Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche is a peer-reviewed journal, on a double-blind basis. This statement regulates ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in it and is based on the COPE's Codes of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines (http://publicationethics.org/).

Multiple Publication. An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of Sources. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.

Authorship of the Paper. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study, and should be listed as co-authors. Others, who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

Corresponding Author. Corresponding author is the author responsible for communicating with the journal for publication. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper. All co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Acknowledgment of Funding Sources. Sources of funding for the research reported in the article should be duly acknowledged in a footnote in the first page of the article.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the research as it is described in their manuscript.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editors or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

• DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Contribution of Peer Review. Peer review assists the editors in making editorial decisions while editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review applies, in the same way, to all the papers published by Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche.

Unqualified to Review or Promptness. Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review the assigned manuscript or unable to provide a prompt review should notify the editors and excuse himself/herself from the review process.

Confidentiality. Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others except as authorized by the chief editors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Standards of Objectivity. Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. A reviewer should also call to the chief editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Conflict of Interest. Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors.

• DUTIES OF EDITORS

Decision on the Publication of Articles. The editors of Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board subjected to such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors consult with reviewers in making this decision. In exceptional cases, the editors may assume direct responsibility for the publication of a manuscript; this decision, along with the reasons thereof, will be reported in a footnote in the published paper.

Fair Play. Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit.

Confidentiality. The editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in the editorial process without the express written consent of the author.