Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

Last updated: 05/05/2026

Pensar – Revista de Ciências Jurídicas adopts strict ethical standards in its editorial process, grounded in the national and international good practices applicable to scientific publishing. The journal acts in line with the principles of scientific integrity, impartiality, confidentiality, transparency, editorial responsibility and respect for copyright. This Code observes the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Scientific Integrity Policy of the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR).

1. Authorship and contribution

Authorship must reflect a substantive intellectual contribution. All authors must cumulatively:

  • a) have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of the data;
  • b) have drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
  • c) have approved the final version to be published;
  • d) be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that any questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

People who have contributed in other ways (e.g. technical or financial support, general supervision) must be acknowledged, not listed as authors. Improper inclusion (ghost, honorary, gift or courtesy authorship) is considered misconduct.

2. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authorship is exclusively human. Generative Artificial Intelligence tools may not, under any circumstances, be listed as authors or co-authors. When used as support (translation, language revision, textual organisation), the use of AI must be explicitly disclosed by the authors in the Introduction of the manuscript. See the dedicated policy at Use of Artificial Intelligence.

3. Ethics approval for research with humans and animals

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Any research published by Pensar involving human or animal subjects must have been conducted in line with the applicable ethical principles and, where required, with prior approval by an independent research ethics committee (institutional, local, regional or national).

Manuscripts reporting research with human subjects must include, in the Methods section:

  • a) an explicit statement that the study was approved by a research ethics committee, with the name of the committee and the approval number/identifier (CAAE in Brazil, or equivalent);
  • b) the date of approval;
  • c) a statement that the study followed the Declaration of Helsinki and, in Brazil, the resolutions of the National Health Council (in particular CNS 466/2012 and CNS 510/2016, the latter applicable to research in social sciences and humanities);
  • d) where the research was waived from ethics review, a specific statement explaining the reason for the waiver and the applicable rule.

Manuscripts reporting research with animals must include:

  • a) a statement that the study was approved by an institutional Ethics Committee on Animal Use (CEUA) or equivalent body, with the committee name and approval number;
  • b) a statement that the study followed the ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) and the applicable legislation (in Brazil, Law 11,794/2008 and CONCEA resolutions).

For research conducted at the University of Fortaleza, ethical approval is granted by the Research Ethics Committee — Coética-UNIFOR. The journal may, at any time, request a copy of the ethics approval as a condition for publication.

4. Anonymisation, confidentiality and informed consent

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Manuscripts that contain personal information or data allowing the identification of individuals require specific care regarding anonymisation, confidentiality and informed consent, in compliance with the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (Law 13,709/2018 — LGPD), the applicable international legislation, and best editorial practice.

4.1. Informed consent for participation in the study

In empirical studies with human subjects (interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, analysis of records, participant observation and the like), free and informed consent must be obtained from participants prior to data collection, by means of an Informed Consent Form (TCLE — Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido) describing: the research objectives, procedures, risks and benefits, confidentiality safeguards, the right to withdraw at any moment, contact details of the responsible researcher and of the ethics committee. Where consent is obtained orally rather than in writing, the manuscript must explain the reason and describe the procedure used to record consent.

4.2. Consent for the publication of personal data, images, audio and video

When the manuscript includes personal data, images, audio or video of identifiable individuals (case studies, photographs, audio recordings of hearings, testimonies, among others), the authors must obtain express and specific consent from the individuals concerned for publication, not only for participation in the study. This consent must take the form of a written instrument, and the manuscript must contain an explicit statement to that effect.

The journal may require a copy of the consent forms as a condition for publication. The absence of such consent, where required, will result in rejection of the manuscript or, if already published, retraction.

4.3. Anonymisation and confidentiality

Whenever possible and appropriate to the aims of the study, authors must opt for the anonymisation of data, removing first and last names, identification documents, addresses, specific occupation, place of work, photographs of identifiable faces, undistorted audio and any other element that, alone or in combination, makes the person identifiable.

For research in Law involving judicial cases, administrative proceedings, or case-law concerning identifiable parties, authors must observe:

  • a) anonymisation of the parties is the rule (especially in cases involving children, adolescents, victims of crimes against sexual dignity, vulnerable persons or proceedings under judicial secrecy);
  • b) the use of public data from non-confidential proceedings is admissible when justified by the scientific relevance of the study, in compliance with the LGPD and the applicable resolution of the Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ);
  • c) the processing of sensitive data (racial or ethnic origin, religious belief, political opinion, health data, data of vulnerable persons) requires reinforced justification and, as a rule, anonymisation, even where the proceeding is public.

4.4. Mandatory statements in the manuscript

Each manuscript involving identifiable individuals or personal data must contain, in the Methods section or in a dedicated statement:

  • a) a declaration that informed consent for participation was obtained;
  • b) a declaration that specific consent was obtained for the publication of personal data, images, audio or video, where applicable;
  • c) a description of the anonymisation procedures adopted, where express consent for identification has not been obtained;
  • d) a reference to the ethics approval, where required.

5. Conflicts of interest

Authors, reviewers, editors and editorial staff must disclose all current and potential conflicts of interest, as detailed in the Conflict of Interest Policy.

6. Advertising and financial independence

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Pensar – Revista de Ciências Jurídicas does NOT accept commercial advertising on its pages, on its hosting journal portal, in its articles, in its e-mail communications, on its social-media channels or on any other institutional channel of the journal.

The journal is funded exclusively through institutional support from the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), maintained by the Edson Queiroz Foundation, through the Higher Council of Editorship (Conselho Superior de Editoração — CSE/UNIFOR) and the Vice-Rectory for Research. Pensar does not charge submission, processing (APC) or publication fees to authors and does not receive commercial revenue, private sponsorship, conditional donations or any other consideration linked to editorial interests.

As a consequence of this policy, and in line with the principles of transparency and editorial independence promoted by COPE:

  • a) there is, and may be, no commercial relationship between advertisers and editorial decision-making;
  • b) no advertising space is available for negotiation on the journal’s website, on the UNIFOR journal portal, or within the PDFs/HTML of published articles;
  • c) any mentions of academic institutional partnerships (scholarly societies, postgraduate programmes, partner institutions) do not constitute commercial advertising and are presented in clearly identified sections, with no interference in the editorial process.

Should the journal reconsider this policy in the future, any change will be preceded by the publication of a specific advertising policy on the journal’s own page, in line with COPE guidance — in particular the clear separation between editorial and advertising content, the prohibition of any link between advertisers and editorial decisions, and prior approval of advertising formats by the Editor-in-Chief and the Higher Council of Editorship.

7. Plagiarism and textual integrity

All manuscripts undergo similarity checking. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data and manipulation of images or citations are prohibited and handled in accordance with the COPE flowcharts. See further detail at Similarity Check.

8. Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions

Significant errors in published articles result in errata, expressions of concern or retractions according to severity, in line with the Corrections, Expressions of Concern and Retractions Policy.

9. Editors’ responsibilities

Editors commit to: (i) deciding on publication on the basis of academic merit and fit with the journal’s scope, free from any kind of discrimination; (ii) preserving the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and of reviewer identities; (iii) refraining from acting in cases where they have a conflict of interest; (iv) addressing allegations of editorial or scientific misconduct seriously; (v) ensuring due process in appeals and complaints, in accordance with the journal’s specific policies.

10. Reviewers’ responsibilities

Reviewers commit to: (i) issuing objective, well-grounded and respectful reports; (ii) preserving the confidentiality of the manuscript received, neither sharing its content with third parties nor using it for personal purposes; (iii) disclosing any conflicts of interest and refraining from review when applicable; (iv) flagging to the editorial team any suspicion of misconduct identified during reading.

11. Handling of misconduct

Suspected misconduct is handled in accordance with the COPE flowcharts. Reports may be sent to revistapensar@unifor.br. Detailed procedures are set out in the pages on Publication Ethics, Appeals and Complaints.

Related documents and references

Contact

Editor-in-Chief: Sidney Soares Filho

E-mail: revistapensar@unifor.br