Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows best-practice guidance promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and Budapest Open Access Initiative. Editorial decisions are made exclusively on the basis of academic merit and relevance to the journal’s scope.
Duties of Editors
– Fair play and editorial independence:
Editors evaluate submissions without discrimination and without influence from external commercial or political interests.
– Confidentiality:
Editors and Editorial Office staff must not disclose information about submitted manuscripts beyond the review process.
– Conflicts of interest:
Editors must recuse themselves from handling a manuscript where a conflict exists (financial, institutional, collaborative, or personal).
– Decisions and accountability:
Editor-In-Chief ensures that peer review is conducted appropriately and that publication decisions are transparent and well-reasoned.
Duties of Reviewers
– Contribution to editorial decisions:
Peer review supports editorial decision-making and helps authors improve manuscripts.
– Confidentiality:
Manuscripts received for review are confidential documents.
– Objectivity and constructive feedback:
Reviews should be objective, substantiated, and respectful.
– Conflicts of interest:
Reviewers must declare conflicts and decline review where appropriate.
Duties of Authors
– Authorship and contributorship:
Authorship is limited to those who made substantial contributions to conception/design, data acquisition/analysis, drafting or critical revision, and approval of the final version. All contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged. Authors are responsible to avoid “guest” or “honorary” authorship; to openly declare the use of artificial intelligence (if applied) in accordance with the Journal’s policy; if substantial errors are identified in their own work, to promptly inform the Editorial Office and cooperate in issuing a correction or retracting the article.
– Originality and proper citation:
Authors must ensure the work is original and properly cites sources.
– Redundant publication:
Manuscripts should not be submitted concurrently to multiple journals or substantially duplicate prior publications.
– Data accuracy:
Authors must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance.
– Disclosure:
Authors must disclose funding sources, conflicts of interest, and (where applicable) ethical approvals and informed consent.
Handling allegations of misconduct
The journal takes allegations of misconduct seriously (plagiarism, fabricated data, falsification, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts, unethical research). The journal will follow COPE-aligned procedures: initial assessment, contacting authors for explanation, consultation with editors/reviewers where needed, and contacting institutions when appropriate.
Corrections and retractions
If errors are discovered after publication that affect interpretation, the journal may publish a Correction. If findings are unreliable due to misconduct or honest error, the journal may issue a Retraction or Expression of Concern, following COPE-aligned practices.
Use of Large Language Models and Generative AI Tools
The Journal acknowledges that artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be useful in the preparation of scholarly publications. At the same time, their use must comply with the principles of academic integrity, transparency, and authors’ responsibility.
Permitted uses of AI
Authors may use AI tools for:
• grammatical, stylistic, and language editing of texts;
• creating illustrations or charts based on the authors’ own data (with a clear indication of the data source);
• assistance in processing large volumes of information (for example, literature searching);
• data analysis, provided that the AI algorithms are clearly described in the study methodology.
Prohibited uses of AI
The following is prohibited:
• generating scholarly content (hypotheses, conclusions, results) without the author’s involvement and intellectual contribution;
• concealing the use of AI in the preparation of materials;
• using AI to fabricate or manipulate data;
• misrepresentation of authorship—AI cannot be listed as an author or co-author of an article.
Disclosure requirements
Authors are required to:
• clearly state in the “Methods” or “Acknowledgements” section which AI tools were used and for what purpose;
• ensure that the reliability of results obtained with the help of AI can be verified;
• when using visual or text generative models, indicate the tool name and version (for example: ChatGPT, OpenAI, August 2025 version).
Authors’ responsibility
In line with the COPE position statement on authorship and AI tools, generative AI systems and large language models cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work, declare conflicts of interest, or enter into copyright and licensing agreements. The author(s) remain fully accountable for the integrity, originality, and ethical compliance of the manuscript, including any content produced with AI assistance.
The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject or retract an article in cases of undisclosed or improper use of AI tools.