The ethical code of the Asamblea journal is inspired by the principles of transparency and best practices in academic publishing established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All parties involved in the publication of articles will act in accordance with this Code of Conduct, focusing on ensuring scientific integrity, preventing plagiarism and misconduct, and promoting transparency in the publication process.

Any situation not covered by this code will be resolved in accordance with COPE guidelines, which will serve as a supplementary code.

1. Editorial Ethics

The editor is responsible for selecting the articles to be accepted for publication, ensuring the quality and integrity of the editorial process. They will evaluate the intellectual content of each manuscript to determine its suitability for the journal, based solely on its importance, originality, and relevance to the publication's scope, without regard to the author's sex, race, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or political philosophy.

The editor strives to continuously improve the journal, establishing processes to ensure the quality of the published material and respecting legal requirements regarding plagiarism and copyright infringement.

They will guarantee the selection of qualified external reviewers and will document the review process rigorously and transparently. They are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of articles under review and preserving the anonymity of the reviewers.

Members of the Editorial Team or Editorial Board will respect the integrity of the original works received, refraining from any intervention without the express consent of the author. Furthermore, they will not use information obtained from articles received prior to publication.

The editor will take action if misconduct is suspected and will make all reasonable attempts to reach a solution.

The editor will not tolerate conflicts of interest among staff, authors, reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board.

The editor will always be prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.

2. Authorship Ethics

Submitted works must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another journal. Anti-plagiarism tools will be used to ensure these requirements. Submitting the same work to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical and unacceptable publishing behavior. If an author decides to submit the manuscript to another journal, they must request that the editors withdraw their manuscript from the evaluation or review process.

An author of a publication is defined as the person who completes the work or all those who have made significant intellectual contributions. If the contribution to the work is not balanced, the order in which the authors sign may be justified in a footnote.

If applicable, funding agencies and project codes must be properly acknowledged.

All authors must disclose in their manuscript any conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their study.

They must properly acknowledge the work of others and cite all publications that have influenced or been used in the creation of their work.

Published originals are the property of the Assembly of Madrid, and their source must be cited in any partial or total reproduction. Notwithstanding the transfer of rights, authors retain the right to self-archive the final version from the publisher in open access institutional repositories and self-archiving platforms, and must always provide a link to the document published by the Assembly. Madrid Parliamentary Journal on its platform.

3. Evaluation Ethics

Articles are evaluated using a double-blind method, guaranteeing the anonymity of both authors and reviewers.

Reviewers will consider the following criteria for accepting or rejecting a manuscript:

• Possess knowledge and experience in the requested subject matter. Reviewers will only perform their duties if they consider themselves competent in the subject they are asked to evaluate.

• Respect review deadlines. If accepted, it is essential to meet the established review deadlines. If rejected, the journal's secretariat must be notified as soon as possible.

• Undertake a confidentiality agreement and may not disclose the article's content to any third party.

• Although manuscripts are submitted anonymously, without names or information that could reveal authorship, if reviewers identify the authors, they must declare any conflict of interest and decline the editor's invitation to review the work.

A conflict of interest may arise as a result of:

• Professional, academic, or familial ties.

• Animosity toward the authors.

• Direct or indirect collaboration with the research under review.

• Any other type of connection or conflict.

Reviews should be thorough, critical, analytical, constructive, and well-reasoned. They should provide constructive criticism of the article, enabling the authors, if necessary, to improve it for publication or, if it is not publishable, to guide them regarding the limitations that make it unsuitable for publication.

4. Process for Identifying and Addressing Allegations of Research Misconduct

The Editorial Board will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of works involving research misconduct, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, falsification, data fabrication, and inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence in manuscript preparation, among others.

In the event of becoming aware of any allegations of misconduct, the COPE guidelines for addressing allegations will be applied, and the rejection of the manuscript or the possible retraction of any previously published article will be considered if necessary.

5. Policy on Errata, Corrections, and Retractions After Publication

Articles published in the journal Asamblea will remain in full force and effect. However, exceptional circumstances may arise in which an article is published that subsequently needs to be corrected, retracted, or even deleted. Such actions will be taken after careful consideration by the journal's editorial team, with the support of the Editorial Board, to ensure they are carried out with the utmost care and based on the standards recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

In these cases, the system of standards and mechanisms for controlling scientific communication has several main rectification procedures depending on the type, severity, and consequences of the inaccuracy detected. These may take the form of an errata or correction notice, a retraction, and, in rare cases, the deletion of the article. The purpose of this mechanism is to ensure that changes are transparent and that the integrity of the academic record is always guaranteed.

• Errata and Corrections

An errata or correction notice will be published when it is necessary to rectify an error or omission made by the journal or by the authors that may affect the interpretation and conclusion of the article, but whose academic integrity remains intact.

All errors will be accompanied by a separate notice. The notice must provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the document.

In these circumstances:

1. The article will be corrected.

2. A footnote will be added to the article referencing the errata notice.

3. A separate errata or correction notice will be published, linked to the corrected version.

4. The errata or correction document will be paginated and include a DOI.

• Retractions

On rare occasions, when the interpretation or conclusion of an article is substantially undermined, it may be necessary to retract published articles. The journal Asamblea will follow COPE guidelines in such cases. Retraction notices will be indexed and linked bidirectionally to the original article. The original article will be watermarked as retracted, and the title will be modified with the prefix “Retracted Article”.

• Removal of Articles

In exceptional circumstances, the journal Asamblea reserves the right to remove an article or other content. Such action may be taken when:

• the article is clearly defamatory, infringes the intellectual property rights of a third party, or is otherwise illegal;

• a court or government order has been issued requiring the removal of such content;

• the article, if not acted upon, would pose an immediate and serious health risk.

Removal may be temporary or permanent. Bibliographic metadata (e.g., title and authorship) will be retained and accompanied by a statement explaining why the content has been removed.

6. Editorial Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Articles

At the journal Asamblea, we are committed to scientific integrity and transparency in the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This policy establishes guidelines for the appropriate use of AI tools for authors, reviewers, and editors.

The use of AI must not, under any circumstances, lead to data manipulation, plagiarism, or intellectual property violations. Any misuse of AI, whether intentional or not, will be addressed in accordance with COPE policies and other ethical guidelines of the publishing house.

• Authors

Authors may not cite AI as the author or co-author of submitted articles, as these tools cannot assume responsibility for the scientific content.

Authors are responsible for the originality of the content generated or assisted by AI, as well as for its careful verification to avoid bias, errors, or inaccuracies. The generated material must not infringe on the rights of third parties or plagiarize existing content.

Authors must explicitly declare the use of any AI tool in the writing or analysis of their manuscripts. The software used, the functions applied, and the sections of the manuscript where it was used must be specified.

• Peer Review

AI should not replace the reviewer's responsibility in scientific evaluation. The process should be carried out primarily by humans, and the use of AI should be complementary.

• Use of AI by the Editorial Team

The editorial team may use AI in administrative and editing tasks, such as manuscript formatting or plagiarism detection, always under rigorous human supervision to ensure consistency and quality.