Editorial policies

Editorial Policies

Article processing and publication fees 

The journal does not charge any fees for processing or publishing articles.

 Funding policy

El Higo Journal is funded, edited, and published by the National University of Engineering (UNI) - Nicaragua.

 Open Access Policy

The journal prioritizes making the information shared in it openly accessible, thereby fulfilling the journal's objective of generating new knowledge and debate among the academic, professional, and scientific community specializing in Agricultural and Agroindustrial Technologies, Environmental Sciences, Process Engineering, and Business Management. Educational quality related to engineering at the national and international level.

El Higo journal uses the OAI-PMH interoperability protocol to exchange its metadata: https://camjol.info/index.php/elhigo/oai

All content published in the Journal El Higo is licensed under the  Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivar 4.0 BY-NC-ND 4.0). This implies that readers may copy and redistribute the articles in any medium or format, as long as proper credit is given to the journal, the author and the original work, it is used for non-commercial purposes and no modifications, adaptations or derivative works are made to the content. This policy guarantees free access to knowledge, respecting the intellectual rights of those who contribute to scientific production.

Archiving policy

El Higo Journal adopts a digital preservation policy based on the LOCKSS initiative included in OJS.

  • Authors are permitted to self-archive or deposit their work at the time of publication.
  • Authors may archive the pre-print and post-print in the publisher's version/PDF.
  • A DOI is used for each article and issue for archiving purposes.

Policy on third-party repositories

Deposit in personal or institutional repositories: authors are permitted to deposit versions of their articles in institutional, thematic, or personal repositories, provided that:

  • The reference to the original publication in the journal is clearly indicated.
  • The DOI is indicated.
  • It is specified whether it is a preprint, postprint, or final published version.

Non-institutional third-party repositories

Deposit in commercial third-party academic platforms is permitted only if it does not contravene the terms of the publication license (Creative Commons) and the original source is acknowledged.

Citation and traceability requirements

In all cases, traceability and correct citation of the version officially published in the journal must be ensured. 

Authorship policy

 El Higo journal considers that an author of a published work is a person who has made a significant intellectual contribution to it. Following the guidelines of the Committee on Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) , the following criteria must be met in order to be listed as an author:

  • Substantive contributions to the concept or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Drafting of the work or critical review of the most relevant intellectual content.
  • Final approval of the version to be published.
  • Agreement to take responsibility for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of it are investigated and resolved appropriately.

Those who do not meet these criteria may only be acknowledged in the acknowledgments. To avoid the risk of fictitious or usurped authorship, it is recommended that, at the time of submission, all authors agree on their contributions and the order in which they will appear in the list of co-authors.

Contributions by author

To specify the contribution of each author to the work, it is recommended to use the criteria established by the CRediT (CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy)) taxonomy:

Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Fund acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project management, Resources, Software, Supervision, Visualization, Writing.

Order of contribution

To determine the order of authorship, authors can use any of the three most common practices:

  • First last author emphasis approach (FLAE): the first and last authors are equally important. Between them, the order of authorship is considered to indicate decreasing contributions.
  • Sequence determines credit approach (SDC): the order indicates importance.
  • Equal contribution norm (EC): alphabetical order is used to recognize similar contributions or to avoid disputes in collaborative groups.

Changes in authorship

El Higo Journal will adopt and follow COPE. flowcharts, whereby any addition, deletion, or reordering of names must be done before the manuscript has been accepted and only with the approval of the journal editor.

Conflicts of interest

El Higo Journal will adopt and follow COPE flowcharts in the event of conflicts of interest: (a) Conflicts of interest not disclosed in a submitted manuscript and (b) Conflicts of interest not disclosed in a published article.

If authors declare a conflict of interest involving any financial or personal relationship with any public or private entity that could influence (intentionally) the results of their work, this must be disclosed at the time of submission of the manuscript.

Ethics policy

El Higo journal strives for the highest standards of editorial integrity, following the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE.). We are committed to promoting best practices in academic evaluation and research.

Editorial Team

The Editorial Team of El Higo Journal is composed of an editorial board that includes: Editor-in-Chief, Senior Editor, UNI Directorate, and a Scientific Council made up of renowned national and international experts.

The Editor-in-Chief provides the full names and affiliations of the members, as well as updated contact information on the journal's website. In the contact section, the email address, telephone number, and postal address of the Editorial and Publications Unit are provided for any inquiries.

Anti-plagiarism policy

The most common forms of unethical principles in publishing are: plagiarism, improper authorship, and redundant publication:

Plagiarism: All publication proposals will be reviewed by a text similarity detection program (Turnitin).

Inappropriate authorship: Participation in authorship and the order of appearance in the article is the responsibility of the authors; the journal has no influence on these aspects. Authors should not make changes to the number and order of authors once the editorial process has begun.

Redundant publication (duplicate publication and fragmented publication): The journal does not accept duplicate publication. If this offense is committed and proven, the authors will be subject to the guidelines established by COPE.

Equal evaluation criteria

El Higo Journal evaluates all articles fairly and equitably, regardless of gender, institutional affiliation, nationality, or other biases.

Respect for evaluation deadlines

Referees undertake to carry out the requested review within the maximum deadlines established by the Editorial Team of El Higo Journal, scrupulously respecting the deadlines. If the reviewer does not consider themselves competent to review the assigned manuscript, or if it is impossible for them to complete the review within the specified time, they will immediately notify the Editorial Team.

Double-blind peer review

The evaluation system used by this journal is external, confidential, and double-blind. All articles received are subject to an external peer review process; the reviewers are those persons whom the Editorial Committee considers most appropriate based on their professional profile, academic merit, and experience.

Conflict of interest policy

Authors must explicitly declare that there are no conflicts of interest that may have affected the results obtained. To do so, they must accept the guidelines included in the checklist for preparing submissions.

If conflicts of interest are not declared, the manuscript will be rejected. If a conflict of interest is discovered after publication, El Higo Journal will act in accordance with COPE. guidelines.

Handling complaints and appeals

  • Complaints, grievances, or reports from readers, authors, or reviewers may be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief at the email address of El Higo Journal (revistaelhigo@uni.edu.ni).
  • The members of the Editorial Committee undertake to respond to them once the arguments presented have been analyzed, discussed, and verified.
  • When the reason for the complaint or appeal involves a breach of any of the ethical best practices established by Revista El Higo and COPE. in their Code of Conduct, the COPE. Flowcharts will be followed for each case.

 Post-publication revisions

Articles and other types of documents published in this journal will remain current, accurate, and unchanged as far as possible. However, exceptional circumstances may arise in which an article is published that must subsequently be corrected, retracted, or even removed. Such actions will be taken after careful consideration by the editorial team of El Higo Journal to ensure that appropriate responses are taken, based on the standards recommended by COPE..

In these cases, the system of standards and control mechanisms for scientific communication has several main procedures for rectification depending on the type, severity, and consequences of the inaccuracy detected. These may take the form of an errata notice or correction, a retraction, and, in rare cases, the removal of the article. The purpose of this mechanism is to ensure that changes are transparent and that the integrity of the academic record is always guaranteed.

Errata

An errata notice will be published when it is necessary to correct an error or omission made by the journal after publication that may affect the record of the publication or the reputation of the authors or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the article remains intact.

All errors will be accompanied by a separate notice. The notice must provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the document.

In these circumstances:

  • The article will be corrected.
  • A note will be added at the end of the article with a reference to the errata notice.
  • A separate erratum notice or correction will be published linked to the corrected version.
  • The errata or correction document will be paginated and have a DOI.

Corrections

A correction notice will be issued when it is necessary to correct an error or omission made by the authors that affects the record of the publication or the reputation of the authors or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the article remains intact.

All errors will be accompanied by a separate notice. The notice must provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the document. In these circumstances:

  • The article will be corrected.
  • A note will be added at the end of the article with a reference to the correction notice.
  • A separate errata or correction notice will be published linked to the corrected version.
  • The errata or correction document will be paginated and have a DOI.

Retractions

A retraction notice will be published when a significant error invalidates the conclusions of the article, or when there has been misconduct in the research or misconduct in the publication. Authors may request the retraction of their articles if their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.

Retraction will be considered:

  • If there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., fabrication of data or manipulation of images) or error (e.g., calculation error or experimental error).
  • If the findings have been previously published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (e.g., cases of redundant publication or duplicate publication).
  • If the research constitutes plagiarism.
  • If there is evidence of fraudulent authorship.
  • If there is evidence of compromised peer review.
  • If there are indications of unethical research and violations of professional ethical codes.

When the decision to retract an article has been made:

  • A watermark stating “retracted article” will be added to the published version of the article record.
  • The title of the article will be preceded by Retracted article: [article title]
  • A separate retraction statement will be published, titled “Retraction: [article title],” which will be linked to the retracted article. This note will be signed by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.
  • The retraction statement will be paginated and assigned a DOI.

Removal of articles

The removal of an article will be carried out in exceptional circumstances where the problems are of a very serious nature and cannot be addressed by a correction or retraction notice.

This will only occur:

  • When the article is clearly defamatory or infringes other legal rights.
  • When an article is subject to a court order.
  • When the article, if not acted upon, could pose a serious health risk.
  • If an article is removed, the metadata (authorship and title) will be retained and the text will be replaced by a document indicating that the article has been removed for legal or other reasons.

Resubmission of manuscripts within the same institution

If a manuscript has been previously evaluated and rejected by a journal belonging to the same institution, the author may submit it to a second institutional journal only if:

  1. A formal rejection has been received from the first journal.
  2. The author has made substantial changes to the content, structure, or focus of the article, if applicable.
  3. It is expressly stated, at the time of resubmission, that the manuscript was previously submitted to and rejected by another institutional journal, indicating its name and the outcome of the editorial process.

Research for studies involving human subjects

Manuscripts involving the participation of individuals as part of the research process (interviews, surveys, direct observation, workshops, etc.) must include an ethical statement on obtaining informed consent and ensure the protection of participants' privacy and anonymity. The journal reserves the right to request additional documentation to support this compliance.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Authors who have used artificial intelligence (AI) tools—such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or other generative platforms—during the preparation of the manuscript must explicitly declare this. This declaration must specify:

  • The name of the tool used.
  • The sections of the manuscript in which this tool was used.
  • The type of content generated or assisted by AI.
  • The justification for the use of these tools in the writing or analysis process of the article.

In addition, the artificial intelligence tool used must be properly cited and included in the references section in accordance with the citation style adopted by the journal.

The use of AI does not exempt authors from their ethical and academic responsibility for the content of the manuscript, nor does it replace the critical judgment, intellectual authorship, and scientific analysis that should characterize all academic publications.

Acknowledgments Policy

  • El Higo Journal allows for an acknowledgments section, where authors can express their gratitude to those who have provided support or made substantial contributions to the development of the research, including colleagues, institutions, organizations, funders, technical collaborators, among others. However, these individuals do not meet the criteria to be considered authors.
  • Authors must be specific about the type of contribution made by each person or institution mentioned.
  • It is important to obtain the consent of the individuals or institutions that will be mentioned in the acknowledgments section.

Social media disclosure policy

With the aim of increasing the reach of articles to a wider audience, El Higo Journal will use the UNI's official Facebook and Instagram social media accounts. The following measures will be established:

Responsible use

  • Use of social media for the dissemination of articles in a responsible manner, respecting established ethical standards.
  • Avoid defamation, harassment, discrimination, or other inappropriate content that could damage the reputation of the journal and its community.
  • No content that infringes on copyright will be published or shared.

Identification

  • When publishing content on social media, El Higo Journal will clearly identify itself as the source of the information.
  • Information for downloading articles will be included on its indexing platforms.
  • Tags or mentions related to the journal will be included.

Content approval

  • All content published on social media will be reviewed and approved by the editorial team.
  • The information published on social media will be related to: Article/essay title, authors, affiliation, country, and abstracts.

Encouraging participation and dialogue

  • Comments and/or queries will be responded to in a timely and constructive manner.

• The exchange of knowledge and constructive dialogue will be promoted.

Extension policy

The Journal El Higo, in accordance with the mission of the National University of Engineering (UNI) of Nicaragua, promotes university extension as a fundamental axis for the scientific, technological and social development of the country. In this sense, it promotes the dissemination and application of the knowledge generated to the Nicaraguan society, through scientific dissemination and collaborative work with communities, productive sectors and institutions, contributing to sustainable development and improving the quality of life.