Publication Ethics & Malpractice

The Journal opposes any form of unethical behavior and plagiarism. All articles received by the Editorial Board and meeting its requirements are checked for plagiarism in the STRIKEPLAGIARISM, the threshold level being 75%. Illegal borrowings and quoting as well as the increasing of the text originality using technical and unfair methods are prohibited.

The editorial team and the Editorial Board of the international peer-reviewed journal follow the principles of publication ethics accepted by the international community and reflected in the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Publishing Ethics Resource Kit by Elsevier.

The Journal doesn’t charge fees for submission, preparing and publication of articles. Publishing articles in the Journal is free.

The Editorial Board and Editorial Council of the Journal strictly adhere to ethical standards in their own activities and in relationships with all participants in the publications process including authors, reviewers, editors, publishers, distributors, and readers. Here is a list of ethical standards that must be followed by authors, reviewers, and editors involved in the publication of research results:

Ethics of publishing of scholarly articles

  • The Editorial Board of the Journal accepts for consideration only unpublished manuscripts corresponding to the scope of the Journal.
  • The Journal does not publish materials that may be considered stolen.
  • The Editor is obliged to identify and prevent the publication of articles in the research of which inappropriate behaviour was committed, not to encourage such violations, or to knowingly allow such violations.
  • When deciding on the acceptance/rejection of a manuscript the Editor considers the reliability and scholarly significance of the submitted work, it's compliance with the focus of the Journal, originality, clarity, and relevance of the research.
  • The Editor guarantees that decisions are made regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, origin, citizenship, social status, or political preferences of the authors.
  • The Editor guarantees complete confidentiality in the process of accepting, processing, and reviewing articles. The unpublished materials cannot be used for personal purposes or transferred to the third parties.
  • The Editor undertakes to coordinate with the author the editing changes and/or reduction of the text. The Editor and the Publisher should not leave unanswered the claims regarding the reviewed manuscripts or published materials. In the case of a conflict situation, they are to take all necessary measures to restore the violated rights.
  • The Editor undertakes to consider the facts or allegations of an inappropriate research behaviour.
  • The Editor guarantees the recognition of errors and if necessary, the publication of corrections, clarification, refutations, and apologies. (Instructions for revoking or correcting articles);
  • The opinion of the Editor may not coincide with the point of view of the authors of published materials.

Ethics of reviewing of scholarly articles

  1. The review process is objective, independent of commercial interests and market needs. The priority is the scholarly value of the research, its content and novelty, compliance with the requirements of scholarly ethics.
  2. The Editor ensures the confidentiality of the review process and informs the reviewers of the need for strict adherence to the ethical principles of reviewing. The unpublished materials cannot be used by the editors or reviewers in their own interests.
  3. The reviewing is carried out anonymously. A manuscript is sent to a reviewer without indicating the author’s name. In the case of a negative review, its text is provided to the author of the manuscript without a signature or indication of the reviewer’s surname, position, or place of work. The violation of anonymity is possible only in the case of the reviewer’s statement about the unreliability or falsification of the materials presented in the manuscript or the presence of plagiarism.
  4. The reviewer is obliged to provide an objective, reasoned, well-founded assessment of the materials and research results submitted for publication. Personal criticism of the author is not allowed.
  5. As a conclusion the reviewer fills out a review form which reflects the criteria for evaluating the manuscript. The final part of the review contains a general assessment of the manuscript, comments, and recommendations.
  6. A reviewer who, in his/her opinion, does not have sufficient qualifications to evaluate the manuscript or cannot be objective, is obliged to inform the Editor about this.
  7. After receiving a positive review of the submitted manuscript, the final decision on the advisability of publication is made by the Editorial Board.
  8. The presence of a positive review is not a sufficient basis for publishing an article. The final decision on publication is made by the Editorial Board.

Ethics of authors of scholarly publications

  • The authors guarantee the originality of the study. Borrowed fragments or statements must be formalised with the obligatory indication of the author and the original source. Excessive borrowing, as well as plagiarism in any form, including unformatted quotations, paraphrasing, or appropriation of rights to the results of others’ research is unethical and unacceptable.
  • The authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions to publish materials used in the article. The confirmation of the rights to use materials for publication is recorded in an agreement with the author.
  • The authors are required to inform the Editor if the submitted article is under consideration in other publications or if a modified version of the same article is in print, as well as in which publications these materials have been previously published. The confirmation that the material has not been previously published is recorded in the agreement with the author.
  • The authors are obliged to disclose the sources of funding for the study (an agreement with the author) to prevent possible conflicts.
  • The authors ensure that the list of co-authors includes only individuals who have made significant contributions to the research. The final version of the article and its submission for publication must be approved by all co-authors.
  • If the author discovers significant errors or inaccuracies in the article at the stage of its consideration or after its publication, he/she must notify the Editor of the Journal as soon as possible and take joint measures to eliminate them or withdraw the work.
  • We urge all authors to observe scholarly correctness in works containing criticism of colleagues otherwise the Editor reserves the right to reject the material or correct its style.

Advertising policy

The Editor adheres to ethical standards and strictly defends the right to editorial independence.

The placement of advertising and information materials and sponsorship cannot in anyway influence editorial decisions regarding the election of materials for publication and editorial content.

The Journal does not publish material to accompany advertising and does not sell advertising in relation to specific articles, Advertising and information materials published in the Journal are not mixed with editorial materials.

All decisions regarding the placement of advertising materials are made solely by the Publisher.

The Editor reserves the right not to accept advertising and information materials which do not comply with the publication’s policy.