Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (VNU) publishes over 50 research journal volumes yearly. Many of them are published under the auspices of acknowledged scientific associations and societies. The Publisher is aimed at providing a forum for scholars to share, foster, and openly discuss globally various new topics and advances in different fields of modern science. However, the VNU as the Publisher follows a neutral position on topics raised and discussed in its Journals.  The VNU is committed to meeting and keeping high standards of scholarly ethical behavior at all stages of the publication process.

To ensure high ethical standards and prevent malpractice in publishing authors' contributions the Journal strictly pursues the following ethical policy:

1. Ethical expectations

It is important to meet the standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the Author, the Journal Editor, the Publisher, the Peer Reviewer.

The Author who submits an article to the journal

• must be aware of the Journal ethical policy and rules;
• should know about Journal fees and charges (see here: Publication fee) before s/he submits a manuscript to the Journal;
• is obliged to participate in peer review process by responding to the peer reviewers' comments, by providing retractions or corrections of mistakes;
• is responsible for the correct list of references, stating his/her financial support;
• is forbidden: to publish same research in more than one journal, to give others' research data, to introduce plagiarism, to provide data without due observance of the material protected by copyright; to submit a manuscript containing any explicit / verbal kind of xenophobia, or intolerance, on the grounds of age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political views, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, language, culture and  other kinds of discrimination;
• explicitly confirms that the paper presents a concise, accurate account of the research performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to public sources of information. Fabrication of data is an egregious departure from the expected norms of scholarly conduct, as is the selective reporting of data with the intent to mislead or deceive, as well as the theft of data or research results from others;
• must obtain permission for use of any previously published materials from the original publisher. Plagiarism is treated both as the unreferenced use of others’ published and unpublished ideas, including research grant applications and submission under “new” authorship of a complete paper, sometimes in a different language [Code of Conduct]. Plagiarism constitutes unethical scholarly behavior and is unacceptable;
• shall share the equal degree of responsibility for the paper s/he co-authors;
• shall be aware of the fact that submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is unethical and unacceptable.

By acknowledging these facts the authors bear personal responsibility for the accuracy, credibility, and authenticity of research results described in their papers.

The Publisher and Editor must 

• provide checking manuscripts for academic plagiarism using systems Strikeplagirism.com or Unicheck.com;
• take measures to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research ethical conduct has been violated;
• allow for retracting, correcting articles and publishing corrections, clarifications or apologies when needed;
• deal with allegations appropriately in the event of any case of research misconduct;
• timely publish journal volume numbers twice a year strictly following and in accordance with the established publishing schedule and rules - in June and in December yearly;
• follow an objective and fair evaluation of authors' contributions without any discrimination as to their gender, sex orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic origin;
• treat funded research articles or special issues in the same way as other contributions, so that this kind of manuscripts is reviewed and accepted for publishing solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
• approve and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an unethical behavior or conflict, in accordance with the Journal policies and procedures.
• provide authors with an opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be thoroughly investigated even in the event when the original manuscript was approved.
• keep any documentation associated with any such complaints.
• provide proper archiving of all published volumes at the Publisher's repository https://evnuir.vnu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/4099 and https://doaj.org/ to ensure access in the event the Journal is no longer published.

Editors are the stewards of the Journal. They usually take over their journal from the previous editor(s) and always want to hand over the journal in good shape  [Code of Conduct].

The Peer Reviewers  are external experts chosen by editors to provide written opinions, with the aim of improving the paper under consideration [Code of Conduct].

The Peer Reviewers must

• follow the rules of peer reviewing procedure (see here); 
• judge research papers objectively;
• have no conflict of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative between the author and the referee), in case of conflict withdraw from peer reviewing;
• point out relevant published work which is not yet cited;
• treat refereed confidentially;
• not retain or copy the reviewed paper; 
• inform the Editor-in-Chief of any published or submitted content identical to the paper under peer reviewing.

2. Commonplace routine for dealing with unethical behavior

Unethical behavior is understood as any kind of violating the scholarly norms of behavior on the part of the Author, the Reviewer, and the Editor/Publisher

• Misconduct is treated as an intention to cause others to regard as true that which is not true.
• The examination of misconduct must therefore focus, not only on the particular act or omission, but also on the intention of the researcher, author, editor, reviewer or publisher involved.
• Misconduct and unethical behavior may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.

Investigation

• An initial decision is taken by the Editor, who should consult with and seek advice from the Publisher.
• Evidence is gathered, and avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.
• Depending on the degree of seriousness of the breach the Editor, in consultation with the Publisher will make the decision whether or not to involve the employers of the accused person.

 Sanctions are ranked and can be applied in view of their ranking (from minor to more serious)

• Informing the author or reviewer of a possible misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
• Writing a letter to the author or reviewer describing the misconduct.
• Publication of an editorial describing the misconduct.
• Sending a formal letter to the head of the author's or reviewer's institution/department or funding agency.
• Formal withdrawal of a publication from the journal with simultaneous informing  Abstracting & Indexing services and the readership of the publication.
• Refusal to accept papers from the author for a definite period of time.
• Informing  professional organisations or higher authority about the case and sanctions for further investigation and action.

3. Other ethical statement issues