Membership of the Editorial Board of Cunoașterea Științifică involves active participation in maintaining the academic quality, integrity, and development of the journal.

Membership of the Editorial Board is not solely a professional or honorary distinction. Members agree to contribute, within reasonable limits and according to their areas of expertise, to the journal’s editorial activities and development.

1. Supporting the Journal’s Mission and Policies

Editorial Board members should be familiar with and comply with:

  • the journal’s aims and scope;
  • the Editorial Policy;
  • the peer-review policy;
  • the rules on authorship and contributorship;
  • the Plagiarism and Originality Policy;
  • the policy on competing interests;
  • confidentiality requirements;
  • the policy on the use of artificial intelligence;
  • the principles of open access and publication ethics.

Members should contribute to the consistent implementation of these policies.

2. Contribution to Editorial Activities

Depending on their expertise and availability, members may be asked to:

  • assess the relevance of manuscripts to the journal’s scope;
  • provide editorial opinions on submitted works;
  • recommend competent and independent reviewers;
  • propose topics, sections, or editorial directions;
  • contribute to the development of editorial standards;
  • assist in resolving academic or ethical issues;
  • manage a manuscript when requested by the Editor-in-Chief and when no competing interest exists.

A member is not required to accept an assignment for which they do not have the necessary expertise or reasonable availability.

3. Editorial Independence

Members must assess editorial matters exclusively on academic grounds.

Decisions must not be influenced by:

  • personal or professional relationships;
  • financial interests;
  • institutional affiliation;
  • the prestige or status of an author;
  • commercial considerations;
  • the author’s ability to pay the publication fee.

4. Competing Interests

Members must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived competing interest related to a manuscript.

A member must not participate in the handling or decision-making process concerning a work when:

  • they are an author or co-author;
  • they have recently collaborated closely with one of the authors;
  • there is a personal or professional relationship that may affect impartiality;
  • there is a relevant financial or institutional interest;
  • they believe they cannot act objectively.

In such situations, the manuscript will be assigned to another qualified and independent person.

5. Confidentiality

Unpublished manuscripts and information associated with the editorial process are confidential.

Members must not:

  • distribute manuscripts to unauthorized persons;
  • use unpublished ideas, data, or results for personal benefit;
  • disclose information concerning authors, reviewers, or the editorial process;
  • upload confidential manuscripts to public artificial intelligence services or other external systems that may retain or reuse the content.

6. Academic Integrity

Members should inform the Editor-in-Chief if they identify or suspect:

  • plagiarism;
  • data fabrication or falsification;
  • redundant publication;
  • inappropriate authorship;
  • citation manipulation;
  • undisclosed competing interests;
  • other possible breaches of academic integrity.

Suspected misconduct must be handled confidentially and impartially.

7. Journal Development

Members are encouraged to contribute to the academic development of the journal through:

  • proposals regarding areas of interest;
  • identification of specialists and potential reviewers;
  • attracting high-quality scholarly contributions;
  • development of academic collaborations;
  • recommendations regarding the journal’s visibility and internationalization;
  • appropriate and ethical promotion of the journal within relevant professional communities.

Promotion of the journal must not involve promises of manuscript acceptance or exaggerated claims regarding indexing or impact.

8. Professional Information

Members must provide and keep up to date:

  • professional name;
  • institutional affiliation;
  • country;
  • main areas of expertise;
  • ORCID, where available;
  • relevant institutional or academic profile, where appropriate.

Members should notify the journal when this information changes.

9. Participation and Communication

Members should respond within a reasonable period to important communications from the Editorial Office.

Participation in every editorial activity is not required; however, long-term membership implies a reasonable level of engagement and availability.

10. Voluntary Nature of the Role

Membership of the Editorial Board is voluntary and unpaid, unless otherwise expressly agreed for a separate activity.

A member’s institutional affiliation does not imply endorsement of the journal by that institution.

11. Periodic Review of Membership

The composition of the Editorial Board is reviewed periodically.

The journal may request confirmation of a member’s continued availability and may modify the composition of the Board in cases of:

  • voluntary withdrawal;
  • prolonged lack of response;
  • inability to continue participating in journal activities;
  • serious breach of editorial or ethical policies;
  • outdated or inaccurate professional information;
  • the need to maintain an active structure appropriate to the journal’s scope.

12. Acceptance of the Role

Acceptance of Editorial Board membership implies agreement with the responsibilities described on this page and consent to the public use of the member’s name, affiliation, and relevant professional information on the journal’s official pages.