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

General provisions

1. This Procedure determines: the procedure for considering by the editorial board of the Yearbook of Scientific Works "Rule of Law" complaints/reports regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics. 

2. Legal principles: Constitution of Ukraine, Law of Ukraine «On Academic Integrity», Laws of Ukraine «On Education», «On Higher Education», «On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activities», other regulatory legal acts of Ukraine and legislative acts adopted for their implementation, international treaties of Ukraine, consent to the binding nature of which has been provided in accordance with the established procedure, principles of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and Regulations on the observance of academic integrity by researchers and higher education students at the V. M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the NAS of Ukraine.

3. The editorial board proceeds from the fact that:

— when creating an academic work, the author must adhere to the values, principles and rules of academic integrity;

 — if the academic work uses the results of intellectual creative activity (text, image, idea, development, statement, information, opinion, etc.) of another person, this must be indicated in such an academic work with a reference to the relevant source of information and/or the relevant author; — the reference to the source of information is made in a way that allows the author's contribution to the academic work to be distinguished from the results of intellectual creative activity of other persons;

— the academic work must contain reliable information and must not contain information fabricated or falsified by the author;

— in the case of making assumptions or unproven statements, this must be indicated in the academic work;

 — all its authors are indicated in the published academic work;

— in the case of using an object generated by artificial intelligence in an academic work, the author must notify about this in such a work, indicating the generation method and/or a link to the relevant computer program or its description in accordance with the requirements for the design and/or publication of relevant academic works determined by the relevant subject of academic activity;

 — in the published academic work, in addition to the authors, other persons who participated in the work on it (providing recommendations, consulting, editing, design, performing experiments, calculations, translation, etc.) are also indicated, indicating the nature of the contribution of each such person;

— information about the reviewer(s) of the academic work may not be published in accordance with the editorial policy of the publisher; — in the case of using the author's own previously published scientific results (partially or in full) in a new academic work, this must be indicated in this new academic work.

4. A complaint/notification regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics may be filed by any person engaged in scientific and scientific-technical activities. A person who has evidence indicating signs of a violation of academic integrity has the right to notify the editorial board in writing (in paper or electronic form) and indicate: a clear description of the essence of the violation; evidence (references to sources, copies of documents, excerpts from texts, etc.); contact details of the applicant. A complaint is subject to consideration if the information provided in it contains factual data indicating a possible violation of academic integrity and publication ethics that can be verified. Otherwise, the editorial board has the right to leave the notification without consideration.

5. Principles and basic rules for responding to violations of academic integrity: mandatory and timeliness of response; impartial (non-discriminatory) attitude towards persons about whom a report has been received about a possible violation of academic integrity; the obligation to establish the guilt of a person in committing a violation of academic integrity; proportionality of the violation and response measures; holding academically liable only for actions (actions or inactions) that at the time of their commission violated established requirements or prohibitions; transparency of procedures for considering reports of violations of academic integrity, determining response measures to established violations.

Consideration of complaints about violations of academic integrity and publication ethics

1. The editorial board within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint: makes a decision to begin consideration of the complaint or to leave it without consideration and notifies the applicant thereof; sends/provides a copy of the complaint to the person against whom the complaint was received and no later than three working days before the date of consideration informs him/her of the date, time and place of consideration of the complaint.

2. If there are grounds, the editorial board initiates an internal investigation. The editorial board considers: the nature of the violation (plagiarism, falsification of data, double publication, unlawful authorship, violation of the review procedure, etc.); the scale and consequences of the violation; available evidence. Editorial board members, reviewers or independent experts may be involved in the participation. The author is given the opportunity to provide explanations regarding the comments made. If necessary, text checking software may be used.

3. In order to prevent a conflict of interest during the consideration of a complaint, by decision of the editorial board, scientists from other educational institutions and scientific institutions may be invited as experts. A person who has a conflict of interest may not participate in making a decision on establishing the fact of a person’s violation of academic integrity.

4. The author is given the opportunity to provide explanations regarding the comments made. The person against whom the complaint is being considered has the right, in person or through his representative: to be informed of the beginning of the procedure for considering the complaint; to be informed of the date, time and place and to be present during the consideration of the complaint; to familiarize himself with all materials regarding his violation of academic integrity and publication ethics, to provide comments on them; to provide oral and written objections, explanations or to refuse to provide them; to participate in the study of evidence of a violation of academic integrity and publication ethics.

5. In case of recognition of the fact of violation of academic integrity by the person against whom the complaint is being considered, verification and examination of evidence are not carried out. Recognition of the fact of violation of academic integrity is taken into account when making a decision.

6. Based on the results of the review, the editorial board may make one of the following decisions:

— reject the complaint as unfounded;

 — suggest that the author make corrections or clarifications;

 — reject the manuscript of the article; — publish a correction (corrigendum) or a warning;

— withdraw (retract) the published article;

 — notify the scientific institution or employer, or other competent authorities of the author about the recorded violations;

— deny the author further publications in the journal for a specified period of time (sanction).

7. The decision to hold a person accountable for academic responsibility must be substantiated, i.e. made on the basis of evidence fully and comprehensively investigated in the process of considering the report, or on the basis of the person’s recognition of the fact of violation of academic integrity, and contain information about the specific type of violation of academic integrity and the sanction for such a violation.

8. The editorial board shall notify the applicant and the author of the results of the complaint review. Information on the review of the complaint shall be considered confidential and shall be disclosed only to the extent necessary for making a decision.

9. The person in respect of whom a fact of violation of academic integrity has been established and a decision has been made to hold him/her accountable for academic responsibility, as well as the person who filed the report, shall have the right to appeal such decision in accordance with the procedure established by law or the scientific institution. The author or applicant shall have the right to file an appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of the decision. The appeal shall be considered by the editor-in-chief and, if necessary, by members of the editorial board or external experts.

10. A decision adopted in accordance with the established procedure shall enter into force from the date of its publication, and in the event of an appeal, from the date of publication of the decision by the subject of consideration of the complaint.