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Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

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Critical Housing Analysis is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on critical and innovative housing research. The journal was launched in January 2014 and publishes two online issues annually. Critical Housing Analysis is published by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The journal’s operations are subject to applicable laws and the internal regulations of the Czech Academy of Sciences, including the Code of Ethics for Researchers of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

In order to meet high standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process, authors, editors and reviewers are obliged to act in compliance with the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Our publication ethics and malpractice statement is based on the practices defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and on the Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. We closely follow the guidelines of the Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK), which help journal editors handl publishing ethics allegations.

Editors' responsibilities

  1. The journal is governed by the Editorial Board that is made up of outstanding academics from different countries and different continents, including several editors of mainstream scientific journals (see Editorial board).
  2. Editorial Board members:
    • review submitted manuscripts;
    • advise on journal policy and scope;
    • discuss and approve the contents of individual issues.
  3. The editors are expected to act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their duties, without discrimination on the grounds of the author’s gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or geographical origin.
  4. The editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
  5. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the Editorial Board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent.

Authors' responsibilities

  1. All authors are obliged to participate in the peer-review process.
  2. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to creating the paper. Every researcher who contributed substantially and non-trivially is entitled to be attributed authorship or co-authorship. The fabrication or falsification of research data contravenes the principles of scientific work.
  3. Authors must be able to document their procedures and answer editors’ questions about the data sources and methods applied.
  4. All sources used must be properly cited and referenced in accordance with copyright and ethical rules of scientific work to avoid plagiarism. Critical Housing Analysis uses Crossref Similarity Check to screen for unoriginal material. Authors should be aware that their paper may be submitted to Crossref Similarity Check at any point during the peer-review or production process.
  5. Only previously unpublished manuscripts can be offered to the peer-reviewed section of the journal. It is considered unethical to offer a paper for publication to several periodicals simultaneously.
  6. All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
  7. All authors should promptly notify the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified and must cooperate with the editor and publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, or corrigendum notice, or, if necessary, to retract the paper.

Reviewers' responsibilities

  1. Peer reviewers are required to follow the principle of impartiality and objectivity and to evaluate a manuscript to the best of their knowledge, and they should be aware of any potential conflicts of interest on their part and, if there are, inform the editor and decline the request to review a paper.
  2. Peer reviewers are expected to alert the editor when they are aware of any other published or submitted content that is similar to that under review. Reviewers should identify any instances where published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should indicate instances where observations or arguments derived from other publications are not accompanied by a reference to the original source.
  3. Peer reviewers should also maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. Peer reviewers should not retain or copy the manuscript.

Peer-review process

  1. All papers will be submitted to a quick double-blind peer review by at least two independent experts on the topic of the paper who are not in a close working, institutional, or personal relationship with the author.
  2. Peer review is defined as 'obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers who are experts on the publication’s topic'.
  3. The review process is set up to be as objective and quick as possible and reviewed articles are treated confidentially prior to their publication.
  4. Referees’ reports are not automatically shared with the authors; if the referees see potential in the paper and voluntarily offer comments in the review process, the editor-in-chief may inform the author of the comments in the decision letter. If both referees accept the submitted paper, it will be published after being quickly edited and once the signed licensing agreement is received from the authors. If both referees reject the submitted paper, it will be rejected for publication. If the two referees disagree, the editor-in-chief will make the final decision.

Publication ethics

  1. The publishing process of the journal is run in accordance with the rules of the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Authors, The editor-in-chief, editors, reviewers, members of the Editorial Board, publisher, and authors should adhere to the principles of the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. The editor-in-chief is required to support and promote the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Their efforts to do so shall be subject to a review by the Editorial Board.
  2. Should any misconduct occurr, the Editorial Board shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of the given paper.
  3. The Editorial Board will accept papers that show originality and/or well-founded (convincing) criticism; that are coherent, stay on topic, provide clear, and convincing examples and are not ideologically driven.
  4. The board will not accept papers that:
    • contain unfounded allegations;
    • are unethical, use vulgarities or support discrimination, violence, personal abuse, etc.;
    • may be accused of plagiarism.
  5. When necessary, the Editorial Board is obliged to publish: corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies.

Publication schedule

The authors will be informed of the decision to publish within seven weeks of submitting the paper. If accepted, the paper will be published on the website of the journal within five weeks of its acceptance, assuming formalities relating to its publication are dealt with promptly by the author.