Ethical standards

PRINCIPLES OF THE PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

In its activities, the editor is responsible for publication of original works providing adherence to the following basic principles:

- When making decision on publication, the editor of a scientific journal should be guided by the veracity of data presentation and scientific significance of the work in question.

- The editor should evaluate the intellectual content of the manuscripts regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, origin, nationality, social status or political preferences of the authors.

- Unpublished data obtained from the manuscripts submitted for consideration should not be used for personal goals or given to third parties without the prior written consent of the author. Information or ideas derived from the editing and associated with potential benefits must be kept confidential and not used for gaining personal profits.

- The editor should not approve publication of the information, if there is a sufficient reason to consider it as a plagiarism.

- Jointly with the publisher, the editor must answer the claims relating to the considered manuscripts or published materials and, in case detection of a conflict, take all necessary measures to restore the violated rights. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR MANUSCRIPT REVIEWER 

The manuscript reviewer provides scientific expertise of original manuscripts; therefore, its actions should be unbiased providing adherence to the following principles:

- Each manuscript received for reviewing should be considered as a confidential document, which cannot be transmitted for familiarization or discussion to third parties without permission of the editorial board.

- The manuscript reviewer is required to give an objective and well-reasoned assessment of the investigation findings. Personal comments on the author are not acceptable.

- Unpublished data obtained from the manuscripts submitted for review, should not be used for personal goals of the manuscript reviewer.

- The reviewer, who is, in his opinion, not qualified enough to evaluate the manuscript, or cannot be objective, for example, in the case of a conflict of interests with the author or institution, should inform the editor about it and make a request to exclude him from reviewing of this manuscript.

PRINCIPLES OF THE PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR AUTHORS OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

The author (or a group of authors) is aware that she/he bears the primary responsibility for the novelty and validity of results of the submitted scientific research and adheres to the following principles:

- The authors should submit reliable research results. Knowingly incorrect or falsified data are unacceptable.

- The authors have to ensure that the results of the study stated in the submitted manuscript are completely original. Cited fragments or statements must be obligatory accomplished with indication of the author and the source. Excessive citing and plagiarism in any form, including unmarked citations, paraphrasing or assuming the rights on the results of other people's research is unethical and unacceptable.

- It is necessary to appreciate the contribution of all persons influencing somehow the course of the investigation. In particular, references to the works and papers that produced an effect on the study should be given in the article.

- The authors should not submit to the journal the manuscript, which has been sent to another journal and is under consideration, as well as an article already published in another journal.

- All persons who have made a significant contribution to the study should be indicated as co-authors of the article. It is unacceptable to introduce the persons, who were not involved in the study, to the co-authors.

- If an author finds significant errors or inaccuracies in the article on the stage of its examination or after its publication, she/he must notify the Editor board as soon as possible.

KEY TERMS:

The ethics of scientific publications - is a system of rules of professional relations between authors, reviewers, editors, publishers and readers in the course of creation, dissemination and use of scientific publications.

Editor - a representative of a scientific journal or publishing house, who prepares papers for publication and communicates with authors and readers of scientific publications.

Author – a person or group of persons (group of authors) participated in preparation of research results for publication.

Reviewer – an expert acting on behalf of a scientific journal or publishing house and executing scientific expertise of a paper/manuscript to determine possibility of its publication.

Publisher – a legal or natural person performing publication of scientific papers/manuscripts.

Reader – any person, who has acquainted with the published paper/manuscript.

Plagiarism – an intentional appropriation of authorship of another’s work of science or art, another's ideas or inventions. Plagiarism may violate the copyright law and patent law and, as such, may result in legal liability.

The ethical code of scientific publications was developed and approved by the Committee on publication ethics.