Open Submissions
Peer Reviewed2.8. Content Dissemination Policy
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal aims to maximize the visibility, accessibility, discoverability and scholarly impact of its published content.
To support the dissemination of published research, the journal adopts the following practices:
- publication of all content in immediate open access through the journal’s OJS/PKP platform;
- assignment and maintenance of persistent identifiers, including DOIs, to facilitate citation, tracking and long-term accessibility;
- exposure of standardized and interoperable metadata to support content discovery by search engines, aggregators, indexing services and scientific information systems;
- dissemination of new issues and selected published content through institutional communication channels, academic networks and social media associated with the journal and/or the publishing institution;
- promotion of content through indexing services, academic directories, bibliographic databases and national and international repositories in which the journal is included;
- permanent accessibility of published content in accordance with the journal’s archiving and digital preservation policies.
The journal periodically reviews its dissemination mechanisms to improve the visibility, reach and impact of published works, while preserving editorial independence and scholarly quality.
2.9. Publication Ethics and Malpractice
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity and editorial responsibility.
The journal follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and is guided by the standards and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). These principles apply to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Editorial Board members and the publisher.
Further information on publication ethics guidance is available on the COPE website: http://publicationethics.org/resources/code-conduct
Editorial responsibility and independence
Editorial decisions are based exclusively on the scholarly quality of the manuscript, its originality, methodological rigor, contribution to pathmaking tourism research, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, ethical compliance and significance for international scholarly debate.
Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political opinion, institutional affiliation or any other personal characteristic unrelated to scholarly merit.
The Editors-in-Chief retain final responsibility for all editorial decisions. Associate Editors, Editorial Board members and reviewers contribute to the editorial process in accordance with their assigned roles and responsibilities.
Confidentiality
Editors, Associate Editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers and editorial staff must treat all submitted manuscripts and related editorial communications as confidential.
Information about a submitted manuscript must not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, members of the Editorial Team and the publisher, where appropriate.
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used for personal advantage or in one’s own research without the authors’ explicit written consent.
Conflicts of interest
Editors, Associate Editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers and authors must disclose any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence the editorial process, peer review, interpretation of results or publication decision.
Editors and Associate Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from personal, professional, financial, institutional, competitive or collaborative relationships with the authors, their institutions or the subject matter of the manuscript.
Reviewers must decline review invitations when they have a conflict of interest or when they are unable to provide an independent, objective and timely review.
Duties of authors
Authors are responsible for submitting original, accurate and ethically conducted research. Manuscripts must present a clear and honest account of the work performed, the methods used, the results obtained and the significance of the findings.
Authors must ensure that:
- the manuscript is original and has not been previously published or submitted elsewhere;
- all sources are properly cited and acknowledged;
- data, methods and findings are reported accurately and transparently;
- all listed authors meet appropriate authorship criteria and have approved the submitted version;
- all contributors who do not meet authorship criteria are properly acknowledged, where appropriate;
- funding sources and conflicts of interest are disclosed;
- permissions have been obtained for copyrighted material, where required;
- ethical approval and informed consent are reported when research involves human participants, personal data, sensitive information or other ethically relevant materials.
Authors must cooperate with the editorial process by responding to requests for clarification, data, ethical documentation, copyright permissions and revisions in a timely and transparent manner.
Authorship and contributorship
Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation or writing of the study and who accept responsibility for the integrity of the work.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate co-authors are included, that no inappropriate co-authors are listed, and that all authors have approved the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.
Changes in authorship after submission, including additions, removals or changes in author order, must be justified and approved by all authors. The Editors-in-Chief may request written confirmation from all authors before approving such changes.
Duties of Reviewers
Reviewers play an essential role in supporting editorial decisions and improving the quality of submitted manuscripts.
Reviewers are expected to:
- evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively and confidentially;
- provide clear, reasoned and evidence-based comments;
- avoid personal criticism of authors;
- identify relevant literature that has not been cited, where appropriate;
- alert the Editors or Associate Editors to substantial similarity, overlap, plagiarism or suspected misconduct;
- declare any conflict of interest;
- decline review invitations when they are not qualified, are unable to review within the requested timeframe, or cannot provide an independent assessment.
Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal advantage or in their own research without explicit written permission.
Research misconduct and unethical behaviour
The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, redundant publication, duplicate submission, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, peer review manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest or any other form of research or publication misconduct.
Suspected misconduct may be identified during submission, peer review, production or after publication. Allegations may be raised by editors, reviewers, authors, readers, institutions or third parties.
All allegations of misconduct will be treated seriously, confidentially and fairly. The Editors-in-Chief may consult the publisher, Editorial Board members, independent experts, institutions or other relevant bodies when appropriate.
Corrections, retractions and expressions of concern
When significant errors, inaccuracies or ethical concerns are identified in a published article, the journal will take appropriate action in accordance with recognized publication ethics standards.
Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, possible actions may include:
- correction or erratum;
- clarification;
- expression of concern;
- retraction;
- withdrawal of a manuscript under consideration;
- notification to authors’ institutions, funders or relevant bodies;
- temporary or permanent restriction on future submissions in cases of serious misconduct.
Authors who discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work must promptly notify the Editors-in-Chief or the publisher and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article where necessary.
Publisher's role
The publisher supports the Editors-in-Chief and the Editorial Team in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.
In cases of alleged or proven misconduct, the publisher will work with the Editors-in-Chief to ensure that appropriate measures are taken, including investigation, correction, retraction or other actions necessary to protect the integrity of the journal and its published content.
2.10. Archiving
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of its published content.
The journal uses the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archive among participating libraries, allowing permanent preservation and restoration of journal content when necessary.
In addition, the final published version of articles is deposited in the Arias Montano Repository of the University of Huelva, supporting long-term access, preservation and dissemination of the journal’s scholarly record: http://rabida.uhu.es/dspace/handle/10272/5232?locale-attribute=en
2.11. Anti-plagiarism and Similarity Check
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal is committed to ensuring the originality and integrity of all submitted manuscripts.
All submissions may be screened for plagiarism, textual overlap, redundant publication, inappropriate citation practices and other forms of similarity or research misconduct. The journal may use similarity-detection tools, including Turnitin, before peer review, during the review process, before acceptance or at any other stage of the editorial process.
Similarity reports are interpreted by the Editors-in-Chief and/or the assigned Associate Editor. A similarity percentage alone does not automatically determine the outcome of a manuscript. Editorial assessment considers the nature, extent and context of any overlap, including whether sources are properly cited, whether reused material is justified and whether the overlap affects the originality or integrity of the manuscript.
Manuscripts showing evidence of plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, inappropriate reuse of text, citation manipulation or other forms of misconduct may be rejected at any stage of the editorial process. In serious cases, the journal may take further action in accordance with its publication ethics policy.
2.12. Interoperability Protocols
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal supports interoperability and metadata exchange to improve the discoverability, accessibility and dissemination of its published content.
The journal provides an OAI-PMH interface that allows external portals, repositories, aggregators and information services to access metadata of published content.
Metadata are exposed using recognized standards, including the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and Dublin Core.
OAI-PMH endpoint:
http://uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/et/oai
2.13. Privacy Statement
The names, email addresses and personal information entered in the journal’s website and submission system will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal.
Personal data will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party, except where required for the editorial, peer review, production, publication, indexing, preservation or dissemination processes of the journal, or where required by law.
The journal and its publisher are committed to protecting the confidentiality and privacy of authors, reviewers, readers and registered users in accordance with applicable data protection principles.
2.14. Funding Disclosure
Authors must disclose all sources of funding and financial support related to the submitted work, including grants, contracts, institutional support or other forms of financial contribution.
Funding information must include the name of the funding body and, where applicable, the grant or project number.
If the research received no specific funding, authors must state this clearly.
Authors must also disclose any role played by funders in the design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation or decision to submit the work for publication. If funders had no such role, this should also be stated.
2.15. Editorial Best Practices in Gender Equality and Inclusive Language
Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal is committed to promoting gender equality, diversity, inclusion and respectful scholarly communication.
Authors are encouraged to use inclusive, precise and non-discriminatory language throughout their manuscripts. Research should avoid stereotypes, biased assumptions and discriminatory expressions related to gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion, sexual orientation, social background or any other personal or social characteristic.
Where relevant, authors should consider sex, gender and diversity dimensions in research design, data analysis, interpretation and discussion of findings.
The journal encourages the inclusion of authors’ full names, where authors consent, in order to support transparency and reduce ambiguity in authorship attribution.
Recommendations for equitable and inclusive language include:
- avoid excessive use of generic masculine forms;
- use neutral terms, collective nouns or relative clauses where appropriate;
- ensure grammatical accuracy and consistency in the use of inclusive language;
- avoid expressions that reproduce stereotypes, marginalization or discriminatory assumptions.
2.16. Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Manuscript Preparation
Authors must disclose any use of generative artificial intelligence tools or AI-assisted technologies during the preparation, writing or revision of a manuscript when such tools have contributed to the development of text, ideas, analysis, interpretation, structure, translation or other substantive aspects of the manuscript.
Disclosure must be made at the time of submission and, where applicable, included in a separate section titled Statement on the Use of Generative AI or AI-Assisted Technologies. This statement should describe the tool used and the purpose for which it was used.
The use of standard tools for spelling, grammar, reference formatting or basic language checking does not normally require a formal AI disclosure statement, provided that such tools do not generate substantive scholarly content.
Generative AI tools may be used only to support the clarity, readability, structure or language quality of a manuscript. They must not be used to replace the authors’ intellectual contribution, generate unsupported claims, fabricate data, create false references, manipulate images or produce misleading content.
All AI-assisted content must be critically reviewed, verified and approved by the authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity and ethical compliance of the submitted work.
AI tools or systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship requires intellectual contribution, accountability, responsibility and the ability to approve the final version of the work, which can only be fulfilled by human individuals.
The journal may request further clarification regarding the use of AI-assisted technologies at any stage of the editorial process. Failure to disclose relevant AI use, or inappropriate use of AI tools, may lead to editorial action in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics policy.
