Publication Ethics
The editorial board of the journal supports a certain level of requirements for the selection and acceptance of articles submitted to the editorial office. These norms are determined by the scientific direction of the journal and the quality standards of scientific works and their presentation, adopted by the scientific community.
Editorial Policy of the journal is based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics, as well as the DORA principles.
Ethical Responsibilities of Journal Editors
The editor should review all manuscripts submitted for publication without prejudice, evaluating each one properly, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or the position or place of work of the author (s).
Information is not allowed to be published if there are sufficient grounds to believe that it is plagiarism.
All materials submitted for publication are carefully selected and reviewed. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject the article or return it for revision. The author is obliged to revise the article in accordance with the comments of reviewers or the editorial board.
The editor's decision to accept the article for publication is based on such characteristics of the article as the importance of the results, originality, quality of presentation of the material and compliance with the profile of the journal. Manuscripts may be rejected without review if the editor believes that they do not match the journal's profile. In making such decisions, the editor may consult with members of the editorial board or reviewers.
Authors' Ethical Commitments
Authors must ensure that they have written completely original articles, and that if authors have used the work or words of others, this has been properly documented in quotation marks or quotation marks.
Submitting an identical article to more than one journal is considered unethical and unacceptable.
The article should be structured, contain enough links and be designed according to the requirements.
Unscrupulous or knowingly inaccurate statements in the article are unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Correspondence with the editors must ensure that all co-authors have read and approved the final version of the article, as well as agree to its publication.
The authors of the articles are fully responsible for the content of the articles and for the very fact of their publication. The editors of the journal are not liable to the authors for possible damage caused by the publication of the article. The editors have the right to remove the article if it turns out that in the process of publishing the article violated someone's rights or generally accepted norms of scientific ethics. The editorial board informs the author about the fact of withdrawal of the article.
Ethical Obligations of Reviewers
To ensure the objectivity of the evaluation of manuscripts, the editors follow a double "blind" review.
Since the review of manuscripts is an important step in the process of preparation for publication, in the implementation of the scientific method as such, every scientist is obliged to perform a certain share of review work.
If the selected reviewer is not sure that his / her qualifications correspond to the level of research presented in the manuscript, he / she should return the manuscript immediately.
The reviewer must objectively assess the quality of the manuscript, the experimental and theoretical work presented, its interpretation and presentation, and the extent to which the work meets high scientific and literary standards. The reviewer must respect the intellectual independence of the authors.
Reviewers should adequately explain and justify their judgments so that editors and authors can understand what their comments are based on. Any statement that an observation, conclusion or argument has been previously published should be accompanied by an appropriate reference.
The reviewer should draw the editor's attention to any significant similarities between this manuscript and any published article or any manuscript submitted to another journal at the same time.
Adherence to the Principles of Responsible Research Assessment (DORA)
The Editorial Board of the journal supports the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which aim to improve practices for evaluating research outputs.
The journal recognizes that research results should be assessed primarily on the basis of their scientific content, methodological quality, originality, and significance, rather than on journal-level metrics or other aggregated bibliometric indicators.
In its editorial practice, the journal follows these approaches:
▶ Manuscripts are evaluated based on scientific quality, sound methodology, originality, and relevance of the research, regardless of the bibliometric indicators of the authors or the journals in which they have previously published.
▶ The Editorial Board does not use the journal impact factor or other journal-based metrics as the primary criterion for evaluating individual research articles.
▶ During the editorial and peer-review process, the journal recognizes the diversity of research outputs, including theoretical developments, methodological approaches, empirical studies, and other forms of scholarly contribution.
▶ The journal encourages research transparency, proper citation of sources, and responsible use of research metrics.
The Editorial Board encourages authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial council to adhere to the principles of responsible research assessment and to contribute to the development of an ethical and transparent scholarly communication environment.
Retraction Policy
The Editorial Board adheres to the principles of academic integrity, publication ethics, and international standards of scholarly communication, in particular the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Retraction of an article is considered an exceptional measure applied to ensure the reliability of the scholarly record and to inform readers about substantial violations that affect the results or conclusions of the research.
Grounds for retraction may include confirmed cases of plagiarism or self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, significant errors that render the findings unreliable, duplicate publication, copyright infringement, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other serious violations of the journal’s editorial policies and ethical standards. The procedure may be initiated by authors, members of the editorial board, reviewers, readers, or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
Upon receiving such information, the Editorial Board conducts a preliminary assessment and, where necessary, carries out an internal investigation involving members of the editorial board or independent experts. The authors of the article are informed of the concerns raised and are given the opportunity to provide explanations. Following the review, the Editorial Board may decide that no action is required, issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, or retract the article.
If a decision to retract is made, the journal publishes an official retraction notice indicating the reasons for the retraction and the date of the decision. The retracted article is not removed from the journal’s electronic archive; however, it is clearly marked as retracted to ensure transparency and preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. All decisions are made in accordance with the principles of fairness, confidentiality, and respect for the rights of all parties involved in the publication process.
Statement on the Use of Generative AI (GenAI)
The journal recognizes the growing role of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, Bard, or Claude, in academic research and scholarly writing. We support the responsible and transparent use of such tools in accordance with international ethical standards and publishing guidelines.
GenAI tools cannot be listed as authors. Only human researchers can take responsibility for the integrity, originality, and accuracy of a submitted manuscript. Authors are fully accountable for all content, including any material generated with the help of AI tools.
GenAI may be used to support language editing, improve clarity, or assist in literature reviews. However, its use must not replace critical thinking, data interpretation, or scientific reasoning, which are the foundations of scholarly research.
If GenAI tools were used at any stage of manuscript preparation, authors must explicitly disclose this in the “Acknowledgments” or a dedicated section of the manuscript. A sample disclosure:
"Portions of this manuscript were supported by the use of generative AI tools to assist with language editing and text refinement. All content was reviewed and verified by the authors."
Authors must not use GenAI to generate, fabricate, or alter data, references, or findings. Submissions found to rely on AI-generated data without verification or transparency will be rejected or retracted.
The editorial board follows COPE’s guidance on AI use in research publishing and reserves the right to request original data or explanations from authors concerning their use of GenAI. Misuse of AI tools will be treated as a potential breach of research ethics.
Policy on Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants
The academic journal adheres to the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine and international ethical standards governing the conduct of research involving human participants, the use of personal or confidential data, biological materials, or research involving animals.
If a study submitted for publication falls under the scope of Ukrainian legislation on bioethics, personal data protection, or other relevant regulatory acts, authors are required to provide confirmation of approval obtained from an authorized body, in particular an ethics (bioethics) committee or another competent authority of the institution.
For research involving human participants, authors must ensure compliance with the principles of voluntary informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, and the prevention of harm to research participants. In cases involving the collection and processing of personal data, compliance with the legislation of Ukraine on personal data protection must be ensured.
The Editorial Board reserves the right to request additional documents from authors confirming compliance with ethical standards and legal requirements, as well as to reject manuscripts that fail to meet these standards.