Complaint handling procedure

This procedure regulates the procedure for submission and consideration of appeals regarding possible violations of ethical norms by authors, reviewers or members of the journal's editorial board. Its effect extends to cases of plagiarism, improper use of other people's materials, undeclared conflict of interests, falsification or manipulation of data, as well as other manifestations of non-compliance with the principles of academic integrity.

Filing a complaint

 The appeal is submitted to the editorial office of the magazine in printed or electronic form to the official e-mail address of the magazine.

  1. In the application, it is necessary to specify:

-  contact information of the applicant;

- a link to a relevant publication or material;

- a justified description of the possible violation with evidence.

  1. Applications without specifying the identity of the applicant will not be accepted for consideration.

Preliminary consideration

  1. The editor-in-chief determines the responsible person for the initial analysis of the received complaint.
  2. Within 5 working days, the following is checked:

- whether the appeal relates to the activities of the magazine;

- whether it contains sufficient grounds for further consideration.

  1. The applicant is informed about the acceptance of the complaint for consideration or about the rejection with the relevant justification.

Consideration on the merits

 For an objective review, a commission consisting of three independent experts is formed.

  1. The commission has the right to:

- request additional materials and explanations;

- involve external specialists;

- hold consultations with process participants.

  1. The term for considering a complaint does not exceed 30 calendar days.

Decision-making and possible measures

 1.Based on the results of the review, the commission may:

- recognize the complaint as unfounded;

- identify minor violations and recommend corrections;

- confirm the existence of a significant violation and initiate appropriate actions.

  1. In case of serious violations, the following measures may be applied:

- refusal to publish the material;

- retraction of a published article;

- temporary restriction of the right to submit materials to the journal;

- informing the institution with which the author is associated.

Guarantees of participants' rights

  1. Each of the parties has the right:

- receive information about the progress of the complaint;

- submit explanations and additional materials;

- appeal the decision.

  1. Confidentiality of the procedure is guaranteed to all participants.

Appeal procedure

 The decision of the commission can be appealed by submitting an appeal to the editor-in-chief within 14 days from the moment of its receipt.

  1. The appeal is considered within 10 working days.
  2. The decision of the editor-in-chief is final and not subject to review.

The editor-in-chief or editor-in-chief is guided in his activities by the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and generally accepted principles of publication ethics of scientific publications.