Journal Code of Ethics

The Russell Sage Foundation takes seriously the responsibility of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences to reflect the highest in publication ethics. Our journal editors are expected to abide by the following codes of ethics. ‡

The Russell Sage Foundation

  • Will establish in its publications agreements clear descriptions of its own and the journal editor’s duties and responsibilities, as well as those of any other entity affected by the agreement.
  • Will provide reviewers with guidelines for evaluating articles and will strive to protect peer reviewers’ identities from the editors and authors. Should any research involve unidentified subjects, efforts to protect their identity will be a priority.
  • Will protect the copyright and intellectual property rights of its authors and contributors.
  • Will protect the right of free speech.

General duties and responsibilities of editors

  • Editors are responsible for everything published in their journals.
    • They will endeavor to:
      • meet the needs of readers and authors;
      • improve the journal;
      • maintain the quality of the material they publish;
      • champion freedom of expression;
      • maintain the integrity of the academic record;
      • preclude business needs from compromising intellectual standards;
      • always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
    • Editors should take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the material they publish.
    • Editors should provide authors with clear submissions guidelines.
    • Editors should not reverse decisions to accept submissions unless serious problems are identified with the submission.
    • Editors’ decisions to accept or reject a paper for publication are made in conjunction with the Russell Sage Foundation. The decision is based on the feedback from a minimum of two outside reviewers whose identities are blinded from the editors and the authors, and the editors’ sense of an article’s importance, originality, and clarity, and the manuscript’s relevance to the journal. The final decision about inclusion in the journal is a decision of the Russell Sage Foundation.
    • Editors should ensure that material submitted to their journal remains confidential while under review.

‡ This ethics statement was adapted from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE: http://publicationethics.org/), and Penn State Press with permission. COPE is a forum for editors and publishers of peer-reviewed journals to discuss all aspects of publication ethics. It also advises editors on how to handle cases of research and publication misconduct. Neither COPE nor Penn State Press were not involved in the drafting of this statement.

All editors and contributors are also bound by the Russell Sage Foundation Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment Policy.

 

Author/contributor responsibilites

All authors/conrtributors affirm that the chapter is your own original work; that the chapter was not prepared by you within the scope of your employment by any other person; that you have full power to make this agreement; that the chapter has not been published in whole or in part without the knowledge of the Russell Sage Foundation; that the chapter has not been registered with the Copyright Office of the United States in any form; and that the chapter is not libelous or otherwise actionable, and will not infringe any copyright or proprietary rights of others.

 

If an author uses copyrighted material from another source (e.g., figure or tables), the contributor is responsible for getting written permission to use the material in their paper.  They are also responsible for any fees associates with the usage.  Letters of permission must be submitted with the article when it goes into production. Please speak with the director of publications about this if you have any questions about what is and what is not copyrighted material.

 

All authors or contributors must sign a “contributor agreement form,” which includes disclosure of and potential conflicts of interest. This includes both financial and substantive that might influence interpretation of the results.  All sources of financial support should be listed and acknowledged in the article.

 

All authors/contributors and editors are obligated to report any instances of plagiarism, fabrication of research, duplicate publication, potential conflicts of interest pertaining to their paper or other papers in the issue. All of which are completely unacceptable. The final decision about how these concerns are addressed is made by Russell Sage.

 

If an author discovers a significant error or mistake in an article, it is the author’s responsibility to promptly notify the director of publications to correct the paper. Russell Sage will make a determination if the corrections are sufficient or if the paper needs to be retracted.