This policy was prepared partly according to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines and Codes of Conduct, and partly according to existing policies of other publishers and leading experts.
Privacy Policy
The names and e-mail addresses entered in our functional journal websites will be used exclusively for the scholarly mission of the journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. These details are made available in this way solely to facilitate communication. Collecting these e-mail addresses for commercial use is not permitted.
Peer Review Policy
All submitted manuscripts are sent for review unless they are out of scope or below the threshold level of the journal. The manuscripts will be sent to two experts for an informed recommendation on whether or not the articles should be accepted for publication. We employ a “double-blind” reviewing system. Once the reviews have been received by the editor, a decision is made whether to accept the manuscript, ask for a revised version or reject it. Ultimate responsibility for editorial decisions rests with the editor-in-chief with confirmation of the editorial board. Reviewers are asked to declare any competing interests.
Copyright Agreement
Submission of a article to the Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology implies that the article is not under submission for publication elsewhere. Material that has been previously copyrighted, published or accepted for publication will not be considered for publication in Kairos. In time of submission of a manuscript, author(s) are required to sign an Application form that no part of the manuscript is copyrighted by any other publisher nor is under review by any other formal publication. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that his/her manuscript does not cause any copyright infringements, defamation and other problems. In articles containing more than one author, the main author is responsible for ensuring that the article has been seen and approved by all the other authors. It is the responsibility of the author to obtain all necessary copyright release permissions for the use of any copyrighted materials in the manuscript prior to submission.
Ethics Policy and Malpractice Statement
Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. It is based, in large part, on the guidelines and standards developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors who submit articles to Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology in Application form sign a statement that their work is original, unpublished and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere: authors confirm that their article is their own; that it has not been copied or plagiarized, in whole or in part, from other works; and that they have disclosed actual or potential conflicts of interest with their work or partial benefits associated with it.
The goal of this ethics policy is to provide advice for our authors, to maintain the scholarly integrity of Kairos and its’ content and in detail explain the ethical responsibilities of the Biblical Institute and Evangelical Theological Seminary as publishers to our editors and authors.
In accordance with our commitment to the prevention of ethical misconduct, we expect all authors to read and understand our ethics policy before submitting a text to Kairos. We understand that most incidents of plagiarism, redundant publication, copyright infringement or similar occur because of a lack of understanding and not through fraudulent intent.
Duties of Authors
Reporting Standards: Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the article. The article should contain enough details and references to allow others to provide feedback on the work. Fraudulent or intentionally inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Authors should expect that editor will scan submitted articles by using plagiarism detection software PlagScan.com to check a article’s originality before sending it out for a review. Authors should fully correspond and comply with the editor and publisher in any requests for source data, proof of authorship or originality in a timely manner, providing reasonable explanation for discrepancies or failures to disclose vital information.
Multiple Publications: An author should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of other authors’ works must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Authors should openly disclose the source of all data and third-party material, including previously published own works. Anything that could compromise the originality of the submitted text should be avoided.
Authorship of the Article: Those who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project or have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation, they should be acknowledged as co-authors or listed as contributors.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should openly disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. For example, if the publication were to benefit a company or ministry in which the author(s) has some interest.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article (please see the document Correction and Retraction Policy).
Copyright for Third-Party Material: Authors should identify any third-party material that they intend to include in their article and obtain written permission for re-use in each instance from the relevant copyright holders. Such permissions should be submitted once the manuscript is accepted, or requires small changes to be accepted.
Authors Should Also:
- Fully cooperate with any consequent inquiries if the editor and/or publisher are dissatisfied with the evidence available or the explanations provided.
- Expect transparency, efficiency and respect from the publisher and the editor during the submissions process.
- Remain in good communication with both the publisher and the editor.
- Cooperate fully with the publication of errata and with the retraction of articles found to be unethical, misleading or damaging.
Duties of Editor
Reputation of Kairos: The editor-in-chief has to protect the reputation of the journal and published works by only publishing content of the highest quality and relevance, in a timely and responsible manner.
Communication with Authors: The editor-in-chief has to provide advice and give reasonable explanation and updates to authors during the submissions process and once a decision has been made. He has to allow authors the right to appeal any editorial decision.
Decision on the Publication of Articles: The editor-in-chief of Kairos is responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be published. The editor-in-chief has to provide a transparent review and publication process as far as is possible, with full respect and care given to the author(s). He has to justify any article types which will not be peer reviewed.
Review of Manuscripts: The editor-in-chief will ensure that each manuscript is initially evaluated by the editor/co-editor, who will examine the originality of the contents of the manuscript. After passing an originality check, the editor will send the manuscript to two referees for objective and confidential peer review. The reviewers will make a recommendation to publish the manuscript in its present form to modify it or to reject it. If one review is positive and the other negative, the editor will send the manuscript to a third reviewer, upon which a judgement will be made whether to publish the manuscript or not. The review period will be from two weeks to one month.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has access to the manuscript in his or her own research without written consent from the author.
Confidentiality: The editor-in-chief and 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.
Duties of Reviewers
Promptness: Reviewers should review submitted work in a responsible, impartial and timely manner. In case a reviewer feels that he/she cannot complete the manuscript review within the stipulated amount of time, then the reviewer must communicate this to the editor so that the same could be sent to any other reviewer.
Confidentiality: Information regarding submitted manuscripts should be kept confidential and be treated as privileged information.
Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources: A reviewer should point out if the author uses in the text sources that are not cited in the bibliography. A reviewer should also bring to the editor-in-chief’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published article of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the article.
To download the file, right click on the link and then click Save links as... Download Publishing Ethics Guidelines (.docx) Download Publishing Ethics Guidelines (.pdf)