Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy of the Journal in Accordance with COPE Recommendations and Other Recognised International Organisations in the Field of Publication Ethics
The publication ethics and editorial policy of the journal are based on COPE recommendations and generally recognised international standards in the field of scholarly publication ethics.
In its activities, the Editorial Board adheres to international ethical standards of scholarly publishing, including academic integrity, confidentiality, responsible editorial oversight of publications, prevention of conflicts of interest, and other principles of good publishing practice. The Editorial Office follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics — COPE.
The Editorial Board adheres to the following principles of publication ethics:
- ensuring the fundamental principles of the journal: scholarly quality, objectivity, professionalism, and support for relevant innovative research;
- fair and impartial treatment of all participants in the creative and publishing process;
- application of blind peer review involving competent and independent reviewers;
- continuous consultation with authors regarding compliance with the requirements of international scientometric databases concerning the formatting, structure, and content of materials submitted for publication.
Decision-Making Regarding Publications
The decision to publish submitted articles shall be made by the editor. In doing so, the editor shall be guided by the editorial policy of the journal, the academic significance of the material, and the reviewers’ conclusions.
The editor is obliged to comply with standards aimed at preventing copyright infringement and plagiarism. Unpublished materials obtained during the manuscript review process may not be used by the editor in their own scholarly research without the written consent of the author. The editor shall also respond appropriately to ethical complaints concerning submitted manuscripts.
Manuscripts shall be evaluated exclusively on the basis of their intellectual and scholarly content, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views.
Confidentiality
The editor and members of the Editorial Board shall not disclose information about submitted manuscripts, including information about authors, topics, texts, or other details. Each manuscript submitted for review shall be treated as a confidential document.
The editor and the Editorial Board undertake not to disclose information about manuscripts unless necessary, except in cases of interaction with authors, reviewers, academic consultants, and the publisher.
Resolution of Conflicts of Interest
Editors, reviewers, and academic consultants must recuse themselves from considering a manuscript if there is a conflict of interest arising from competitive, professional, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors, organisations, or companies associated with the submitted material.
The Editorial Office may consider appeals, complaints, or concerns regarding possible misconduct in research or publication submitted by readers, reviewers, or other persons in accordance with the Procedure for Handling Complaints Concerning Violations of Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics. The publisher also reserves the right to inform readers about the outcomes of resolving such situations.
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board, Reviewers, and Authors
The Editorial Board is obliged to:
- maintain respectful and appropriate treatment of the author and the author’s scholarly position;
- preserve editorial confidentiality;
- prevent misconduct during the processing of materials;
- refrain from making independent changes to the author’s text without the author’s consent and agree on the final version of the text with the author after editorial revision;
- refuse publication of materials that lack scholarly value, do not correspond to the subject area of the collection, contradict the editorial policy, contain plagiarism, or have already been published in other journals;
- ensure the involvement of independent, objective, and competent reviewers;
- apply the practice of double-blind peer review.
Reviewers are obliged to:
- consider all submitted manuscripts impartially;
- comply with the review deadlines established by the Editorial Office;
- treat the manuscript as a confidential document;
- refrain from sharing the manuscript with other persons;
- ensure the confidentiality of prepared reviews;
- refrain from using manuscript materials for personal purposes;
- provide an objective, reasoned, and appropriate assessment of the research results presented.
Authors are obliged to:
- guarantee the novelty, reliability, and originality of the research results;
- properly acknowledge materials by other authors with accurate references to the original sources;
- avoid excessive borrowing, plagiarism in any form, and self-plagiarism;
- confirm that the article is an original work that has not previously been published and has not been submitted to another journal.
By submitting materials for publication, authors agree that, if the article is accepted, it may be placed in electronic databases with mandatory attribution and full preservation of copyright.
All external sources of information used in the work must be properly indicated in the reference list, including the authors’ own previously published works.
Authors must properly format all borrowings as quotations or references.
If substantial errors or inaccuracies are identified in an already published work, the author is obliged to notify the editor and cooperate with them to correct the issue as soon as possible.
If the editor receives information from a third party indicating that a publication contains substantial errors, the author must correct these errors or retract the work as soon as possible.
Submission Declaration
The submitted work has not previously been published, is not under consideration by another journal, and its publication has been approved by all authors and by the responsible institutions where the research was conducted.