Publication Ethics

The Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society (WJDS) is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the COPE Core Practices. The following standards apply to editors, reviewers, and authors involved in the publication process.

1. Editors

• Fair play: Submissions are evaluated based on intellectual content and scientific merit in the field of application, without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).
• Confidentiality: Maintain confidentiality of all submissions and disclose information only to those directly involved in the editorial process.
• Conflict of interest: Recuse from handling manuscripts with conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships.
• Publication decisions: Decisions are based on the manuscript’s importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal's scope.
• Post-publication matters: Promote constructive post-publication discussions and timely corrections to uphold scientific accuracy and integrity.
• Ethical oversight: Ensure adherence to ethical guidelines and and act upon suspected misconduct following COPE guidelines.

2. Reviewers

• Contribution to editorial decisions: Assist in making editorial decisions and provide constructive feedback to authors.
• Confidentiality: Treat manuscripts as confidential and do not disclose or discuss them with others except as authorized.
• Objectivity: Conduct reviews objectively and provide clear, constructive feedback without personal criticism.
• Acknowledgement of sources: Identify relevant, uncited published work and report any substantial similarity or overlap with other published papers.
• Usage of generative AI: In order to uphold the confidentiality of the peer review process, reviewers must not share information about submitted manuscripts with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, as this may expose unpublished data, sensitive information, or intellectual property. To ensure that the reviews are based on the reviewers’ own expertise, reviewers must not use AI tools to generate review reports.
• Conflict of Interest: Decline to review manuscripts with conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships.

3. Authors

• Reporting standards: Present accurate accounts of the work performed and provide an objective discussion of its significance.
• Originality and plagiarism: Ensure your work is original and appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others.
• Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication: Do not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.
• Authorship: Limit authorship to those who have made significant contributions to the study and ensure all co-authors have approved the final version and agree to its submission.
• Use of generative AI: Note that the Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society does not recognize AI as meeting the conditions of authorship, and authors are expected to take full responsibility for ensuring the originality and accuracy of their work. The use of AI tools must be explicitly declared and detailed upon submission, and the journal reserves the right to reject any submission that violates this policy.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest and acknowledge all sources of financial support.
• Data sharing and reproducibility: Make raw data available upon request for editorial review, provide public access to such data if feasible, and retain data for a reasonable time after publication.
• Post-publication discussions: Engage constructively in post-publication discussions and address any valid critiques or questions about the work.
• Fundamental errors: Promptly notify a journal editor to retract or correct the paper if significant errors or inaccuracies are discovered in published work.

In case of ethical concerns or complaints, such as plagiarism, data manipulation, authorship disputes, or conflicts of interest, please send a message to martin.krzywdzinski@weizenbaum-institut.de. All complaints will be addressed promptly and handled fairly and transparently, following the journal’s ethical policies and COPE guidelines. The journal is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of complainants and ensuring that no retaliation occurs against those raising ethical issues.

For further information on our ethical principles, please also see the Mission Statement of the Weizenbaum Institute, the Code of conduct for safeguarding good research, and information on the Research Ethics Committee at the Weizenbaum Institute.