Publications policy and ethics
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Privacy and Ethics of PublishingPublication Ethics and PolicyThe integrity of scientific publishing rests on fundamental ethical principles that ensure the reliability, transparency, and credibility of academic communication. Our publishing house applies a comprehensive ethical framework aligned with the international standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the criteria of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Scopus indexing standards. This alignment is not a mere formality but represents an operational imperative that permeates all aspects of the publishing process, from initial manuscript submission to post-publication monitoring and archiving. All participants in the publishing process—authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher—commit to upholding the highest ethical standards of scientific communication.Author Obligations and ResponsibilitiesAuthors guarantee that the submitted manuscript represents their original work and the result of independent scientific research. Any use of others' ideas, words, or results must be properly cited and acknowledged. Plagiarism in all forms—including verbatim text copying, paraphrasing without attribution, appropriation of ideas, and self-plagiarism—is considered a serious ethical violation and carries corresponding sanctions. All manuscripts undergo plagiarism detection software screening before being sent for review. Reuse of one's own previously published text without appropriate citation is also considered unacceptable; authors should cite their previous works when referencing them and clearly indicate any significant overlap with previously published material.Authors confirm that the manuscript has not been previously published in whole or in part, that it is not currently under review at another journal, and that it will not be submitted elsewhere while the review process is ongoing. Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple venues constitutes unethical behavior and is grounds for rejection or retraction.All listed authors must meet authorship criteria, which implies a significant contribution to the conception or design of the research, data collection, analysis, or interpretation, writing or critical revision of the manuscript, as well as final approval of the version for publication. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria are acknowledged in the acknowledgments section. Attributing authorship to persons who did not substantially contribute to the work, as well as omitting those who did contribute, are considered ethical violations. For papers with a large number of authors, particularly in fields characterized by international collaborations and team projects, we apply the CRediT taxonomy to transparently document the nature of each author's contribution.Authors are obligated to disclose all financial and non-financial interests that could affect the objectivity of the research or interpretation of results. This includes funding sources, consulting engagements, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, and intellectual property. A conflict of interest statement is a mandatory part of every manuscript, and if no conflict exists, authors explicitly state this. Conflicts of interest may extend beyond traditional financial considerations—depending on the discipline, they may include competitive dynamics within large research collaborations, privileged access to resources, ideological commitments, or relationships within professional communities that could affect objectivity in presenting results. For research involving human subjects, animals, or potentially hazardous materials, authors must provide proof of approval from the relevant ethics committee. For studies with human subjects, informed consent from participants is mandatory in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors guarantee the accuracy and authenticity of presented data, and fabrication and falsification are strictly prohibited. Authors should be prepared to provide raw data to the editorial office upon request for verification purposes.Author StatementAs an integral part of the manuscript submission process, all authors are required to complete and sign the Author Statement prior to the commencement of the review process. This document represents a formal confirmation that the authors have adhered to all ethical standards of scientific research and publishing, including guarantees of originality, proper attribution of authorship, disclosure of funding sources and potential conflicts of interest, compliance with research ethics principles, and transparency regarding data availability and the use of artificial intelligence tools. The Author Statement is aligned with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the criteria of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Scopus indexing standards. Submitting a manuscript without a completed and signed Author Statement is not possible, and incomplete or inaccurate statements may result in manuscript rejection or retraction of a published paper. The Author Statement form is available at [LINK TO AUTHOR STATEMENT].Reviewer Obligations and ResponsibilitiesReviewers treat manuscripts as confidential documents. Sharing manuscript content with third parties or using information from manuscripts for personal benefit before publication is not permitted. This confidentiality is particularly significant in situations where reviewers may review papers from competing research groups, and it is essential to ensure that innovative approaches or new methods are not prematurely disclosed or appropriated during the review process.Reviews must be objective, well-argued, and constructive. Personal attacks on authors are unacceptable, and criticisms must be supported by specific arguments and, where possible, references to relevant literature. Reviewers are obligated to notify the editor of any conflict of interest that could affect their objectivity, whether involving competitive relationships, collaborations, personal connections, or ideological disagreements. In such cases, they should decline the review.Reviewers should respond to review invitations within a reasonable timeframe and, if they accept, submit reviews within the agreed timeframe. If unable to meet the deadline, they should promptly notify the editor. Reviewers are also obligated to report to the editor any suspicion of plagiarism, data fabrication, or other forms of scientific misconduct they notice during manuscript review.Editor Obligations and ResponsibilitiesThe editor-in-chief makes the final decision on manuscript acceptance or rejection based on reviews, relevance to the journal, and compliance with ethical standards. Decisions are based solely on scientific quality, originality, and significance of the work, regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political affiliation of the authors.Editors and editorial board members treat all information about submitted manuscripts as confidential and do not share it with third parties except to the extent necessary for the review process. Editors do not participate in decision-making on manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, whether involving competitive relationships, collaborations, institutional connections, or personal relationships with authors.Editors are committed to preserving the integrity of the scientific record. In cases of suspected misconduct, editors initiate an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines, regardless of whether the paper has been accepted or rejected. This commitment extends to monitoring published papers and responding promptly to reports from readers or the professional community.Publisher Obligations and ResponsibilitiesThe publisher provides the infrastructure and resources necessary for implementing ethical standards, including plagiarism detection software, manuscript management systems, and support for editors in applying ethical guidelines. The publisher guarantees long-term availability of published works through partnerships with digital archives and systems for preserving scientific literature, applying redundant preservation strategies and data format documentation that ensures future readability.The publisher clearly communicates all costs related to publication and ensures that financial interests never influence editorial decisions. Transparency of operations and independence of the editorial process from commercial pressures represent the foundation of credible scientific publishing.Conflict of InterestA conflict of interest exists when financial or other personal interests may compromise, or may reasonably be perceived to compromise, the professional judgment of participants in the publishing process. Authors are obligated to disclose in the manuscript all relevant conflicts of interest, including financial interests such as research funding, honoraria, consulting contracts, stocks, or patents, as well as institutional affiliations that may affect interpretation of results, personal relationships with potential reviewers or editors, and intellectual property related to the research topic. The conflict of interest statement becomes an integral part of every published paper.Reviewers and editors are obligated to report any conflict of interest that could affect their objectivity and to recuse themselves from the evaluation process of the manuscript in question if such a conflict exists. Only through consistent adherence to these principles can trust in the integrity of the review process and published results be maintained.Data Policy and Research ReproducibilityOur journals encourage authors to make their research data publicly available whenever possible and ethically justified. Authors are encouraged to deposit data in reliable repositories and to include a data availability statement in their paper with an appropriate identifier. This practice contributes to transparency and enables other researchers to verify and build upon published results.All manuscripts must contain a data availability statement that clearly indicates where data are available, whether they are available upon request, or explains why data cannot be made publicly available. Research data used in the work should be cited in the reference list with all relevant information. In disciplines where reproducibility depends on access to algorithms or software tools, authors should provide access to code with clear version documentation enabling others to reproduce calculations or analyses.Privacy and Data ProtectionAll submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Access to manuscripts is limited to editors, reviewers, and staff necessary for the publishing process. Information from manuscripts may not be used or disclosed without the explicit consent of the authors.Our journals collect and process personal data of authors, reviewers, and editors exclusively for purposes of managing the publishing process, communication regarding manuscripts, and maintaining necessary records. Personal data are not shared with third parties except to the extent necessary for the publishing process, such as indexing databases and digital archives. We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data in accordance with applicable regulations.For research involving human subjects, authors are obligated to ensure data anonymization and not to publish information that could enable identification of participants without their explicit written consent. Special attention is paid to protecting privacy when papers discuss sensitive topics that could expose authors or subjects to professional or personal risks.Open Access and CopyrightOur journals apply an open access policy that enables published papers to be freely available to readers worldwide immediately upon publication, without subscription or access fee. This availability contributes to the dissemination of scientific knowledge and enables researchers from all backgrounds to use and build upon published results.All articles published in the journal are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits non-commercial use and distribution in original form, provided that the original author and source are properly credited, without the possibility of modifying the content. Authors retain copyright over their works and by signing the publishing agreement grant the journal a non-exclusive right of first publication and distribution. Authors have the right to deposit the published version of their work in institutional repositories, personal websites, and preprint servers, with citation of bibliographic data and a link to the original work in the journal.Handling Scientific Misconduct (Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement) Our journals do not tolerate any form of scientific misconduct, including fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. Suspicion of scientific misconduct may be reported by reviewers, readers, other authors, or discovered through internal review, and all reports are treated seriously and confidentially. In cases of suspected misconduct, the editor-in-chief initiates an investigation in accordance with COPE flowcharts. The investigation may include a request for clarification from the authors, consultations with editorial board members or independent experts, contacting authors' institutions, and analysis of raw data or materials. Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, possible sanctions include manuscript rejection, retraction of published work, publication of a correction or expression of concern, notification of authors' institutions, prohibition of publication in our journals for a defined period, and notification of relevant professional organizations. Plagiarism Policy The journal defines plagiarism as the appropriation of others' ideas, words, data, or findings without proper attribution, thereby presenting them as one's own. Plagiarism encompasses direct text copying without quotation marks and citations, paraphrasing the essence of another's work without adequate referencing, appropriation of another author's original idea or research concept, use of others' data, tables, graphs, or illustrations without permission and attribution, and translating another's text into a different language and presenting it as original work. All manuscripts are subject to originality checking using specialized plagiarism detection software before being sent for review. The editorial team individually assesses each case of identified similarity, taking into account the nature of the match and context. Legitimate quotations with appropriate quotation marks and references, standard terminology and phrases common in scientific discourse, bibliographic data, and descriptions of generally accepted methodological procedures are not considered plagiarism. In cases of confirmed plagiarism in a submitted manuscript, the manuscript is immediately rejected with an explanation to the authors. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal takes corrective measures in accordance with COPE guidelines, including publication of an expression of concern or retraction, notification of the author's institution, and possible notification of other journals if the same authors have published works in them. Self-plagiarism, meaning the reuse of significant portions of one's own previously published work without adequate citation and without new scientific value, is also considered an ethical violation. Authors are obligated to report any prior publication of related content and clearly indicate which elements represent original contribution. Data Fabrication and Falsification Data fabrication is defined as inventing data or research results that were not obtained through an actually conducted research process. Falsification represents manipulation of research materials, equipment, processes, or results in a way that distorts findings, including selective omission of data that do not support desired conclusions. The journal expects all data presented in manuscripts to be authentic and reliable. Authors are obligated to precisely describe the methodology of data collection and analysis, preserve raw research data in accordance with institutional and disciplinary standards, make data available upon request from the editorial office or reviewers for verification purposes, and clearly indicate all transformations, normalizations, or corrections applied to raw data. In cases of suspected data fabrication or falsification, the editor will contact the authors with a request for clarification and evidence, may request access to raw data and research documentation, will consult independent experts if specialist evaluation is needed, and will notify the authors' institution if suspicion remains unresolved. Confirmed cases of data fabrication or falsification will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published paper, notification of the authors' institution and relevant research integrity bodies, possible prohibition of manuscript submission to the journal for a defined period, and notification of other journals if necessary. Retraction Policy Retraction represents a mechanism for correcting scientific literature in cases where a published paper contains serious deficiencies that compromise the integrity of its findings or the publication process itself. The journal applies retraction procedures in accordance with COPE guidelines on retractions. Retraction may be initiated by authors if they discover a serious error in their work, by the editorial office based on its own evaluation or reports from third parties, or by authors' institutions following a conducted investigation into research integrity. Upon receipt of information indicating the need for retraction, the editor conducts a preliminary evaluation and contacts the authors for explanation. If suspicion remains unresolved, a committee may be formed for more detailed investigation. Authors have the right to respond to allegations before a final decision is made, and the final decision on retraction is made by the editor-in-chief in consultation with the editorial board. A Retraction Notice is published in a prominent location and linked to the original paper. The notice clearly states the reason for retraction without unnecessary detail unless it is in the public interest, identifies who initiated the retraction and whether the authors agreed with the decision. The original paper remains accessible for preservation of the scientific record but is clearly marked as retracted in the title, metadata, and PDF version. The retraction is reported to relevant indexing databases and citation tracking services. In addition to full retraction, the journal may apply publication of a correction (Corrigendum or Erratum) for minor errors that do not fundamentally compromise the paper's findings, or an Expression of Concern when there is suspicion of serious irregularities but investigation has not yet concluded. Duplicate and Redundant Publication Policy Duplicate or redundant publication refers to publishing a paper that significantly overlaps with a previously published paper by the same authors without adequate referencing, justification, or approval. This practice constitutes a violation of publication ethics because it distorts the scientific literature, wastes reviewer and editor resources, and can lead to unjustified double citation. Unacceptable practices include submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously, publishing the same work in different languages without clearly citing the original source and obtaining publisher approval, breaking one study into multiple unnecessarily fragmented papers to increase publication count (salami slicing), and republishing a previously published paper with cosmetic changes. Certain forms of republication may be acceptable with full transparency. Secondary publication in another language with clear citation of the original publication and approval from the original publisher may be accepted when it serves a different target audience. Expansion of a conference paper into a full article is acceptable if there is significant new content and clear referencing of the conference paper. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews that encompass previously published data are acceptable by the nature of their methodological approach. Authors are obligated when submitting a manuscript to report all related previously published papers or papers under review at other journals, provide copies of related papers to the editor for review if requested, clearly indicate which elements of the manuscript represent original contribution, and note any overlap with previous publications. In cases of duplicate publication discovery before publication, the manuscript will be rejected. If duplicate publication is discovered after publication, the journal will follow COPE guidelines, which may result in publication of a notice of overlap, a correction, or retraction, depending on the extent and nature of the overlap. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern Errors discovered after publication that do not affect the paper's basic conclusions are corrected through publication of a correction that clearly states the nature of the error and the correction, is permanently linked to the original paper, and is indexed together with it. Papers are retracted in cases where there is incontrovertible evidence of unreliable results due to fabrication, falsification, or gross error, where plagiarism has been established, double publication without appropriate disclosure, unethical research, or concealment of significant conflict of interest. The retraction notice clearly states the reason for retraction and is published with a link to the original paper, which remains accessible with a clear indication that it has been retracted. In cases where investigation is inconclusive but there are reasonable grounds for concern about the integrity of the paper, the journal may publish an expression of concern while awaiting results of further investigation or if concern remains despite inconclusive findings. Appeals and Complaints Authors, readers, and other interested parties have the right to file appeals or complaints regarding editorial decisions, reviewer or editor conduct, or any aspect of the publishing process. Complaints are submitted in writing with a clear description of the problem and relevant documentation. The editor-in-chief reviews the complaint and responds within a reasonable timeframe, and if the complainant is not satisfied with the response, they may appeal to the editorial board or publisher. All complaints are treated confidentially and the complainant's identity is not disclosed without their consent unless it is necessary to resolve the issue. Conclusion Scientific publishing ethics requires recognition that different knowledge domains may require adapted approaches while maintaining universal principles of integrity, transparency, and scientific responsibility. Our commitment extends beyond mechanical application of general guidelines to thoughtful engagement with the specific challenges and traditions of each discipline we cover. We invite our authors, reviewers, and readers to actively participate in the evolution of these ethical standards, recognizing that the advancement of science continuously presents new ethical considerations. Only through sustained dialogue among all participants in the publishing process can we ensure that our practices serve the advancement of knowledge while respecting the diverse methodologies and traditions of scientific inquiry. The integrity of our publications ultimately rests not on rigid rules but on a shared commitment to the highest standards of intellectual honesty and scientific excellence. This policy is aligned with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the criteria of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Scopus indexing standards.
