Editorial Independence and Decision-Making Policy

Medición y Evaluación del Aprendizaje Inclusivo (MEAI) is academically owned and supported by the Facultad de Derecho, Ciencias Políticas y Sociales of the Universidad Técnica de Oruro. Institutional support is essential to the journal's sustainability, but scientific editorial judgment remains autonomous.

Separation of Institutional Support and Scientific Decisions

The institution may provide funding, personnel support, technological infrastructure, administrative services, preservation resources, and other operational assistance. These functions do not confer authority to require acceptance, rejection, favorable review, accelerated publication, citation, or preferential treatment of any manuscript.

Decisions concerning whether a manuscript enters peer review, which reviewers are invited, what revisions are required, whether integrity concerns require investigation, and whether a manuscript is ultimately accepted or rejected must be based on scholarly and ethical criteria.

Decision Criteria

fit with the journal aims and scope
originality and significance of the contribution
methodological and analytical validity
quality and transparency of reporting
ethical compliance and research integrity
relevance and adequacy of the evidence supporting the conclusions
constructive evidence from external peer review
completion of required revisions and responses

Final Decision Authority

The final acceptance or rejection decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief. Editors coordinate scientific assessment and peer review and provide recommendations. Reviewers provide independent expert advice. Neither reviewers nor institutional authorities make the final publication decision.

Non-Discrimination and Fair Evaluation

Manuscripts are evaluated without discrimination based on nationality, ethnic origin, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, political opinion, institutional prestige, academic rank, geographic origin, or other personal characteristics unrelated to the scientific content. Where legally or ethically relevant information is necessary to assess a study, it is considered only for that legitimate purpose.

Financial Independence

The journal operates without author processing charges. Institutional funding and operational costs are separated from manuscript decisions. No payment, donation, sponsorship, institutional relationship, or prospective financial benefit may influence whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

Conflicted Editors and Editor-Authored Manuscripts

Editors must disclose conflicts and recuse themselves when impartiality could reasonably be questioned. Manuscripts authored by an Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, close relatives, recent collaborators, or members of the same immediate research group must follow the ordinary submission, integrity, and peer-review requirements and must be handled independently by a non-conflicted Editor. If the Editor-in-Chief is conflicted, an Acting Editor-in-Chief is designated for that manuscript and makes the final decision.

Protection from External Pressure

Editorial staff should document and resist attempts to influence decisions through institutional hierarchy, personal relationships, threats, favors, citation demands, reputational pressure, political considerations, or financial interests. Credible concerns about interference should be recorded and handled through the journal's ethics and complaints procedures.

Record of Decisions

Editorial decisions and the principal grounds for them are recorded in the journal management system. Access to confidential records is limited according to editorial roles, research-integrity needs, and the Privacy and Data Protection Policy.

Editorial Independence and Decision-Making Policy