Editorial Endogamy Policy

Sapiens Evolución Científica maintains an editorial endogamy prevention policy aimed at ensuring academic independence, impartial editorial decision-making, institutional diversity, scientific pluralism, internationalization, and the credibility of the publication process.

The journal adheres to the best practices promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and the editorial quality criteria adopted by major international indexing systems, including SciELO, Scopus, DOAJ, Redalyc, and Latindex.

Editorial endogamy is understood as the excessive concentration of publications authored by individuals directly or indirectly affiliated with the journal’s editorial structure or the institution responsible for its publication, in a manner that may compromise editorial independence, academic diversity, or the perception of impartiality in the scientific evaluation process.

The journal recognizes institutional, geographical, and disciplinary diversity as essential principles for ensuring scientific quality and international visibility.

Individuals Affiliated with the Journal

For the purposes of this policy, affiliated individuals include:

  • Editor-in-Chief.
  • Associate, Academic, or Section Editors.
  • Members of the Editorial Board.
  • Members of the Scientific Committee.
  • Members of the Advisory Board.
  • Technical or administrative staff involved in editorial management.
  • Authorities of the publishing institution.
  • Individuals regularly participating in editorial decision-making.
  • Personnel contracted for permanent editorial activities.

Publication Limit for Affiliated Authors

To preserve editorial independence and academic diversity, articles whose corresponding author or principal author is directly affiliated with the journal shall not exceed 25% of the total scientific articles published during a calendar year or within the two most recent issues of the journal, whichever criterion is more restrictive.

The journal will seek to ensure that at least 75% of published articles originate from authors external to both the editorial structure and the publishing institution.

The journal also actively promotes submissions from researchers affiliated with diverse national and international institutions, thereby strengthening scientific diversity and internationalization.

Evaluation of Manuscripts Submitted by Affiliated Individuals

Manuscripts submitted by affiliated individuals shall be subject to exactly the same editorial procedures and evaluation criteria applied to all other authors.

No preferential, expedited, or differentiated treatment shall be granted to submissions authored by members of the journal’s editorial or institutional structure.

All manuscripts will undergo a Double-Blind Peer Review process, ensuring anonymity of both authors and reviewers throughout the editorial workflow.

Membership in any editorial or scientific body does not confer any advantage regarding manuscript evaluation, acceptance, or publication.

Editorial Independence and Conflict of Interest Management

When a manuscript is submitted by an affiliated individual:

  • The author shall not participate in any stage of the editorial management of the manuscript.
  • The author shall not participate in reviewer selection.
  • The author shall not have access to confidential evaluation information.
  • The author shall not participate in editorial deliberations or decisions.
  • The author shall not directly or indirectly influence the review process.
  • The author shall not participate in the final acceptance or rejection decision.

Editorial management will be assigned to an independent editor with no academic, institutional, professional, financial, or personal conflicts of interest with the authors involved.

When necessary, the journal may appoint an external ad hoc editor to ensure complete editorial independence.

Reviewer Selection

Reviewers are selected based on:

  • Academic independence.
  • Demonstrated scientific expertise.
  • Subject-matter competence.
  • Institutional diversity.
  • Geographic diversity.
  • Absence of conflicts of interest.

The journal actively promotes the participation of national and international reviewers capable of providing objective, impartial, and scientifically rigorous evaluations.

For manuscripts submitted by affiliated individuals, reviewers will preferably belong to institutions different from both the authors’ institutions and the publishing institution.

Institutional, Geographic, and International Diversity

Sapiens Evolución Científica encourages the participation of authors, reviewers, and committee members from diverse:

  • Universities.
  • Research centers.
  • Public institutions.
  • Professional organizations.
  • Non-governmental organizations.
  • Countries and geographic regions.

The journal considers institutional, disciplinary, and geographic diversity essential for strengthening scientific quality, internationalization, and academic credibility.

The journal also promotes the progressive incorporation of international scholars into its editorial and scientific bodies in accordance with international indexing best practices.

Transparency and Monitoring

The editorial team conducts periodic reviews of the participation levels of affiliated authors to verify compliance with this policy and implement corrective measures when necessary.

The composition of the Editorial Board, Scientific Committee, and other academic bodies shall remain publicly available and regularly updated on the journal’s official website.

The journal may publish aggregated statistics regarding:

  • Authors’ institutional affiliations.
  • Geographic distribution of publications.
  • Participation of international authors.
  • Participation of authors affiliated with the journal.

These measures form part of the journal’s commitment to editorial transparency and accountability.

Compliance with International Standards

This policy forms part of Sapiens Evolución Científica’s commitment to:

  • Scientific integrity.
  • Editorial independence.
  • Transparent decision-making.
  • Academic diversity.
  • Journal internationalization.
  • Editorial excellence.
  • Best practices in scholarly publishing.

Its implementation contributes to compliance with the quality standards employed by national and international journal indexing, evaluation, and accreditation systems.

Final Statement

Sapiens Evolución Científica reaffirms its commitment to editorial independence, transparency, academic diversity, internationalization, and scientific integrity.

Through this policy, the journal ensures that all editorial decisions are based exclusively on scientific, methodological, and ethical criteria, promoting open, pluralistic, objective, and unbiased scholarly communication in support of the international scientific community and the advancement of knowledge on sustainability, socioecological systems, governance, territorial resilience, and innovation for sustainable development.