Journal policies

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Research and Publication

1. General Provisions

The Editorial Board supports the transparent, responsible, and ethically grounded use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in research and publication. 

The journal’s AI policy is based on:

  • the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);
  • the provisions of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act);
  • the journal’s Publication Ethics and Academic Integrity Policy.

2. General Principles for the Use of AI

The use of AI in the journal’s publication activities is guided by the following principles:

  • Human-centeredness (final decisions are made by human editors and authors);
  • Transparency (mandatory disclosure of AI use);
  • Accountability (responsibility always lies with a human);
  • Controllability (AI outputs must be verified);
  • Non-substitution of human authorship.

AI cannot be listed as an author and cannot perform peer review or editorial decision-making.

3. Policy for Authors

3.1. Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must clearly disclose any use of AI tools, including generative artificial intelligence systems and large language models, in a dedicated section of the manuscript.

The declaration must include:

  • the name of the tool;
  • the purpose of its use;
  • the nature of the AI contribution.

3.2. Permitted Use of AI

Authors may use AI:

  • for language editing and stylistic improvement;
  • for translation;
  • for assistance in data analysis or data visualization;
  • for auxiliary search and structuring of information.

In all cases, authors:

  • must critically verify AI-generated outputs;
  • bear full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the content of the article.

3.3. Prohibited Use of AI

The following are not permitted:

  • full or partial automated generation of scientific text without substantial human intellectual contribution;
  • use of AI to create fictitious citations or references;
  • citing AI as an author;
  • submitting AI-generated texts as original scientific research.

Intentional use of generative AI to produce manuscripts containing fabricated or unverified citations is considered a form of academic misconduct.

4. Policy for Reviewers

Peer review is an intellectual scholarly activity performed by humans.

It is prohibited to:

  • use generative AI to write peer reviews;
  • upload manuscripts or review materials into generative AI tools;
  • use AI to formulate evaluative judgments.

It is permitted to:

  • use specialized tools for detecting plagiarism or checking data consistency (without transferring text to generative AI models).

Reviewers bear full responsibility for their expert evaluations.

5. Policy for Editors

Editors must ensure confidentiality, impartiality, and human oversight in any use of AI tools.

Editors may use AI tools for technical support of editorial processes.

Editors are prohibited from:

  • uploading manuscripts into generative AI models;
  • making editorial decisions based solely on AI-generated recommendations.

The final decision regarding publication is always made by a human editor.

6. Confidentiality and Data Protection

Any use of AI must comply with:

  • confidentiality requirements;
  • data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The transfer of unpublished materials to external AI services is prohibited.

7. Violations of the AI Policy

If violations of this Policy are identified, the Editorial Board may:

  • request clarification or revision of the manuscript;
  • reject the manuscript;
  • retract a published article;
  • inform relevant institutions or research organizations in cases of serious misconduct.

8. Final Provisions

The Editorial Board reserves the right to:

  • update this Policy in accordance with the development of AI technologies;
  • follow COPE and EU AI Act recommendations in cases not covered by this document.

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

Open Access Policy

1. General Provisions

The journal adheres to a policy of immediate Diamond Open Access to all published content.

The Editorial Board supports the principles of free dissemination of scientific knowledge, academic collaboration, and global access to research findings in the interests of societal development, education, and science.

2. Definition of Open Access

Open access in this journal refers to free, unrestricted, and permanent online access to scholarly publications, allowing any user to:

  • read, download, and store materials;
  • copy and print texts;
  • distribute full-text articles;
  • search and cite content;
  • use materials for lawful non-commercial purposes
    (educational, scientific, research).

The only condition for such use is proper attribution and compliance with copyright and proper citation.

3. Conditions of Access to Content

All articles are available immediately upon publication.
The journal does not apply embargo periods.
Access to the journal’s content does not require registration or payment.
Full texts are available via the journal’s official website and the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform.

4. Licensing and Copyright

All materials are published under the following license:

Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

This license allows users to:

  • freely use, distribute, and reproduce materials;
  • adapt and remix content;

provided that they:

  • give appropriate credit to the author(s) and the source;
  • provide a link to the original publication in the journal;
  • use the material for non-commercial purposes only;
  • distribute derivative works under the same license terms.

Authors retain copyright to their published materials.

5. Policy on Publication Fees

The journal:

  • does not charge a submission fee;
  • does not charge an article processing charge (APC);
  • does not charge any fees for access to published content.

Publication in the journal is free of charge for both authors and readers.

6. Archiving and Long-Term Preservation

The journal ensures:

  • preservation of full-text articles within the OJS system;
  • open access to the complete archive of all journal issues.

Authors may deposit (self-archive) their published articles in institutional or subject repositories in open access immediately after publication.

When depositing, authors must:

  • provide a full bibliographic reference to the published Version of Record;
  • include the DOI of the published article as an active hyperlink;
  • not modify the published Version of Record after deposit.

Self-archiving supports wider dissemination of research results, increases visibility and citation impact, and aligns with the principles of open science and international open access practices.

7. Responsibilities of the Parties

Authors guarantee the legality of the submitted materials and compliance with copyright.
The Editorial Board ensures transparency of the open access policy and sustainability of content accessibility.
Users must comply with the license terms and proper citation practices.

8. Final Provisions

This Open Access Policy is an integral part of the journal’s editorial policy and aligns with:

  • the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI);
  • the recommendations of DOAJ.

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