Procedure for reviewing complaints regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics

1. Filing a complaint

• A complaint may be filed by an author, reviewer, reader, or any other member of the scientific community.
• The complaint must be filed in writing (by e-mail to the journal editorial office) and contain:
• a clear description of the nature of the violation;
• evidence (references to sources, copies of documents, excerpts from texts, etc.);
• contact details of the complainant.

1. Initial review

• The complaint is registered by the responsible secretary of the editorial board.
• The editor-in-chief conducts a preliminary analysis of the complaint and determines whether it concerns issues of academic integrity and publication ethics.
• In case of insufficient data, the complainant may be invited to provide additional materials.

1. Review of the complaint by the editorial board

• The complaint is submitted for consideration by the editorial board.
• The editorial board considers: the nature of the violation (plagiarism, falsification of data, double publication, illegal authorship, violation of the review procedure, etc.); the scale and consequences of the violation; the available evidence.
• If necessary, independent experts are involved.

1. Decision-making

The editorial board may make one of the following decisions:

• Reject the complaint (if it is unfounded or not supported by evidence).
• Make comments to the authors and oblige them to correct the errors.
• Reject the article (if the violation is detected at the review stage).
• Withdraw the already published article (with a corresponding official publication of the withdrawal).
• Notify the scientific institution or the author's employer about the recorded violations.
• Refuse the author from further publications in the journal for a specified period of time (sanction).

1. Notification of the parties

• The author(s) and the applicant receive a written notification of the results of the review.
• In the event of a withdrawal of the article, a notification stating the reasons is published on the journal website.

1. Appeal

• The author or applicant has the right to file an appeal within 30 days of receiving the decision.
• The appeal is considered by the editor-in-chief and, if necessary, by members of the editorial board or external experts.

1. Principles of the process

• Transparency - the procedure is clearly regulated and available for review on the journal website.
• Confidentiality - persons filing a complaint and reviewers remain anonymous (at their request).
• Impartiality - decisions are made collectively, taking into account all evidence.

Compliance with international standards - the procedure is based on the principles of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).