1. Introduction

This document applies to the Series III of rpee – Portuguese Journal of Structural Engineering. Rpee’s aim and scope is to disseminate the scientific and technological activity developed in the field of Structural Engineering.

Series I of rpee was published between January 1978 and December 2006.

The Series I was a printed edition available to subscribers and sold directly in LNEC´s Book Store.

Series II of rpee (ISSN: 0870-984X) was published between July 2007 and June 2015. The Series II was also a printed edition available to subscribers and sold directly at LNEC´s Book Store. All article abstracts of this Series are available at http://rpee.lnec.pt.

Series III of rpee (ISSN: 2183-8488) is being published since July 2016. Series III is a partnership between LNEC National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, APEE – Portuguese Association of Structural Engineering (Portuguese Group of IABSE), GPBE – Portuguese Group of Structural Engineering (Portuguese Group of fib) and SPES – Portuguese Society of Earthquake Engineering (Portuguese Group of EAEE and IAEE).

The Series III is available in digital format and with open access at http://rpee.lnec.pt. Submitted articles can be written in Portuguese, Spanish or English. In any case, the English translation of the title and abstract must be included. By allowing Portuguese and Spanish articles, rpee intends to reach Structural Engineers from Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries, namely large communities of Africa and South America.

2. Editorial Board

Information of rpee´s editorial board is provided at http://rpee.lnec.pt/02_d_corpo_editorial_EN.htm and all contacts are available at http://rpee.lnec.pt/02_e_contactos_EN.htm.

Editors of rpee evaluate manuscripts for their academic merit without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. The editor is responsible for the final decision of which of the papers submitted to the journal should be published. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision. The editor 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. Unpublished information will never be used in the editor's own research without the prior express written consent of the author. Errors or ethical issues regarding content published in rpee may be brought to the Editors’ attention by Authors, Reviewers or by the readers of the Journal, regardless of their publication date. The authors’ opinion may not always be supported by the editorial board.

3. Authors and Authors responsibilities

Submission instructions are available at http://rpee.lnec.pt/03_a_instrucoes_autores_EN.htm. The journal does not charge submission, article processing or publication fees.

The submission of a paper presupposes that the respective Authors accept the following ethical principles:

On submitting a manuscript, the Authors ensure that the manuscript is their own original work. Authors should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. The corresponding author should ensure that there is a full consensus of all co-authors on the manuscript submission for publication. Authors should clearly declare any conflicts of interest. Submitted contributions that, directly or indirectly, had the economic support of third parties, should clearly state these sources of funding. 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 editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

4. Peer-review process

rpee is a single blind peer reviewed Journal. Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Any manuscripts received for review are treated confidentially. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal advantage and should be kept confidential. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by reviewer without the express written consent of the author. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments. Any referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. Peer reviewers’ identities are protected in the single-blind peer review process.

5. Publication ethics

First and foremost, the Editors, as well as the Editorial Board, are committed to the monitoring and safeguarding of the stated publication ethics and to maintain the integrity and good practices in academic publishing.

Papers that do not comply with the Ethical Guidelines will not be accepted. Errors or issues detected after publishing will lead to an investigation and, if proven actual, to the publishing of corrections, retractions and/or responses.

6. Copyright and access

The Series III is available in digital format and with open access at http://rpee.lnec.pt/04_b_Serie3_EN.htm.

No fees are charged to access issues of the Series III.

Authors are free to make the pdf files of their own articles available as deemed necessary. Therefore, the journal allows self-archiving of the published version without any restriction.

The Authors are free to use all or part of their content (text and figures) in other publications, including edits and adaptations; nevertheless, the original publication in rpee should always be referenced.

7. Archiving

The Journal is hosted in the LNEC´s web server and its security and maintenance is assured by this Public Institute.

8. Ownership and management

Information of rpee´s Administration Board is provided at http://rpee.lnec.pt/02_c_administracao_EN.htm.

The Administration Board is composed by four representatives, each one indicated by each of the four partnership members. All involved Associations and LNEC have high standards concerning publication ethics. Moreover, LNEC, being a Public Institute, has that obligation under constant surveillance.

The Administration Board and Publisher contacts are available at http://rpee.lnec.pt/02_e_contactos_EN.htm.

9. The web site

rpee website is permanently updated. The Administration Board members review the online content to ensure its high ethical and professional standards.

10. Publishing schedule

The Series III issues are published quarterly and are edited in digital format. All issues are fully available online, with open access at http://rpee.lnec.pt/04_b_Serie3_EN.htm.

11. Name of the journal

rpee – Revista Portuguesa de Engenharia de Estruturas. The first issue was published in January, 1978. In Portugal there isn’t any conflict with other Structural Publication. Internationally, the Portuguese Journal of Structural Engineering isn’t also confused with any other Structural Journal. Both names are registered and have ISSN number.