CMC is committed to ethical principles in relation to its impact factor strategy, use of AI, diversity, non-involvement of political and private interests and the core principles of the Diamond OA model.
CMC is careful to develop an impact factor strategy that takes into account the intrinsic quality of the published research. In particular, CMC publishes papers that propose an original vision of circularity, based on sound scientific and methodological principles and a solid experimental approach, without the need for broader scope. CMC also welcomes papers reporting negative results.
CMC encourages a reasoned approach to AI. Each author should indicate the contribution to their paper, following the CRediT taxonomy.
CMC attaches particular importance to diversity in its broadest sense, both on its boards and in its publications. The range of approaches, topics and research covered by CMC reflects the full diversity of the field of circularity. In addition, CMC avoids all forms of discrimination based on gender and sex, as well as ethnic, national or social origin. The selection of boards members and reviewers is based exclusively on scientific criteria.
CMC vows to maintain its distance from any form of political influence. It is crucial that scientific independence must be defended from political and ideological agendas. As a European-based journal, CMC follows the European rules that guarantee academic and intellectual freedom, as well as and freedom of expression in science. The topics of research and experiments, as well as the language used to communicate the results, are validated only by the scientific community and experts in the field covered by CMC.
The ethics defended by CMC also lie in the fact that it seeks to distance itself from industrial and commercial interests that could influence the results of published research.
CMC has a strict code of ethics that prevents any form of conflict of interest for both board members and authors.
Members of the journal’s various boards are selected to ensure that they are not in a situation of conflict of interest that could compromise the journal’s scientific freedom and strict independence. In addition, articles submitted to the journal are screened to assess the risk of conflict of interest for authors: research funded by companies with a vested interest; authors working for or advising such companies. Authors are required to sign a conflict of interest statement before publication. Board members and reviewers are also requested to adhere to strict ethical conduct, including the absence of conflict of interest.
The Diamond OA model adopted by CMC has strong ethical aspects. It is a non-profit economy and a model that responds only to scientific considerations. It is made by researchers, for researchers, and therefore aims to respect each stakeholder (authors, readers, institutions). https://www.coalition-s.org/plan_s_principles/
The Diamond Open Access principles could be summarised as follows:
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A business model that does not charge authors APCs (Article Processing Charges), does not require subscriptions from readers, and is stable because it is partially or fully funded by institutional and public resources;
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A non-profit economy: any profits made by the journal will be fully reinvested in its development;
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The use of Creative Commons licences (CC-BY), which ensures that authors retain the intellectual property rights to their work.