Publication Ethics and Academic Integrity Policy

Publication Ethics and Academic Integrity Policy

1. General Principles

The journal adheres to the principles of academic integrity, transparency, responsibility, and ethical conduct at all stages of the editorial and publishing process.

The journal’s policy is based on:

  • the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);
  • the legislation of Ukraine in the fields of education, science, academic integrity, copyright, and personal data protection;
  • the principles of responsible research and publication practices.

All participants in the publication process—authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher—share responsibility for compliance with this policy.

2. Principles of Academic Integrity

The journal recognizes and supports the following fundamental principles:

  • honesty in conducting research and reporting research results;
  • originality of scholarly texts;
  • transparency of methods, data, and funding sources;
  • responsibility for the content of publications;
  • respect for intellectual property;
  • non-discrimination and impartiality.

Any form of academic misconduct is strictly unacceptable.

3. Authorship and Author Contributions

An author is defined as a person who has made a substantial intellectual contribution to:

  • the conception and design of the study;
  • the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data;
  • drafting or critically revising the manuscript;
  • approval of the final version of the manuscript.

Academic status, position, or supervisory role does not constitute grounds for authorship.

Artificial intelligence systems and large language models cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of articles. They may only be used as auxiliary tools, and such use must be disclosed in the relevant section of the manuscript.

4. Originality of Publications

The journal accepts only original manuscripts for publication. They must:

  • not have been previously published;
  • not be under consideration by other journals simultaneously;
  • not contain academic plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification.

All submissions are screened for textual similarity using plagiarism-detection software.

In cases of:

  • academic plagiarism;
  • self-plagiarism;
  • improper citation;
  • data manipulation—

the manuscript will be rejected. If such violations are identified after publication, the article may be retracted.

5. Multiple Submission and Duplicate Publication

Simultaneous submission of a manuscript to multiple journals or duplicate publication of results without proper justification constitutes a violation of publication ethics.

If materials have been partially published previously, the author must:

  • provide bibliographic information;
  • explain the nature of revisions and the novelty of the submitted text.

6. Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest refers to any circumstances that could influence, or be perceived as influencing, the impartiality of evaluation or publication.

Conflicts may be:

  • personal;
  • professional;
  • financial;
  • institutional.

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest.

Undeclared conflicts of interest may serve as grounds for rejection or retraction of an article.

7. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are required to:

  • make editorial decisions based solely on the scientific merit of the manuscript;
  • ensure double-blind peer review;
  • guarantee confidentiality of submitted materials;
  • prevent discrimination;
  • respond promptly to complaints and ethical violations;
  • facilitate corrections or retractions when necessary.

Unpublished materials may not be used by editors in their own research without the author’s written consent.

8. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are required to:

  • provide impartial and constructive evaluations;
  • maintain confidentiality;
  • disclose conflicts of interest;
  • refrain from using unpublished materials in their own research;
  • adhere to the established review deadlines.

The Editorial Board may terminate cooperation with reviewers in cases of systematic ethical violations or consistently low-quality reviews.

9. Data Access and Reproducibility

The journal encourages authors to:

  • provide open access to research data;
  • use repositories;
  • share supplementary materials (datasets, code, instruments).

Upon editorial request, authors must provide open access to research data whenever possible for verification of results, subject to confidentiality requirements.

10. Corrections, Retractions, and Comments

The Editorial Board may:

  • publish corrections;
  • issue expressions of concern where appropriate;
  • retract articles.

The journal supports constructive academic dialogue and the consideration of well-founded comments on published materials.

11. Final Provisions

All ethical issues not regulated by this Policy are addressed in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Submission of a manuscript to the journal constitutes the author’s agreement with this policy.