About the Journal

Our journal adopts the publication ethic guidelines as defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). For reference see COPE guidelines https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines  and its detailed flowcharts https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts.

The summary of the selected COPE guidelines is presented below.

Duties of the Author

Authorship of the manuscript: authorship refers to those who have made a substantial contribution to the article and have accountability for the work that was done and its presentation in a publication. Ghostwriting and guest authorship are considered bad publication practice. The contributors list should also include anybody who analysed data or prepared the first draft. Non-author contributors may be named in the acknowledgements. Before submitting the manuscript, it is necessary to ensure that all the authors have been listed and have approved the final version of the paper.

Originality and plagiarism: Authors should ensure that the work they have submitted is original. If the authors have used the work or words of others, they need to be cited or quoted according to generally accepted standards. Plagiarism is viewed as unethical behaviour and is not acceptable. Authors need to be sure they have obtained all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright material used in their work.

Data access and retention: As raw data is a building block for the submitted article, authors should be prepared to submit raw data for editorial review and provide access to this  data if asked by the editorial board or reviewers; also, they should  ensure that  the data in question is retained for one year  from the time of publication.

Multiple or concurrent publication: Authors should ensure that a manuscript presenting their research is neither submitted nor published in any other journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes autoplagiarism and, as such, is unethical publishing behaviour and thus not acceptable.

Authors are expected to revise their manuscripts according to reviewers’ comments, otherwise the editor may deny the publication of the article.

 There are no article submission or procession charges.

Duties of the editor

Monitoring the ethical standards: The responsibilities of the editorial board include monitoring the ethical standards of the scientific publications and taking appropriate measures against any malpractices if the need arises.Partiality: When deciding whether to accept or reject a given manuscript, the crucial features which are taken into consideration include the quality of the work, its originality, clarity and its relevance to the scope of the journal. The manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit without any discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, citizenship or political ideology.Confidentiality: The editors ensure that all materials submitted to the journal remain confidential during the entire review process. They do not disclose any information about the submitted manuscript to anyone other than the authors, reviewers and potential reviewers.

Duties of the reviewer

Promptness and expertise: When approached by the journal’s editorial board, reviewers need to consider if they have the necessary expertise and time to submit a review. Any reviewer who does not feel competent to review the manuscript or knows that they will not be able to meet specified deadlines should notify the editors as soon as possible.

Confidentiality: All the reviewed manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents and as such they must not be shared or discussed with third parties, except for the members of the editorial board.

Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively so that they can provide unbiased feedback on the scholarly merits and the scientific value of the work, together with the documented basis for the reviewer’s opinion. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with appropriate arguments. Personal comments or criticism of the authors are considered inappropriate and should be avoided.

Anonymity: All reviews are conducted anonymously and the editors do not disclose information  concerning the reviewers.