PRESENTATION

It is an incontrovertible fact to recognize that in most human activities we attend what for many theorists constitutes an "applied turn" that, referred to the ethical world, would place us before what is now publicly recognized by all, that is, the rehabilitation of the ethical argument in all spheres of life, both public and private. Hence, as can be seen, at least since the sixties and seventies, it is already common to speak not only of "applied ethics", but of "several applied ethics", which ask whether human actions are good or not, are correct or not, thus becoming a type of road map through which all human action must flow.

There are many and very diverse applied ethics, but among the most significant would be bioethics, economic ethics, the one applied to business or business ethics, the one related to ecology, the one referring to technological advances and, in so far as it is relevant here, the professional ethics. The latter refers to the form and manner in which our profession is developed; they wonder about the way in which the power that a professional has when he/she carries out his/her activity is used; in short, how he/she understands his/her profession and the manner in which he/she develops it. Thus, it is possible to speak today about the ethics of the doctor, the lawyer, the banker, the engineer, the dentist, the academic, and so on.

The university activity could not be set aside this ethical rehabilitation, hence the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has provided its own Code of Ethics, a document that sets forth and details the principles and ethical rules that must guide activities of all those who work in the University, always having as a priority the commitment to excellence and professional integrity.

In this way, it is clear that for the University and for the people who work in each of its entities, it is necessary, without a doubt, to comply with the duties established in the university legislation, but, at the same time, to observe also what the Code sets out, since it also urges all university students to go beyond the mere fulfillment of the legal rules, in order to satisfy the high expectations that Mexican society has placed in its University and in each one of the university students.

Undoubtedly, this commitment to excellence and social expectations involves making each of the principles of the University Code of Ethics our own, these are clearly summarized in the principle of integrity and honesty, two university virtues that are stated as follows: "Integrity and honesty are principles of the university work. Therefore, all members of the academic community must adhere to all academic activities in the pursuit, exercise, construction and transmission of knowledge, as well as being honest about the origin and sources of the information they use, generate or disseminate".

It is in this context that the present Code of Ethics of Publications of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM is provided, a document that aims to guide the activities of all those involved in the process of editing and publishing the works bearing the seal of the UNAM and the Institute of Legal Research, with the intention of protecting the first basic postulate that any editorial department must observe and that is expressly stated in the UNAM Code of Ethics, namely, "Quote the sources of ideas, texts, images, graphics or artistic works that are used in the university work, and do not take the information generated by others or by oneself without indicating the corresponding quote or without obtaining their consent or agreement".

In a more general context, what is sought with this document is that its recipients can be committed to the principles, rules and virtues that characterize labor excellence throughout the Institute and obviously in its editorial area.

PARTS OF THE CODE

The Code of Ethics of Publications of the Institute of Legal Research is divided for its management in the following parts: I) Scope of application of the Code; II) Purposes of the Code; III) Recipients of the Code; IV) Principles of editorial ethics; V) Process of opinion and publication.

CHAPTER I

SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE CODE

The provisions of this Code constitute a set of ethical principles that are addressed to all those involved in the process of receipt, issuance of an opinion, edition, correction and publication of all the works that are disclosed by the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM, and that work in the Technical Secretariat of the Institute itself, as well as those that write, elaborate or participate in the works published by the Institute.

CHAPTER II

PURPOSES OF THE CODE

This Code has the following purposes:

1. Strengthen the work of all the members of the magazines, the editorial area and all those involved (authors and collaborators) in the process of editing and publishing the papers that intend to be published by the Mexican Yearbook of International Law (hereinafter the Magazine) of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM.

2. Establish the criteria and values that should inspire the ethical conduct of the authors, collaborators and members of the editorial area and of all those involved in the editing and publication of the works published with the seal of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM, adhering to the principles of responsibility, probity, transparency and confidentiality.

3. Inhibit those practices that affect or demerit the functions of the editorial area, as well as the edition, issuance of an opinion and publication processes of the articles of the Magazine under the editorial seal of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM.

CHAPTER III

RECIPIENTS OF THE CODE

The subjects to which the Code is addressed are all those people involved in the process of publishing any academic work that appears in the Magazine under the editorial seal of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM. The following are some of those people involved:

Author(s): individual(s) who create(s) a work.

Editorial Committee: it is the body responsible for designing and executing the Institute's editorial policy and for approving the works that will be submitted for consideration, through the director, determining if they meet the requirements to be published. The essential purpose of this Commission is to establish, complete and strengthen the editorial policy.

Editorial Board: autonomous collegiate body conformed by specialists in the thematic areas of the magazine(s).

Reviewer: specialist in the subject that will carry out the methodological revision of the work that is submitted to be published in the magazine, and that will issue an opinion on the acceptance of the publication.

Editor in chief: person of the editorial team, responsible for directing, taking care of and supervising the academic quality of the papers that are intended to be published in each particular magazine.

Editorial team: it is formed by the staff of the Technical Secretariat of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM, who is responsible for supervising the edition (technical review process) of the magazine works.

CHAPTER IV

PRINCIPLES OF EDITORIAL ETHICS

Article 1. RESPONSIBILITY

Content: The responsibility is the acceptance of the consequences of our own acts, as a result of the decisions made or accepted, while trying to ensure that the people with whom we work -especially if they are collaborators- do the same. Therefore, any person involved in the publication process of the Magazine, and mainly the authorities, should:

Define and communicate peer review processes so that the authors know what the evaluation criteria are.

Base their decision to accept or reject a work for publication considering only the importance of the paper, originality, clarity and relevance that the work represents for the publications of the Institute.

Be always willing to clarify and justify any controversy in the evaluation process.

Guarantee the quality of the material that is published. Be always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.

Do what is necessary to correct promptly and with the importance it deserves when any significant inaccuracy or misleading statement has been published. As well as not to tolerate plagiarism or any other unethical behavior and, if applicable, remove any article that does not comply with these rules. As well as deciding in each incident if a specific case is submitted to the Ethics Committee of the Institute due to the lack of probity or conduct of any author.

Decide which articles or works can be accepted to be published by the Magazine, as well as their publication once they pass the process of opinion issuance. The Editorial Board will make the final decision about the articles that will be published.

Establish the sanction that corresponds to a lack of probity on the part of the author since plagiarism in all its forms constitutes an unethical conduct and is unacceptable. The possible non-exclusive sanctions are a) that the Editorial Committee or the Editorial Board submits the matter to the Ethics Committee of the Institute; b) the paper in question will not be published under the editorial seal, in any book and in any magazine of the Institute; c) all magazines of the Institute will be notified of this offense to the Code of Ethics; d) the author may not publish in any edition of the Institute for one year; e) if the author incurs another breach of the Code of Ethics, he may not submit papers for publication.

In the case of authors, they must disclose any conflict of a financial nature or other interest that could influence the results or the interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.

Immediately notify the editor in chief of the Magazine when he/she discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, as well as cooperate with him/her to retract or correct the error or inaccuracy.

Contemplate and strictly apply the Guidelines and criteria of the editorial process of the Institute of Legal Research and the "Editorial Criteria of the Magazine", if applicable.

In the case of the reviewers, they must notify the editor in chief of the magazine (if applicable) about any conflict of interest. The reviewers should not evaluate the papers in which they have conflicts of interest.

Notify in the shortest possible time the editor in chief if he/she is qualified to review the investigation of a paper, or if he/she is not in the possibility of performing the review.

Immediately notify the editor in chief of any information sufficient to refuse the publication of the article or any other paper.

Evaluate only the intellectual content of each article or work; with the understanding that a format must be completed in which each comment is justified.

Article 2. PROBITY

Content: Probity is the act of always behaving with rectitude of mind, without performing any work trying to harm or benefit someone, directly or indirectly, always trying to conduct in an honest, straight and faultless manner. Therefore, all the people involved in the publication process:

Should not tolerate plagiarism or any other unethical behavior and, if applicable, remove any article that falls in that assumption; as well as deciding if a specific case is presented to the Ethics Committee of the Institute for the lack of probity or behavior of an author.

Quote all the bibliographical sources used in their works, including the quotes of their own works, in books and magazines.

Reject articles that raise doubts about a possible lack of probity on the part of the author. The rejection is extended to published and unpublished articles. The editor-in-chief must first seek a response from those involved, if he/she does not agree with such an answer, he/she must request an investigation with the Editorial Committee.

In the case of authors, they must include a commitment letter in which they ensure that the material sent is the product of their work and that the data has been obtained in an ethical manner. Also, they must ensure that they have written the originals in their entirety, and that if they have used the work and/or words of others, they have quoted them in a proper manner. This is particularly important when transcribing texts literally, so they should put these texts in quotation marks and quote the complete source from which the information was taken.

They must ensure, in the same commitment letter, that the material sent is original and that it will not be published or sent to other institutions to consider publication in magazines or other works. Likewise, he/she must guarantee that the original has not been previously published. It will be considered that a work has been previously published when any of the following situations occurs:

- When the complete text has been published.

- When large fragments of previously published materials are part of the text sent to the magazine or other paper.

- When the work submitted to the magazine is contained in memoirs published in extenso.

These criteria refer to previous publications in printed or electronic form, and in any language. Unpublished translated versions of previously published articles will be considered originals.

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the study. All those who have made significant contributions should appear as co-authors. The principal author(s) should ensure that all coauthors are included in the article, and that all have seen and approved the final version of the document and have agreed to submit it for publication. Likewise, he/she must include the credits of participants, if applicable, in the elaboration of specific information on legislation, jurisprudence or any specialized collaboration carried out in the publication.

For the case of reviewers, do not use the privileged information or the ideas obtained through the peer review to obtain personal advantages, since such information must be confidential.

Do not show or discuss with other experts the content of the work, except with the authorization of the editor.

Act objectively. Any personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Therefore, they must express their points of view clearly and with valid arguments.

Article 3. TRANSPARENCY

Content: Except in the cases determined by law and by the Code of Ethics of the Institute of Legal Research, transparency must be promoted and shall consist of the maximum publicity that must be given to all actions carried out in the process of reception, opinion, editing and publication of the works that appear with the seal of the Institute of Legal Research, committing those involved in said process to offer useful, pertinent, understandable and reliable information. Consequently, the following must be made:

I. To advocate as much as possible for freedom of expression.

II. To maintain the integrity of the file that is opened for each academic because of the publication process.

III. To respond promptly to any complaint from the authors, offering a solution at all times.

IV. To notify the authors of a brief description of the opinion process, as well as justify any change in the process, if applicable.

V. To properly inform the author the stage of the editorial process in which the text sent is, as well as the resolutions of the opinion.

Article 4. CONFIDENTIALITY

Content: Confidentiality as a principle seeks that all people involved in the publication process of the works published in the Magazine, under the seal of the Institute of Legal Research (publishing house of the Magazine), preserve the secrecy and reserve all the information that is known in the exercise of his/her work and whose use cannot be other than the improvement of it. For this reason, the following should be made:

I. To maintain and treat the information related to each paper confidentially.

II. To guarantee the confidentiality of the evaluation process: the identity of the authors cannot be disclosed to the reviewers; neither may the identity of the reviewers be disclosed to the authors at any time. The identities of the authors and the reviewers will be protected.

III. Along with the editorial team, no information about an original submitted to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers or other editorial advisors will be disclosed.

IV. Materials that have not been published, that have been released in an original, or in personal investigations will not be used without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review will be confidential and will not be used for personal advantage. Editors must make fair and impartial decisions and ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process.

CHAPTER V

PROCESS OF OPINION AND PUBLICATION

Article 5. The documents submitted for publication will be published in the Magazine once the process of issuing an opinion has been completed. All articles accepted for publication will go through proofreading.

Article 6. The peer review process is described below:

I. Acceptance

When a document has been submitted for its publication, it will be read and evaluated first by the editor-in-chief, who will decide if the article should pass to the opinion stage, as long as it complies with the Guidelines and criteria of the Institute's editorial process and with the "Editorial Criteria of the Magazine". This process takes approximately two weeks.

II. Opinion issuance process

The process of double-blind peer-review is that the research presented should be examined by two specialized experts in the central theme of the article. The term granted in this stage is approximately three weeks depending on the length of the article. There are three possible outcomes: publishable, not publishable and publishable with remarks. In the latter case, the article will go to the next step, but the remarks and/or suggestions made by the reviewers will be sent to the author with the purpose of making the relevant modifications.

III. Author's corrections

The author has two weeks to make the relevant changes and corrections suggested by the reviewers and send the final version to the Magazine. The article will be revised to corroborate the changes suggested in the opinion and/or the letter of explanation of reasons or justification of why not all or some of the changes were accepted or taken.

IV. Publication

Once the article has been reviewed and accepted, it will be published in the issue determined by the editor in chief.

Editing and proofreading

Just before the publication of the issue, the articles are subject to editing and proofreading. This editorial work will be carried out in the Technical Secretariat of the Institute of Legal Research through the Publications Department affiliated to it. The process of editing an issue of the Magazine lasts approximately three to five months in accordance with the length of the texts.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLES

SOLE: This Code of Ethics of Publications of the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM will be effective once it is approved by the relevant authorities of the Institute.