Code of Ethics

The Rivista di Studi Fenici is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics. This journal adheres to the ethical guidelines elaborated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. It also aligns with the principles of integrity, responsibility, fairness, correctness, diligence, dignity and equity as set out in the CNR “Linee Guida per l’integrità nella ricerca”. Furthermore, the journal complies with the criteria established by ANVUR for Class A journals, ensuring scientific excellence, transparency in editorial processes, rigorous peer review, and accurate documentation of research outputs in accordance with Italian national evaluation standards.

Duties of Editors

  1. Editorial Responsibility and Impartiality. The editors shall evaluate submitted manuscripts solely on the basis of their academic merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, originality, clarity, and ethical soundness. Evaluation shall be conducted without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, academic seniority or any other personal characteristic of the authors.
  2. Confidentiality. Editors shall ensure strict confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts. No information about a manuscript under consideration shall be disclosed to individuals outside the editorial and peer-review process. Editors shall not use unpublished materials, data, or ideas contained in submitted manuscripts for their own research, teaching or personal advantage.
  3. Peer Review Integrity and Conflict of Interest. Editors are responsible for ensuring that the peer-review process is conducted fairly, objectively, within a reasonable timeframe, and free from personal bias or commercial influence. They shall ensure that conflicts of interest are managed. In the event of a potential conflict of interest—whether financial, institutional, collaborative, or personal—the editor shall immediately declare it and recuse themselves from handling the manuscript, delegating the decision-making to another qualified editor.
  4. Selection and Independence of Reviewers. Editors shall ensure that invited reviewers are suitably qualified and free from any conflicts of interest with the authors. As the journal adopts a double-blind review system, editors shall maintain the anonymity of authors and reviewers throughout the review and decision-making process.
  5. Editorial Transparency and Public Policies. Editors shall ensure that all editorial policies are clearly stated and publicly accessible on the journal’s website. These shall include this Code of Ethics, instructions for authors, the guidelines for reviewers, and the journal’s correction/retraction policy.
  6. Editorial Decision Making. Editors retain full and final responsibility for the decision to accept or reject a paper. While reviewers’ reports are a fundamental component of the evaluation process, editorial decisions must be based on a balanced consideration of reviewers’ comments, the manuscript’s academic quality, and its relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.
  7. Handling of Errors and Misconduct. Should errors or instances of ethical misconduct be identified—such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or manipulated data or images, or use of unprovenanced archaeological material—, editors shall act in accordance with the journal’s policy on Corrections and Retractions Policy (§5) and COPE guidance.
  8. Transparency and Research Integrity. Editors shall promote transparency throughout the publication process, ensuring clarity and full disclosure regarding authorship, conflicts of interest, funding sources, and provenance of materials, in line with the CNR guidelines for research integrity (truthfulness, transparency, accountability). 

Ethical Standards in Archaeological and Heritage Research. Editors shall take into account the particular ethical issues specific to the field of archaeological and heritage studies — including provenance of artefacts, context of finds, illegal trade in antiquities. Manuscripts presenting materials of uncertain or undocumented provenance, or lacking secure archaeological context, must be subject to rigorous ethical evaluation. Such submissions may be declined, or accepted only under the condition of full disclosure and critical discussion of the materials’ provenance and legality.

Duties of Authors

Authors submitting to Rivista di Studi Fenici must adhere to the following responsibilities:

  1. Originality and publication status – Authors must ensure that the work submitted is original, has not been published elsewhere (in whole or in substantial part), and is not under consideration by another journal.. Any prior dissemination of related material (e.g., conference papers, pre-prints, or institutional reports) must be clearly disclosed at the time of submission.
  2. Accuracy and research integrity – The manuscript must accurately reflect the research performed. Data, results, and images must not be fabricated, falsified, or inappropriately manipulated. Any limitations or uncertainties must be clearly acknowledged.
  3. Funding and conflicts of interest – All sources of funding, institutional support, and any conflicts of interest (financial, professional, or personal) must be fully declared.
  4. Authorship criteria – All listed authors must have made a significant contribution to the conceptual design, data collection, analysis and/or interpretation of the work, must have approved the final version of the manuscript, and must agree to its submission. “Guest”, “ghost” or “honorary” authorship is not permitted.
  5. Provenance of archaeological and cultural materials – In the case of archaeological or heritage material, authors must provide verifiable information about the provenance, context, and legal status of all artefacts, human remains, or material culture discussed. Manuscripts based on finds lacking secure archaeological context, or deriving from the illicit antiquities trade or without documented legal provenance, may be refused or accepted only with explicit disclosure and justification.
  6. Research in contexts of conflict or military occupation – Research undertaken in regions affected by armed conflict or military occupation must be authorized by the legitimate civil authorities or responsible heritage institutions. . Excavations and documentation should be carried out solely for protection, documentation, or conservation purposes, avoiding any form of political or economic exploitation. Excavations or documentation in such contexts must adhere strictly to international conventions, professional codes, and ethical standards.
  7. Use of images and illustration rights –
    • Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for reproducing images, photographs, maps, drawings, and other visual materials, whether copyrighted or belonging to third parties (e.g., museums, archives, excavation teams, private collections).
    • All images must be properly credited, with full source information, copyright holders, and photographic credits as required by the owner institution or individual.
    • Authors must respect the intellectual property rights and cultural sensitivities related to the depicted materials, particularly when images involve human remains, sacred objects, or cultural heritage belonging to living communities.
    • The journal may request documentary proof of permission to publish images before acceptance of the manuscript.
    • Unauthorized use of copyrighted or restricted visual materials constitutes a breach of publication ethics and may lead to rejection, correction, or retraction of the article.
  8. Citation and plagiarism – Authors must ensure that the manuscript is written in clear scholarly language, appropriately referenced, with full citation of all relevant prior work. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or duplicate publication are unacceptable.
  9. Ethical research conduct – If the research involves human participants, human remains, culturally sensitive heritage, or fieldwork in vulnerable communities, authors must have obtained informed consent (where applicable), institutional ethics committee approval or clearance, and clearly state this in the manuscript.
  10. Collaboration and transparency – Authors must cooperate with editors and reviewers: if asked to provide original data, clarifications, or supporting documents (including raw data, computer code, or high-resolution images), they should do so in a timely manner.
  11. Post-publication responsibility – If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their submitted or published work, they must promptly notify the Editor and cooperate in correction or retraction procedures (see §5).

Integrity and professional conduct – Authors should respect the principles of integrity, responsibility, fairness, correctness and diligence as outlined in the CNR guidelines for research ethics.

Corrections and Retractions

  1. The Rivista di Studi Fenici acknowledges that despite best efforts errors may occur. The journal shall publish corrections (errata) where necessary, clearly linked to the original article.
  2. If a published article is found to be seriously flawed (for example major error, fabricated data, plagiarised content, misuse of artefacts without proper provenance or in breach of heritage law) the journal may retract the article. The retraction notice will clearly cite the original article, remain part of the scholarly record, and clearly identify the reason.
  3. Notices of corrections or retractions shall appear both online and, if applicable, in any print version of the journal. Where possible the original article will be clearly flagged as “retracted”.
  4. An “expression of concern” may be published when an allegation of misconduct is under investigation but not yet resolved.

The journal shall follow COPE’s Retraction Guidelines and maintain a log of all corrections and retractions for transparency and accountability.

AI Policy Statement

In recognition of the evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and their potential impact on scholarly publication, the Rivista di Studi Fenici establishes the following policy:

  1. Authors may use AI tools (such as large-language-model tools) for tasks such as language polishing, translation, formatting or stylistic improvement; however, the authors remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, originality and ethical integrity of the work.
  2. Use of AI to generate substantive academic content (for example original text, data analysis, interpretation or conclusions) is not acceptable unless the authors explicitly describe the role of the AI tool, justify its use, and ensure that the resulting work meets the same standards of originality, transparency, accountability and reproducibility as any conventional submission.
  3. Authors must ensure that the final submitted version is their own work, and should verify that any AI-generated output does not contain errors, bias or misrepresentation of sources.
  4. The editorial team may use AI tools (for example for plagiarism detection, image manipulation detection, or language assistance) but any such use must respect confidentiality obligations and ensure that the submitted materials are not used for any unintended purpose.

The journal retains the right to investigate misuse of AI (for example ghost-writing by AI, fabrication of data by AI, or undue reliance on AI) and to apply corrective measures including correction, expression of concern or retraction, as appropriate.