Ethics, Transparency, and Integrity in Higher Education in the Age of Digital Transformation

Abstract Submission Deadline (April 11) Paper Submission Deadline (29 Sept)

The rapid digitalization of higher education has introduced profound transformations in teaching, learning, research, and institutional governance. While digital technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for accessibility and innovation, they also raise critical concerns regarding transparency, academic integrity, equity, and accountability.

Furthermore, the main challenge of any typology of digital environment is related to “digital transformation” reforms see as holistic approach rather then creating new digital solutions, that is only a part of this new “transformation” (i.e., governance of data, quality by design, re-engineering of processes, active participation of all the actors, etc.).

The increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI), online assessments, and data-driven decision-making presents fundamental challenges related to the protection of students and faculty rights, privacy, plagiarism prevention, and emerging forms of discrimination and inequality in access to education. At an institutional level, universities must address issues of digital governance and legal responsibility in adopting new technologies and regulating digital learning and assessment practices.

This Call for Papers invites original contributions that explore the legal, ethical, and socio-political dimensions of higher education in the digital age. We particularly welcome studies examining:

• The right to education and equitable access to higher education in the digital era
• Transparency and accountability in digital university governance
• Quality assurance aspects and instruments
• Artificial intelligence, online assessments, and new challenges for academic integrity
• Privacy and data protection for students and faculty
• Anti-discrimination law and the digital divide: the impact of digitalization on gender equity and minority inclusion
• Historical and political perspectives on transparency and governance in higher education
• The impact of digitalization on academic labor rights and faculty working conditions

We welcome contributions from a multidisciplinary perspective, particularly in the fields of law, pedagogy, history, sociology, and the philosophy of education.

Rules for Abstract:

An abstract in Italian and English (max 1,500 lines).
Six keywords in Italian and English.

A short biography of the author, including:
Name and surname.
Research interests (not titles of publications).
Any university or institution to which it belongs, with the role held

Deadline for submission of abstracts (11 April)
Deadline for submission of articles (29 September)

The text must be sent to the editorial staff exclusively in Word format (doc or docx), to the e-mail address: redazione@rivistauniversitas.it.

Click on the buttons below to download the pdf of the editorial norms and the code of ethics:

Editorial Norms – “Universitas” Journal

By submitting a manuscript to “Universitas”, the author implicitly agrees to the following conditions:

• Publication is free of charge.
• The manuscript must be submitted exclusively in Word format (.doc or .docx) to the editorial office at the email address: redazione@rivistauniversitas.it.
• Manuscripts will not be returned.
• Authors whose contributions are accepted agree to adhere to the journal’s Code of Ethics.

Peer Review

The journal adopts a double-blind peer review process, in which the identity of both authors and reviewers is kept confidential. All submissions are initially subject to an internal preliminary evaluation to verify minimum scientific requirements for publication. At this stage, the editorial office may request additions or modifications to the manuscript. Essays that pass this initial review are sent for anonymous evaluation (double-blind peer review) by external referees selected based on their expertise in the relevant subject. Authors are strongly encouraged to take into serious consideration the reviewers’ comments during the review process. The final decision regarding publication rests exclusively with the Scientific Board of the journal.

Contribution Format:

• Essays, including notes and bibliographic references, must not exceed 55,000 characters (including spaces).
• Reviews must not exceed 15,000 characters.
• If a contribution is particularly relevant or original, the Editorial Board may waive the above limits.

Formatting Guidelines:

• Paragraphs must be indented.
• Font: Times New Roman.
  Size 12 for the main text.
  Size 10 for footnotes.
• Line spacing:
  1.5 for main text.
  1 for footnotes.

Each essay must be accompanied by:

• An abstract in Italian and English (max. 1,500 characters).
• Six keywords in Italian and English.
• A short author biography, including:
   Full name.
   Research interests (not publication titles).
   Affiliation and role at any university or institution (if applicable).

Reviews:

The review title must include:

• Full name of the author or editor.
• Full book title.
• Total number of pages.

Text and Quotations

Essays may be divided into paragraphs, subparagraphs, and sub-subparagraphs. These must be numbered and italicized in Times New Roman, size 12, 1.5 spacing, without indentation.

Examples:
I. 1. Introduction
II. 1.2. Economic relations before the war
III. 1.2.3. Further information on diplomatic missions

Full names must be spelled out when first mentioned in both text and notes and without abbreviations (Mario Rossi, Giorgia Bianchi etc.), abbreviations (e.g., M. Rossi, G. Bianchi etc.) or just the last name (Rossi) may be used subsequently.

Names of political parties and movements, nations, states, kingdoms, institutions and various bodies should be capitalized and fully spelled out when first mentioned in both text and notes: Partito Socialista Italiano, Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Regno delle Due Sicilie, Great Britain, European Union etc.

Titles of books, pamphlets, articles, essays, songs, poems, conference papers, and artworks should be italicized. Use Roman font with quotation marks (“ ”) for names of journals, magazines and newspapers

Examples:
a) Storia dell’Istruzione italiana dal 1900 al 2000.
b) “Cimea, Universitas. Politica, Economia, Giuridica”.
c) Aldo Moro was considered the political and strategic “reference” of the Christian Democrat party.

Citations shorter than three lines should be in « ». Citations of three or more lines should appear without quotation marks, in size 10 font, aligned with the text and separated by one blank line (size 12) above and below, with indented paragraphs. In footnotes, all quotations (even if long) should be in « ».

Secondary quotations within « » must be enclosed in “ ” and never in ‘’ or similar. This refers to both text and footnotes. For example: «Cavour, addressing Vittorio Emanuele II after unification, stated: “Italy is made, now we must make Italians.”». Omissions should be indicated with three dots in square brackets […].

Footnotes and Bibliographic References

Footnotes must appear at the bottom of the page. In-text references should be in superscript before punctuation, without spacing between the word or the number.

Examples: 124¹, European Union¹. Thats is¹, or¹:

When citing books, essays, articles, etc., follow these rules:

• Full author name must appear at first mention, without abbreviation
• In the case of an editor, the name and surname must be followed by (edited by) and a comma. If there is more than one author or editor, their names and surnames must be separated by commas.
• For more than three authors/editors, use et al. after the third name. Do not use “AA.VV.”, Various Authors or similar.
• Complete titles should be italicized. Vol. 3 will indicate the third volume of a work in multiple volumes; in no cases write “volume 3,” “vol. 3,” or “3° Vol.” or similar.
• Use “3 vols.” for a work in three volumes. If present, indicate the Volume with Roman numerals in capital letters.
• Any indication of name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s) or translator(s), if the information is important for the functionality of the text, goes after the title.
• The publisher, place and year of publication will be indicated in that order. Do not put a comma between the place of publication and the year. In the absence of the publisher and/or place of publication and/or year of publication, write s.e., s.l., s.a. respectively.
• When citing works published outside Italy, the place of publication must be reported as it appears in the original cited text (Paris, London, Berlin, etc.).
• The page number(s) to which reference is made must be preceded by p. or pp., never by pag. or pagg. and similar. If the reference is to several consecutive pages, separate them with a hyphen, if not consecutive, with a comma. If you intend to generically indicate several following pages, after the first page to which you refer write sg. (pp. 155 sg.), in no case seguinti, seg., segg. or similar. The numerical indication of the pages must always be complete (pp. 355-359), never abbreviated or simplified (pp. 355-9 or pp. 355-59). In the absence of the page number(s) in the work cited, write s.n.p.
• In the case of essays or other writings contained in a volume, indicate the relevant page numbers.

Examples:
a) Elena Martelli, Le città del Mediterraneo medievale, Vol. 2, Il Mulino, Bologna 2011, pp. 103 sg.
b) Luca Ferri, L’Italia e le sue trasformazioni sociali, Vol. 1, Dall’Unità alla Repubblica, Preface by Chiara Neri, Carocci, Rome 2003, pp. 89–104.
c) Chiara Neri, Luca Ferri (eds.), Le regioni d’Italia, Vol. 2, Il Sud, Tome I, pp. 172, 176–179.
d) James Black, The Cold War in Europe, in Sarah White, George Grey, Anna Bright (eds.), Global Conflicts of the Twentieth Century, Routledge, London 2008, pp. 212–229.

Final bibliography:

NEVER include a final bibliography, maintaining the given that all titles cited in the notes be complete with all the required bibliographic information. All titles must appear in the notes with full bibliographic information.

Code of Ethics of the “Universitas” Journal

Preamble

Universitas. Rivista Online interdisciplinare adopts a peer review procedure based on the double-blind system to ensure impartial scientific evaluation. This system guarantees that reviewers do not know the identity of the authors and vice versa.

This Code of Ethics adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), promoting an ethical and transparent approach to academic publishing. All parties involved in the editorial process (Head Office, Editorial Board, Reviewers and Authors) are required to comply with the provisions herein.

The journal adopts an open access publishing model and is committed to ensuring scientific quality, transparency in academic debate and the integrity of research.

1. Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must submit original and unpublished works. The use of others’ work must be properly cited with full bibliographic references. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are serious ethical violations and may result in referrals to authorities and sanctions.

Multiple Submissions
Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal or duplicate publication of substantially similar content in different journals is not allowed.

Authorship and Contributors
Only those who have significantly contributed to the research can be listed as authors. Other contributors must be explicitly acknowledged in the acknowledgments section.

Corresponding Author
The corresponding author must ensure correct attribution of all co-authors and obtain their approval of the final version of the article.

Funding and Conflicts of Interest
All sources of financial support must be disclosed. Authors must declare any conflicts of interest (financial or otherwise) that could influence the results or interpretation of the research.

Copyright and Permissions
Authors must ensure that the content does not infringe third-party rights. Any required permissions or releases must be obtained in advance.

Errors and Retractions
If an author identifies a significant error in their published article, they must promptly notify the Management to initiate appropriate corrections or retractions.

2. Duties of Reviewers (Peer Reviewers)

Qualification and Responsibility
Reviewers are selected among scholars with proven expertise in the relevant field. They must promptly notify the Editorial Board if unable to carry out the review in a timely manner or if lacking the required expertise.

Confidentiality
Manuscripts under review are confidential documents. They must not be shared or discussed without the explicit authorization of the Scientific Committee.

Objectivity
The review must be conducted objectively, avoiding personal judgments. Comments should be clear, reasoned and constructive.

Sources and References
Reviewers are expected to point out significant bibliographic omissions or substantial similarities with other published works.

Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers must refrain from evaluating manuscripts in case of conflicts of interest stemming from collaborations, competition or personal relationships with the authors.

3. Duties of the Editorial Board Coordinator

• Impartiality: the evaluation of submissions is based solely on scientific merit.
• Confidentiality: all manuscript-related information is handled confidentially.
• Integrity: unpublished material in the manuscripts may not be used for personal purposes without the author’s consent.
• Guaranteeing the peer review process: the Coordinator ensures that reviews are conducted correctly, anonymously, consistently and traceably.

4. Duties of the Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee oversees the entire editorial process, ensuring adherence to scientific and ethical standards. In case of doubts about the ethical validity of the research or the submitted content, it may request clarifications and supporting documentation. It is responsible for implementing appropriate measures in case of Code violations, including suspension, retraction, or the publication of corrections.

5. Transparency and Scientific Debate

The journal promotes transparency in scientific debate by accepting responses or comments on previously published articles, in the form of notes or letters to the Editor. These contributions will be evaluated with equal scientific rigor.

6. Adherence to the ANVUR Code of Ethics

All members of the Scientific Committee and the Editorial Board commit to complying with the provisions of the ANVUR Code of Ethics, including rules on the declaration of conflicts of interest, participation in evaluation bodies and transparency of academic affiliations.