The editorial board of the Collection adheres to the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), an international organisation that sets the highest standards of integrity in scholarly publishing. The editorial board is also guided by the principles of transparent and ethical scholarly publishing of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and the Code of Academic Integrity of Uman National University. All participants in the publishing process (editors, authors and reviewers) are obliged to comply with the standards set out below.
Ethical Obligations of the Publisher
The editorial board of the Collection (publisher) undertakes to:
maintain editorial independence and prevent the influence of commercial, financial or political factors on editorial decisions;
ensure impartial and timely review of all manuscripts by qualified reviewers;
take action in cases of suspected misconduct by any participant in the publishing process, whether in respect of published or unpublished materials;
uphold the principles of confidentiality and protection of personal data of participants in the publishing process;
publish corrections, clarifications or retract materials upon substantiated requests in accordance with COPE recommendations, where necessary.
Rights and Responsibilities of Editors
The editorial board conducts its activities in accordance with international standards of publication ethics and is guided by the principles of academic integrity, objectivity and editorial independence.
Rights of editors:
to make decisions on accepting, rejecting or returning a manuscript for revision, based solely on its scientific merit and relevance to the profile of the publication;
to engage competent and independent reviewers, to replace them in cases of conflict of interest, and to consult with members of the editorial board and external experts;
to maintain confidentiality with regard to submitted manuscripts and all related information, and to recuse themselves from reviewing a manuscript if any conflict of interest exists;
to make editorial amendments to a manuscript subject to mandatory approval by the authors, to remove or retract published materials if violations of publication ethics are identified, and to publish relevant corrections or retractions;
to use tools for verifying academic integrity, particularly with regard to plagiarism and the use of artificial intelligence.
Responsibilities of editors:
to make decisions on materials solely on the basis of scientific merit, relevance and alignment with the profile of the Collection, without discriminating against authors on any grounds;
to maintain confidentiality of information about materials and the identity of authors during the anonymous review process;
to take immediate action upon detection of violations of academic integrity, including plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, and improper attribution of authorship;
to publish corrections, retractions or withdrawals in accordance with COPE recommendations;
to prevent conflicts of interest between editors and authors or reviewers of submitted materials;
to inform authors about the progress of the review process within a reasonable timeframe;
in cases of conflict of interest, to transfer the evaluation of a manuscript to another member of the editorial board to ensure objectivity;
not to use information from unpublished manuscripts for personal or research purposes without the written consent of the authors;
not to accept for review manuscripts by authors affiliated with aggressor states or who publicly support armed aggression against Ukraine.
Responsibilities of authors:
to submit only original, previously unpublished works;
not to submit the same article to another publication simultaneously;
to correctly cite all sources used;
to list all persons who have made a significant contribution to the research;
to disclose conflicts of interest and funding sources;
to immediately notify the editorial board of errors in an article accepted for publication;
to refrain from self-plagiarism: publishing the same research results in another language without referencing the original source constitutes a violation of ethics;
not to engage in fabrication, falsification or selective presentation of data, including manipulation of images;
to indicate the specific contribution of each co-author in accordance with the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy);
to use standardised identifiers: ORCID (for authors) and ROR (for organisations) to ensure unambiguous identification in scholarly databases;
it is recommended that authors provide open access to the primary research data via repositories, with an appropriate reference in the publication.
Responsibilities of reviewers:
to agree to review only those materials for which they have the relevant expertise;
to maintain the confidentiality of the materials received;
to notify the editor of any conflict of interest and decline the review;
to provide an objective, well-argued and constructive review;
to notify the editorial board of any identified signs of plagiarism or data manipulation;
to adhere to the agreed review timeline;
not to publicly discuss the manuscript or the ideas contained therein prior to publication;
to notify the editorial board of any identified violations of publication ethics: a biased reference list, improper use of images, undisclosed conflicts of interest, etc.
Adherence to International Standards of Publication Ethics
The editorial board of the Collection of Scientific Works of Uman National University is guided in its activities by the principles and recommendations of leading international organisations in the field of scholarly publishing.
COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). The Collection adheres to the ethical standards defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics: ensuring transparency of the editorial process, independence of peer review, adherence to academic integrity, correct determination of authorship, as well as clear mechanisms for handling complaints, corrections and retractions.
WAME (World Association of Medical Editors). Editorial decisions are made independently of any external interests. All participants in the publishing process are obliged to declare conflicts of interest. The Collection promotes objective and timely peer review, supports transparency in research funding, and encourages publications by early-career researchers.
DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment). Scholarly works are evaluated on the basis of their quality, relevance and contribution to the development of the field, rather than bibliometric indicators. The Collection recognises the value of diverse research outputs and supports the principles of open science.
ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors). Authorship is determined according to international criteria – solely on the basis of a genuine and substantial contribution to the research. The Collection encourages authors to be transparent about the data and methods used.
Open Science. The Collection adheres to the principles of Open Science and Plan S, ensuring open access to publications. All articles are made available free of charge and without time restrictions immediately after the issue is published. Full-text access to scholarly articles in real time is provided on the official website of the journal in the "Issues" section; articles are deposited for preservation at the V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and are available on the portal in the information resource "Scientific Periodicals of Ukraine". Compliance with the FAIR principles ensures that the data underlying the research presented in publications can be found, accessed, interoperable, and reusable through deposition in certified repositories.
