Ocula.it is a peer-reviewed scientific journal inspired by the code of ethics for publications developed by COPE Committee on publication ethics: Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Authors, editors and reviewers are required to know and share the principles set out herein.
Ocula adopts the system of scientific evaluation of the articles submitted, known internationally as peer-reviewing. Each text is assigned in reading to two anonymous reviewers (double blind peer-review). The Management is responsible for the referral process, in agreement with the Editorial Board. The reviewers are identified according to a criterion of competence and high qualification in the matter. Ocula's Management and Editorial Board are responsible for the final decision on the publication of the proposed articles.


Duties of Management and Editorial Board

Correctness
Management and Editorial Board evaluate the articles proposed for publication with regard to their content without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, political orientation of the authors, or their academic affiliation.

Confidentiality
The editors and other staff members of the Magazine undertake not to disclose information relating to the proposed articles, except to the author, the editors and the publisher.

Conflict of interest and transparency
Coordinators and Editors undertake not to use the contents of an article proposed for publication in their research without the written consent of the author.
Ocula submits the contributions submitted for publication by the members of the Editorial Board and the Coordinators to the same anonymous and objective evaluation procedure, ,.


Auditor's duties

Peer-review is a procedure that helps editors make informed decisions about proposed articles and allows authors to improve their contributions.
If reviewers consider that they are not competent with regard to the subjects dealt with in the article or that they know that they cannot carry out the reading in due time, they must promptly inform the Ocula coordinators and/or the editors of the specific number.
Each text is assigned for reading under the obligation of strict confidentiality. Therefore, this text must not become the subject of discussion with other people without the express authorisation of the Ocula editors. Documents received for revision must be treated as confidential. They must not be shown or discussed with anyone not previously authorized by the Management.

Objectivity
The peer review must be conducted objectively. Any personal judgment regarding the author is inappropriate. Reviewers are required to give adequate reasons for their judgments.

Text suggestion
Reviewers undertake to indicate precisely the bibliographical details of works they consider fundamental and neglected by the author. They must also inform the editors of any similarities or overlapping of the contribution sent to them for reading with other works known to them.

Conflict of interest and disclosure
Any information and indication obtained by the reviewers during the peer review is to be considered absolutely confidential and cannot be used for personal purposes. Reviewers are required not to assess*** those articles for which there is a conflict of interest due to previous collaborative or competitive relationships with the authors and/or their institutions.


Duties of the Authors

Data access and storage
If the editors consider it appropriate, the authors of the articles should also make the sources and/or data on which the research was based available so that they can be retained for a reasonable period of time after publication and, where appropriate, be made accessible to others for verification.

Originality
Authors are required to declare that they have composed an original work in all its parts and have cited all the texts used.

Multiple, repetitive and/or competing publications
The proposed texts must not have been published as copyrighted material in other journals. Texts under review by the journal must not be submitted to other journals for publication.

Indication of sources
Authors must always provide the correct indication of the sources and contributions mentioned in the article.

Paternity of the work
Authorship of the work should be correctly attributed and all those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, organization, implementation and reworking of the research that is the basis of the article should be indicated as co-authors. If other people have significantly participated in certain phases of the research, their contribution should be explicitly acknowledged. In the case of multiple SI DICE? MULTIPLE? contributions, authors who send their texts to the journal are required to declare that they have correctly indicated the names of all other co-authors, that they have obtained their approval of the final version of the article and that they grant their consent to publication in Ocula.

Conflict of interest and disclosure
All authors are required to explicitly state that there are no conflicts of interest that could have affected the results achieved or the proposed interpretations. Authors must also indicate the possible funding bodies of the research and/or project from which the article originates.

Errors in published articles
When authors identifiy a material error or misstatement in an article, they must promptly inform the editors of the journal and provide them with all the information required to make the necessary corrections.


Anti-plagiarism measures

All articles proposed to Ocula are subjected to a careful check to detect any misuse of other texts, including anti-plagiarism software such as Compilatio, Turnitin or iThenticate.
When plagiarism is found, the procedure recommended by the guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts) will be followed.
If, on the other hand, plagiarism in an Ocula article is reported by the readers, the editors of the issue in question or the Editorial Board will go through the following steps:

1) inform the person who reported the abuse of the procedure that will be immediately initiated;
2) verify the degree to which the article submitted to Ocula actually coincides with the plagiarized texts;
3) inform the entire Editorial Board and the Management of Ocula of what happened in order to decide the next steps collectively;
4) transmit the evidence that emerged from the comparison with any plagiarized texts to the author of the article and ask him/her to account for it.

If it turns out that the author has actually plagiarized other texts, the Editorial Board and the Management of Ocula informs the author of the plagiarized contribution and the editor of the journal and/or series in which it appeared.

If the author responds and admits all or part of the plagiarism the Management will:
1) publish the official retraction of the article published in Ocula;
2) withdraw the contribution from the Internet.

If the author does not answer the Management will:
1) contact the author's academic institutions of reference and the main university associations of which the author is a member, explaining the case and asking them to contact him directly;
2) prevent the author of the plagiarism from further publishing on Ocula for the next 5 years.