Editorial policy and ethical standards

Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy

The editorial board of the annual journal of scientific works ‘PRAVOVA DERZHAVA’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Journal’) is guided in its work by the Law of Ukraine ‘On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity’, the Code of Ethics for Scientists, international ethical guidelines for scientific publications, the recommendations of the Committee on Research Integrity, and, in particular, the ‘Publishing Ethics Resource Kit’, the Code of Ethics of the American Sociological Association, the ICC/ESOMAR International Code of Market, Public and Social Research and Data Analysis, the European Commission’s Guidelines on Ethics and Data Protection, etc.

The main principles guiding the editorial board of the Yearbook in upholding publication ethics are:

— academic integrity;

— scientific rigour, objectivity and impartiality, professionalism, transparency, and openness in scientific research;

– good faith and mutual respect;

— cooperation and loyalty towards all parties involved in the preparation and publication of the scientific journal;

— equality and independence of decision-making, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, origin, nationality or political preferences;

— confidentiality and objectivity of the peer-review process.

Rights and obligations of participants in the publishing process 

The editorial board conducts its work exclusively in accordance with the provisions of current national legislation and international principles and standards, including those relating to the peer-review process, copyright, plagiarism, complaints, etc.

•  The editorial board accepts manuscripts and decides on their publication by assessing the content of the manuscripts in terms of novelty, relevance, contribution to new knowledge, and compliance with the guidelines for manuscript preparation.

•  The editorial board ensures the involvement of impartial and competent reviewers and applies the practice of double-blind peer review.

•  The editorial board does not use unpublished information without the author’s written consent.

•  The editorial board does not disclose information about submitted manuscripts (authors, topics, texts, etc.), which are treated as confidential documents. 

•  The editorial board does not disclose information about accepted manuscripts unnecessarily, except to authors, reviewers, other scientific advisors and the publisher. 

•  The editorial board treats the author and their scientific work with respect and maintains editorial confidentiality. 

•  The editorial board agrees with the author on all changes made to the manuscript during the editorial process.

•  The editorial board liaises with the ethics committees of academic institutions and higher education establishments where the authors of scientific articles are employed. 

•  The editorial board recommends for publication only those manuscripts that have scientific value, do not contravene editorial policy, do not contain plagiarism, and have not been previously published in other publications.

•  The editorial board publishes research articles in electronic databases, ensuring that authorship is clearly attributed and copyright is protected.

Duties of reviewers:

— maintaining confidentiality during the peer review process and not passing the article on to third parties; 

— objectivity when evaluating scientific manuscripts; 

— adhering to deadlines for the peer review of scientific articles; 

— not to use the information contained in the article for their own purposes or those of third parties; 

— to justify the results of the scientific evaluation of the article;

— to inform the editorial board of any mismatch between the reviewer’s field of research and the manuscript under review, conflicts of interest, or breaches of ethical principles of publication by the author.

Rights and obligations of authors:

The author has the right:

— to recognition of authorship and to determine the order of co-authors by mutual agreement;

— to withdraw the article prior to its acceptance for publication;

— to an objective, impartial and confidential peer review; 

— to protection against plagiarism, falsification and the unlawful use of research results;

— to receive information regarding the review of the article and the reviewers’ substantiated comments, as well as the editorial board’s comments; 

— to revise the article: to make corrections and additions in accordance with the reviewers’ comments;

— to provide a reasoned disagreement with specific comments; 

—to the preservation of copyright and the determination of the terms for the transfer of property rights (licence, open access, agreement with the publisher);

— to equality and non-discrimination; 

— to the protection of their rights, including by appealing against the editorial board’s actions in the event of a breach of established procedures, and by requesting the correction of errors or the retraction of a publication in the event of significant breaches.

The author is obliged to:

— guarantee that the article is original material and has not been previously published; 

— in the event the article is recommended for publication, it will not be published in another journal in the same form, in English or any other language; 

— ensure the novelty, accuracy and originality of the manuscript’s content;

— declare any use of AI;

— properly cite primary sources and the author’s own previously published articles in the form of quotations or references; 

— where the article cites the results of a survey or interview, to confirm the voluntary participation of respondents, to obtain their consent (including consent to the publication of the results), and to guarantee confidentiality, anonymity and the prevention of any form of discrimination or pressure.

The ethical conduct of the research must be duly justified and, where possible, supported by references to international professional standards and codes.

— avoid excessive borrowing and plagiarism in any form;

— avoid self-plagiarism; 

— agree to the inclusion of the scientific article in electronic databases, with mandatory attribution of authorship and full preservation of copyright; 

— cooperate with the editorial board regarding the preparation of the article for publication.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Editorial Board operates on the principle that editors, reviewers and scientific advisors undertake to recuse themselves from the consideration of manuscripts in the event of conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative or other interactions and relationships with authors, companies or other organisations associated with the manuscript.

In the event of conflicts or complaints regarding manuscripts or published materials, the editorial board acts in accordance with applicable legislation.

Issues regarding complaints or concerns about misconduct relating to research or publications raised by readers, reviewers or other individuals are resolved by the editorial board in accordance with the applicable legislation of Ukraine. The editorial board informs all interested parties of the resolution of conflicts.

Policy on Plagiarism and Violations

The editorial board of the Yearbook, acting in accordance with the principles of proportionality and procedural fairness, uses software and expert methods to check for plagiarism.

In the event of violations being detected, it may: reject the manuscript; retract a published article; notify the author’s institution.

Authorship Policy

The editorial board of the Yearbook assumes that: all co-authors (where an article is submitted by several authors) agree with the content of the article and have consented to its publication prior to submission; all co-authors have made a substantial contribution to the preparation of the article; have prepared the article for publication; agree to take responsibility for all aspects of the work, ensuring that issues relating to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved; all co-authors who do not meet all the criteria for authorship must be listed in the ‘Acknowledgements’ section of the article.

Data Sharing Policy

The Yearbook supports the principles of open science and promotes transparency and reproducibility in scientific research. Authors are required to ensure access to the scientific data underlying the published results, except where such disclosure is restricted by ethical, legal or security requirements.

Research data must be deposited in open or specialised repositories or made available upon reasonable request. Information on the storage location and conditions of access to the data shall be specified in the article in the form of a Data Availability Statement.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity and lawful use of scientific data, as well as for compliance with data protection and copyright requirements.

Where open access to data is not possible, authors must provide a valid justification. Reuse of data is permitted provided that the source is properly cited and the principles of academic integrity are observed.

All requests for access to data must be sent via the journal’s official email address.

Policy on the funding of scientific research publications

The editorial board of the Yearbook is committed to maximum transparency regarding the sources of funding for scientific research.

Authors of research articles may indicate the sources of funding for the research presented in the article, including:

— grants from research institutions or foundations; 

— funds received from governmental or non-governmental organisations;

— commercial or private sources of support;

— internal funding from universities and other organisations.

Advertising and Promotion Policy

The Yearbook does not contain any advertisements.