Estatuto Editorial
1. OWNERSHIP
The Journal “Critical Patient” – Scientific Journal of the Portuguese Society of Critical Care Nurses, hereinafter referred to as RDC, constitutes an editorial project, owned by the Portuguese Society of Critical Care Nurses (SPEDC), founded in 2024. .
2. INDEPENDENCE
The DRC is independent of political power, ideological power, economic power and any other pressure groups, identifying itself with the values of a pluralist democracy, guided by criteria of rigor, impartiality and inclusion.
3. PRIVACY POLICY
SPEDC holds the exclusive right to publish, distribute, assign, sell or license in physical, electronic or other media that may exist, all content submitted by authors and published.
Reproduction, even partial, of articles and illustrations without prior authorization from SPEDC is prohibited. Exceptions are made for the citation or transcription of small excerpts and/or figures, as long as the fundamental rules of authorial referencing are followed.
The names and addresses provided in this RDC will be used exclusively for the services provided by this publication, and will not be made available for other purposes or to third parties.
4. SCIENTIFIC AREA
The RDC prioritizes the publication of scientific articles related to unpublished studies and investigations in the field of Critical Patients, from Nursing care in Extra-Hospital to In-Hospital environments, as long as the contributions are considered relevant to scientific knowledge.
Review articles, case studies, clinical cases, opinion articles, clinical protocols, among other documents, may also be published, provided they are validated by the Editor-in-Chief and integrated into the areas previously listed.
5. OBJECTIVE
The RDC aims to be SPEDC's privileged means of promoting and disseminating reflection, research and the most recent scientific evidence in the field of Critical Illness, seeking to foster the exchange of ideas and knowledge among nurses.
Its purpose is to contribute to greater health literacy, providing clear and objective information and knowledge, contributing to the affirmation and prestige of the professional and scientific identity of the Critical Patient Nurse, in all aspects of intervention, promoting excellent scientific research. .
6. EDITORIAL ORGANIZATION
It is up to the President of the SPEDC Scientific and Advisory Board, inherently the Director of the RDC, to choose the members of the RDC editorial board.
The RDC bodies are the Board of Directors, the Editorial Team, the Editorial Reviewers and the Editorial Board.
The SPEDC board of directors has full autonomy to, at any time, request the President of the Advisory and Scientific Council to replace members of any of the previously mentioned bodies.
6.1. DIRECTION
The RDC Board of Directors comprises the Director and the Deputy Director, and its responsibilities include:
- Direct, manage and represent the DRC;
- Prepare the format proposal;
- Determine the grid and its contents, periodically consulting the Editorial Board;
- Designate those responsible for the graphic model, photography and illustration;
- Implement each issue of RDC with the Editorial Team, according to the determined format, schedule and content;
- Manage the RDC budget, approved by the SPEDC Management, ensuring its compliance;
- Coordinate the management of the budget allocation with the Board of Directors, with regard to advertising, production and distribution.
The Deputy Director advises the Director and must replace him in the event of his absence or upon his delegation.
6.2. EDITORIAL TEAM
The Editorial Team includes the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editors and Section Editors, collaborating in the implementation of each issue of RDC, under the coordination of the Board of Directors.
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the constant improvement of the RDC and for coordinating the entire Editorial Team, convening and presiding over the Editorial Board. You must stay informed of the most relevant policies and developments and ensure that your Editorial Team stays up to date.
Regarding the duties of the Editor-in-Chief, the RDC adopts the position statement “Responsible Research Publishing: International Standards for Editors” (available at https://publicationethics.org/files/International%20standard_editors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011_0.pdf).
The Deputy Editors are responsible for implementing the guidelines issued and for managing the editorial processes so that RDC can comply with the periodicity, observing compliance with ethical and deontological principles in the editorial process. They assist the Editor-in-Chief, replacing him in case of impediment or by delegation.
Section Editors are responsible for the preliminary evaluation of articles in their area, notably in the Area of Pre-Hospital Emergency Nursing, in the Area of Emergency Nursing and in the Area of Intensive Care Nursing, defining their continuity, based on if in scientific criteria. They are responsible for selecting the Editorial Reviewers, sending them the manuscripts for evaluation. It is up to them to make the final decision regarding the publication of the article, always based on originality, clarity and relevance to the area of Nursing for which they are responsible.
In general, the Editorial Team is responsible for:
- Analyze submitted articles and approve those that are within the scope of the RDC for editing;
- Ensure that the entire item review process is fair and impartial, ensuring that information remains confidential;
- Publish, when necessary, corrections and clarifications;
- Ensure good editorial practices.
6.3. EDITORIAL REVIEWERS
The Editorial Review Board is made up of qualified professionals of recognized academic and scientific merit, whose purpose is to assist the Editorial Team by evaluating the quality of articles within the RDC guidelines, issuing opinions on academic quality, scientific relevance, consistency and adequacy of the work under evaluation. Reviewers are expected to remain anonymous in relation to the manuscripts evaluated.
Reviewers are expected to:
- Notify the Editorial Team of your availability/unavailability to evaluate an article, respecting the established deadlines;
- Decline an evaluation whenever you do not feel qualified based on the topic covered and/or if there is a conflict of interest;
- Treat articles as confidential documents, protecting the intellectual property and rights of authors, maintaining confidentiality regarding information and committing not to use privileged information for personal gain, including in their research and/or publications;
- Immediately notify the Editorial Team whenever a violation of rights by authors and/or plagiarism practices are identified;
- Request your replacement by another Reviewer whenever you are unable to issue your opinion in a timely manner;
- Prepare an objective opinion, expressing opinions with well-founded arguments and references, based on good editorial practices, respecting the established deadlines.
Regarding the duties of reviewers, RDC follows the “Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers” of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (available at https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer- reviewers).
6.4. EDITORIAL BOARD
The Editorial Board has an advisory role, advising the Editorial Team in defining the contents of the RDC, and is responsible for administrative issues related to editorial policy.
It does not interfere in the editorial process, however, it may be called upon by the Editorial Team for deliberations involving strategic and/or operational issues.
In addition, the Editorial Board is responsible for:
- Make an effort to ensure the sustainability of the DRC, ensuring its dissemination, maintenance and consolidation;
- Maintain the scientificity, rigor and reliability necessary to underpin its credibility;
- Support editors in the process of maintaining good editorial practices;
- Act, as a last resort, regarding the acceptance of content submitted for publication, in case of divergence of opinions;
- Propose reviewers for the RDC.
7. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The RDC editorial team is committed to complying with the Press Law, as well as respecting the deontological and ethical principles that govern scientific research as mentioned throughout this Editorial Statute, as well as respecting the good faith of readers.
Committed to ensuring the highest standards of ethics in its publications, RDC seeks to comply with the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (available at https://www.icmje.org /recommendations/), the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing (available at https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing) and as Core Practices, from COPE (available at https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
8. PERIODICITY AND PUBLICATION
RDC aims to be a specialized publication, with national and international expansion, published twice a year, with editions in Portuguese, English and Spanish, and published in digital format at https://revistadoentecritico.spedc.pt/index.php/index/login .
9. INDEXING
In pursuit of high standards of quality and scientific rigor, SPEDC will seek to index the RDC in national and international databases, in an open access policy, in digital version.
10. OPEN ACCESS POLICY
RDC provides free access to its content, based on the principle that making research freely available to the public contributes to greater knowledge sharing by enabling readers to view, download, print and distribute any article.
This open access policy is defined according to the criteria of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), available at https://doaj.org/apply/guide/#the-type-of-open-access.
RDC publishes all its articles under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND Attribution 4.0 International (this means that authors retain copyright, but allow electronic copying, distribution and printing of published articles for non-commercial purposes). , academic or individual, by any user, without permission or payment, as long as the authorship and source are acknowledged – available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
11. DIGITAL PRESERVATION AND ARCHIVE POLICY
RDC uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) software as a resource, which is a free and open source system for the administration and publication of journals, developed with support and distribution by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP).
PKP enables journal publishers to digitally preserve their content in a decentralized, long-term manner (more information at https://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/).
12. SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION FEES
RDC does not charge article submission fees, however, in order to ensure its sustainability, article processing charges will be charged whenever articles have been accepted for publication.
In situations where the 1st author of the article (Corresponding Author) is a member of SPEDC, no fee will be charged for publication. If the 1st author is not a member of SPEDC, the publication fee will be 50€.
The costs inherent in the translation of articles will be borne by the authors.
13. SPONSORSHIPS
The presence of advertising referring to companies in the pharmaceutical or clinical material industry may not compromise the scientific independence of RDC, nor influence editorial decisions, so its inclusion is not contemplated.
14. BUDGET MANAGEMENT
The budgetary management of the RDC must be included in the annual budget of the SPEDC.
Expenses include all those related to graphic design, revision, travel and representation expenses, when arising from activities promoted by RDC.
15. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
This Editorial Statute comes into force from the date of its publication and may be revised whenever it is deemed advisable.
Any omissions in this document will be evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief.
You can also access the Editorial Statute HERE!
