent corruption and loss of information.
  • Ongoing technological monitoring and upgrades to facilitate migration to new formats in case of obsolescence of those currently in use.

Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts in formats that are easily accessible and suitable for long term preservation, in accordance with these guidelines.

Publication charges

Nullius is an open access journal that does not charge article processing charges (APC) or any other fees to authors at any stage of the editorial process (submission, review, editing or publication). Publication in the journal is completely free of charge for both authors and readers.

Policy on corrections, retractions and handling of complaints

Nullius is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record and the transparency of its editorial process. When, after publication, errors, well founded doubts about the validity of the results, or possible ethical irregularities are identified, the journal will act diligently and in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Corrections

When errors that do not substantially affect the conclusions of the article are detected (formal or editorial errors, minor data inaccuracies, affiliations, etc.), a correction notice will be published and linked to the article, clearly indicating the change made. The corrected version of the article will remain accessible, with a note indicating that a correction has been issued.

2. Retractions

When there is evidence of serious errors that invalidate the results, or of scientific or editorial misconduct (plagiarism, data manipulation, duplicate publication, falsification, fraudulent authorship or other ethical violations), the Editorial Committee may decide to retract the article. In such cases:

  • A retraction notice, signed by the editor in chief or the editorial committee, will be published, briefly explaining the reasons for the decision.
  • The article will remain accessible for the record, clearly marked as “retracted” in the title and/or in a prominent note within the text.

3. Handling of complaints and allegations

Any author, reviewer or reader may submit complaints or allegations related to possible misconduct, ethical conflicts, serious errors or irregularities in the editorial process. Communications must be sent to the journal’s official email address, providing as much information and evidence as possible.

The Editorial Committee will acknowledge receipt of the complaint, will review the case confidentially, may request further clarification or evidence, and will adopt a reasoned decision, which may include issuing corrections, retractions or other appropriate editorial measures.

4. General principles

All actions regarding corrections, retractions and the handling of complaints will be governed by the principles of impartiality, due process, confidentiality, the right of reply of the parties involved, and the protection of scientific integrity and the academic community.

Editorial Inbreeding Prevention Policy

With the aim of strengthening diversity, transparency and academic openness in our publications, Nullius has adopted a clear editorial policy to prevent institutional inbreeding. In each issue, priority is given to the publication of articles authored by researchers affiliated with institutions other than the Universidad Técnica de Manabí, establishing that at least 80% of the published articles must have external affiliation. Accordingly, only a maximum of 20% of contributions with internal affiliation will be accepted per issue.

This measure ensures a fair editorial process and promotes the participation and recognition of the national and international scientific community, reaffirming our commitment to excellence, academic plurality and integrity in the dissemination of knowledge.

This policy does not imply the automatic exclusion of manuscripts with internal affiliation; all editorial decisions are based on the academic merit, methodological quality and thematic relevance of the manuscript, in line with international best practices.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nullius

In Nullius, innovation and transparency are promoted in line with international best practices on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in manuscript preparation. The quantitative thresholds indicated below are internal quality criteria intended to preserve originality and human authorship, and do not replace editorial and peer review decisions based on the scientific merit of the manuscript.

General principles

  • Authors must explicitly declare the use of AI tools in the preparation of their manuscripts, indicating the name of the software, the functions applied and the specific sections in which it was used.
  • Responsibility for the accuracy, originality and veracity of the contents lies exclusively with the authors, regardless of whether they have used AI tools or not. AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co authors under any circumstances.
  • AI may be used to support tasks such as text drafting and editing, style improvement, data analysis or literature search, but interpretative analysis, legal argumentation and discussion of results must be carried out entirely by human authors.
  • AI use must be limited to supporting functions or specific sections (for example, introduction, abstract, clarity improvement or language correction) and must not replace the interpretative core, legal reasoning or the original scientific contribution of the manuscript.

Usage guidelines and internal thresholds

  • As an internal quality reference, Nullius recommends that AI use should not exceed 15% of the total content of the manuscript and that the combined percentage of estimated AI use and similarity (according to the plagiarism detection tools used by the journal) should not be higher than 20%.
  • When AI is used for data processing, textual analysis, drafting or image generation (except in studies where this is methodologically justified), its use must be specified in the manuscript, preferably in the Methods section or in a footnote.
  • The indicative percentages of AI use and similarity will be reviewed using approved detection tools and always complemented by human editorial assessment.

Prohibitions

  • It is forbidden to use AI to fabricate, alter or manipulate results, data or scientific images without methodological justification and explicit description of the procedures used.
  • It is forbidden to use AI to replace critical review, interpretation and discussion of scientific results, as well as the drafting of the conclusions of the manuscript.
  • The creation of scientific images or figures by generative AI is not allowed, except in studies where such generation is part of the research object or methodological design and is documented transparently.
  • The editorial team may request additional clarifications regarding the use of AI and apply further checks on manuscripts when deemed necessary.

Indicative ranges and editorial actions

  • 0–10% (AI + similarity): Minimal use, mainly for textual support. No formal declaration is required, although maximum transparency is encouraged.
  • 11–15% (AI + similarity): Moderate use in non core sections. It must be declared and explicitly justified in the manuscript.
  • More than 15% or combined percentage above 20% (AI + similarity): Indication of excessive AI use or reduced originality. The manuscript may be rejected or returned to the authors for substantial revision, at the discretion of the editorial team and reviewers.

Ethical commitment

Nullius requires its authors to uphold the highest standards of originality, intellectual honesty and research ethics. Improper, concealed or misleading use of AI tools is considered a serious breach and may lead to editorial measures, including the retraction of published articles, in accordance with the journal’s correction and retraction policies and international recommendations on publication ethics. This policy will be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect technological developments and the evolution of norms and best practices in scholarly publishing.