Complaints and appeals

Ecos de la Academia recognizes the right of authors, reviewers, readers, and academic institutions to submit complaints, observations, or requests for review related to the editorial process, peer review, editorial decisions, ethical conduct, the integrity of published articles, or the general operation of the journal.

Editorial decisions are made on the basis of academic, ethical, methodological, formal, and editorial relevance criteria. Although the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of a manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief and the competent editorial team, authors may submit a reasoned appeal when they consider that there has been a procedural error, an incorrect interpretation of the reviews, a possible conflict of interest, a failure in the review process, or an infringement of due editorial process.

Appeals must be submitted in writing, with clear, respectful, and verifiable arguments. Appeals based solely on disagreement with the editorial decision, unsupported value judgments, or requests that do not provide new relevant information for reviewing the case will not be accepted.

Once an appeal is received, the Editor-in-Chief or the Editorial Board will evaluate the request and, where appropriate, may consult section editors, additional reviewers, members of the scientific committee, or relevant institutional bodies. Review of an appeal does not guarantee modification of the initial editorial decision.

Complaints related to possible editorial misconduct, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, data manipulation, inappropriate use of artificial intelligence, rights violations, ethical issues, or post-publication errors will be analyzed in accordance with the journal’s editorial and ethical policies.

Communications must be sent to smguevara@utn.edu.ec, indicating the manuscript or article title, submission code where available, name of the person submitting the request, case description, grounds for the complaint or appeal, and supporting documents, if any.

The journal will seek to respond to complaints and appeals within a reasonable timeframe, preserving confidentiality, impartiality, traceability, and procedural transparency. Once the internal review has been completed, the decision communicated by the Editorial Board will be considered final within the journal’s editorial scope.