Ethical and scientific integrity policies

a) Authorship and contribution policies
b) Plagiarism policies
c) Policy on falsification, data manipulation, and plagiarism
d) Handling of complaints and appeals
e) Conflict of interest policies
f) Policies on data sharing and reproducibility
g) Ethical supervision policies
h) Intellectual property policy
i) Policies and options for discussions and corrections
j) Privacy policy and use of information
k) Right of publication retraction

The Editorial Board of Ciencia y Deporte is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards, best practices in editing and authorship, adhering to the principles of COPE: [Committee on Publication Ethics], the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity, and the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT). This commitment is reflected in the following criteria:

a) Authorship and contribution policies:
Authors are considered to be those who have made a significant contribution to the research process, manuscript writing, presentation, according to the criteria of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT).

Transferred rights: Upon acceptance for publication, the author transfers the reproduction rights of their article to Ciencia y Deporte. Consequently, the author authorizes Ciencia y Deporte to publish, distribute, license, and reproduce the research paper worldwide in all media and formats.

Other transferred rights: The author further grants the following rights: a) to make editorial changes to the article necessary to conform to the journal's publication standards, without altering its core content. To create or modify summaries or abstracts of the article in Spanish or other languages, and to edit and publish them in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

b) Plagiarism policies: Articles submitted to Ciencia y Deportemust be original and have the consent of all authors. Therefore, authors are requested to use the submission letter format in which they commit themselves to these criteria. The journal will not publish articles that have been previously published in another language.

Authors are requested to include proper citations for any references to prior publications in their research paper, as failure to do so could be detected as plagiarism or fail to meet the established originality criteria.

All articles received will follow a strict peer review process and will be submitted to the plagiarism detection software. If the article does not meet the specified originality criteria, its publication will be declared inadmissible.

Authors are responsible for the material included in their paper, such as tables, graphs, photos, figures, and other content necessary for the publication's development. They also declare that this material does not infringe any copyright.

Guarantee of originality: The author guarantees the originality of the article, as well as the fact that they have full availability of the rights they are transferring. If they have included in the paper texts, graphics, or other material owned by third parties, they have authorization to reproduce them in the manuscript. The author also guarantees that the article does not contain defamatory or illegal statements, does not infringe the rights of third parties, and does not contain material or instructions that could cause harm or injury. The author submitting their article to the journal for publication process does so by expressly declaring that they are not simultaneously submitting it for evaluation by another journal, under their responsibility.

c) Policy on falsification, data manipulation, and plagiarism:

The Editorial Board, including the editor, authors, and reviewers, must adhere to international ethical standards defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), particularly those related to data fabrication and falsification, in order to avoid cases of misrepresentation:

1. Fabrication, falsification, or omission of data.
2. Redundant, duplicated, or fragmented publication.
3. Omission of references to the sources consulted.
4. Use of content without permission or without justification.
5. Undisclosed or undeclared conflicts of interest.
6. Any other issues that may arise during the research and publication process.

Fabrication of results occurs when the author invents ideas or data. Falsification is when the results are manipulated by the authors or at their whim. Omission arises when the authors deliberately conceal a fact or data in order to change their research results. Plagiarism occurs when an author presents data created by others as their own ideas. Cases of plagiarism include: direct copying of a text without using quotation marks or citing the source, changing some words of the text, paraphrasing, and lack of acknowledgments; self-plagiarism occurs when the same author reuses their own material that has already been published, but without indicating the reference to the previous research. Redundant or duplicate publication refers to the total, partial, or altered copy of a research paper already published by the same author.

In case of suspecting any misconduct, the flowcharts developed by COPE will be followed in order to determine the corresponding actions.

The incorrect use of AI in research and academic publishing includes generating content that supplants human originality without transparency or proper attribution, as well as manipulating data or results using AI technologies without explicit disclosure. Therefore, authors are required to explicitly specify the use of language models or other AI-based tools in the manuscript. In cases where publications are detected that have not declared the use of these tools, we will proceed to implement the necessary corrective measures.

Please review the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) on the use of artificial intelligence in academic manuscripts: https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106, as well as the COPE statement on the use of AI (https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/ai-author).

d) Handling of complaints and appeals:

The complaint or appeal procedure begins with communication with the editor of the journal to the institutional email (ciencia.deporte@reduc.edu.cu). The editor confirms receipt of the communication and evaluates the merits of the complaint or appeal, informing the Editorial Board, which has a period of two weeks to establish a pronouncement on the matter. The Editorial Board may respond by either closing the complaint or appeal or initiating an investigation, which will be communicated to the parties through a formal record.

In the case of initiating an investigation, further information about the case will be requested from the parties, based on which a decision will be made: rejection of the complaint, insufficient background information, or confirmation of the complaint.

In all cases, the decision will be communicated through a formal record from the Editorial Board.

When the information implies confirmation of the complaint or accusation, the communication will be shared with the parties as well as with the accused's affiliated institution. If the situation of complaint or appeal warrants it, an erratum or correction of the corresponding publication will be made in a retraction document.

e) Conflict of interest policies:

Ciencia y Deporte establishes strict criteria to prevent conflicts of interest from arising during the article review process. Authors will declare in their research if there are any conflicts of interest related to the research results presented, and they will be responsible for the information provided. The declaration of conflicts of interest is a section within the scientific article.

f) Policies on data sharing and reproducibility:

Ciencia y Deporte recommends that authors facilitate data sharing and reproducibility, as long as it does not violate previous agreements of confidentiality and protection of the identity of research subjects. In any case, it should be considered that the data used may be requested by editors or reviewers as part of the review process.

g) Ethical supervision policies:

The Editorial Board of Ciencia y Deporte will request information from authors regarding the ethical standards of the research, which should follow the principles of the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity. When applicable, authors should indicate the ethical procedures developed in their research, and upon request from editors or reviewers, they should provide relevant information regarding the ethical safeguards implemented, especially in all matters involving consent or assent, or regarding the authorization to use databases. The use of photographs featuring individuals must have the necessary authorizations and must not cause any harm or damage to the individuals appearing in the image.

h) Intellectual property policy:

All manuscripts published in Ciencia y Deporte are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board of Ciencia y Deporte. It is the authors' responsibility to ensure that the research paper is unpublished and original. Ciencia y Deporte is published under a Creative Commons License (CC) 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

i) Policies and options for discussions and corrections:

Ciencia y Deporte promotes the generation of discussions and debates around published manuscripts, therefore, when the Editorial Board deems it appropriate, responses or letters to the Editor will be published, which should be sent to the following email: ciencia.deporte@reduc.edu.cu. Corrections after publication or requests for article withdrawal should be sent to the Editorial Board at the previously indicated email address, which will be evaluated according to the established terms.

j) Privacy policy and use of information:

The names and email addresses entered in this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes of the editorial process, including notifications of new publications or calls for papers, and will not be available for any other purpose, person, or organization. Ciencia y Deporte does not allow advertising or marketing on the journal's site.

k) Right of publication retraction:

Ciencia y Deporte reserves the right to retract the publication of those articles that, after their publication, are shown to contain good faith errors, fraud, or scientific misconduct. This decision will be based on "Retraction Guidelines" (COPE, 2019). If the error is minor, it can be rectified through an editorial correction note or an erratum. Authors also have the possibility to request publication retraction when they discover that their paper contains serious errors. In all cases, the electronic version will be retained, and the warnings will be made clearly and unequivocally.