Manuscripts are assessed in the review proceedings which comprise
- the assessment of professional appropriateness by one member of the International Editorial Board, and
- bilaterally anonymous review by two experts from the Editorial Review Board (or other field-specific expert - in this case one from the reviewers has to be a member of the Editorial Review Board).
The text is assessed exclusively on the basis of its intellectual value, irrespective of the author‘s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship or political views. The editors of the journal make every effort to maintain impartiality of the review proceedings not to disclose the identity of the reviewers and other participants in the proceedings. The author whose work was demonstrably proved to contain plagiarisms or forged data shall lose an opportunity of publishing in the Journal.
The next principles and procedures are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers and Guide for New Researchers. The issue editors, reviewers and authors are expected to thoroughly peruse the original copies of the aforementioned documents prior to starting their work.
Editorial board and editors
The editorial board of the journal decides which articles to accept and publish. The editors support the philosophy and strategy of the journal, and are entitled - after consultation with members of the editorial board and reviewers - to reject articles which contain plagiarized, libellous or defamatory material, or which are in breach of copyright law. The editors evaluate manuscripts without personal bias towards or against authors or institutions. Editors may not cite from an author’s manuscript without written consent; editors may not use material from unpublished manuscripts for purposes of their own work or the work of other authors. Editors may not circulate copies of a manuscript, either in printed or electronic form, except for editorial purposes. Editors must refuse to edit a manuscript if, in their opinion, doing so would place them in a conflict of interests.
The peer review process may not be commercially sponsored. If a certain part or section of the journal does not undergo a peer review process, this fact must be clearly stated. Editors should notify the ethical committee and relevant institutions of any breach of the ethical principles of publication; every notification of unethical publication shall be investigated. Responsibility for the academic quality of the journal and compliance with the ethical principles of publication rests with the chair of the editorial board and/or the head editor and the editorial board. The position taken by the editorial board may differ from the positions taken by reviewers.
Editorial board will make the final decision whether to publish or not to publish the article and than inform autohors. The decision of the editorieal board is final.
Reviewers
As part of the peer review process, an article submitted for publication is evaluated by the author’s peers for purposes of improving the quality of the article. This process is a prerequisite for the journal to be successful and respected by the expert community. Reviewers assist editors in their decision whether to publish a manuscript, and they assist authors in improving the quality of manuscripts. If a reviewer feels insufficiently qualified to evaluate the research presented in a manuscript, or if the reviewer is unable to submit a review of the required quality due to lack of time, the reviewer shall notify the editors of this fact and withdraw from the peer review process.
Reviewers receiving anonymous manuscripts shall respect the confidentiality of these manuscripts with regard to the rights of the person submitting them (including the rights of the submitter under copyright law). Reviewers shall evaluate submitted manuscripts objectively and without any personal criticism of the author, expressing their position clearly and precisely and giving relevant arguments. Any claims, inferences or arguments already published must be duly cited by the author. Reviewers should identify any failure by the author of the article to cite already published work, and they should notify the editor of this fact.
Reviewers may not cite from the manuscript without written permission, nor may they use material from unpublished manuscripts for purposes of their own work or the work of others, nor may they circulate copies of the manuscript (including electronic versions). If the reviewer wishes to consult another expert regarding the manuscript, he/she must inform the editors of this.
Authors
Authors must respect the requirement of originality; two identical or similar texts must not be submitted for publication (whether in print or electronically) elsewhere in a different journal, and the same texts must not be published in two different journals or other outlets. Authors must express their expert knowledge with maximum precision while respecting intellectual property rights and legal provisions pertaining to copyright. Authors’ manuscripts must present relevant data, comprise objective discussion on the topic examined, and give necessary details and references. It is inadmissible to include in a submitted manuscript any part whatsoever of any other text, or research results from another work, without precisely citing the author and the original source. The unacknowledged use of other texts or sources is considered to be plagiarism.
Authors bear the responsibility for ensuring that their manuscripts do not contain information that is invented, false or has previously been published. The original data upon which an article is based should be available to the editors for review if necessary (even after publication). Authors must only publish a particular manuscript in one journal or other primary publication. Authors may not submit previously published manuscripts to the editors. In certain cases the secondary publication of certain types of articles is acceptable (e.g. translations); however, this is only admissible with the consent of the author(s) and the editors, and the secondary publication must address the same data and interpret a primary document (including original citations). Sources must be duly cited by authors, and information obtained from personal contact may not be used in a submitted text without the explicit written consent of its source. Authorship of a document is restricted solely to those persons who made a significant contribution to the published study; all co-authors who made a significant contribution must be listed as such.
If other persons contributed to e.g. a research project, the document shall acknowledge their contribution. All experimental studies must comply with the basic ethical recommendations of the 2002 Helsinki Declaration. All authors must acknowledge any sources of funding in connection with the submitted manuscript and must declare potential conflicts of interest. If the author discovers significant errors in his/her study once published, he/she shall inform the editors without delay and collaborate on any necessary amendments or the withdrawal of the article. If an editor, on the basis of external information, discovers that a published study contains significant errors, the author must amend or withdraw the text without delay, or alternatively must provide evidence of the accuracy of the original study to the editors.
Plagiarism, inaccurate or false statements, and the submission of the same manuscript to more than one publication, are considered unethical and unacceptable conduct.