Ethical Principles

The standards of ethics of the journal Acta Albaruthenica are defined according to COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. They concern authors, editors, reviewers, members of the Scientific Council and the Publisher.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal  Acta Albaruthenica are checked in order to assure their compliance with the ethical publication standards, as well as to assess their scientific reliability and value.

Standards and duties for Editorial Board members

• Criteria for accepting texts for publication: The Editor in Chief decides which texts will be published. When accepting texts for publication, the opinions of reviewers regarding the scientific value of the work, originality of the problem and transparency of the argument are taken into account.
• Control of the ethical standards: Editorial Board members of the journal Acta Albaruthenica ensure that the standards and rules of ethical behaviour are applied. They counteract any practices contrary to the adopted standards.
• Fair play: Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to race, gender, religious belief, origin, citizenship or political philosophy of the author. The evaluation is done only for their intellectual content.
• Confidentiality: Editorial Board members do not disclose any information on submitted manuscripts to any unauthorized person. The persons authorized to access such information are: the author, assigned reviewers, Editorial Board members, editors, and the Publisher.
• Avoiding competing interests: Unpublished manuscripts cannot be used by Editorial Board members nor by any other person involved in the publication process without the authors’ written consent.
• Scientific reliability: Editorial Board members safeguard scientific reliability of the publications. To this end, they may appropriately correct and change submitted manuscripts. In case of suspected misconduct (plagiarism, research data falsification), they are obliged to reject the article in question.

If such a case occurs, the Editorial Board is obliged to publish appropriate rectifications, explanations or apologies.

• Article removal: The Editorial Board is entitled to remove an article after its publication, if:

– there is evidence that research results are not reliable and/or the data is falsified, as well as in case of unintentional errors (for example miscalculations or methodological errors);

– the research results have already been published;

– the work is plagiarized or it contravenes the ethical publication standards.

A notification on article removal shall be understood as a removal of the article. The notification should include information on the author (there should be at least the article title and the author(s)’(s) name(s) indicated) and the reasons for the removal. A distinction should be made between unintentional errors and deliberate misconduct which may constitute a cause for the article removal. Removed articles are not removed from the published version of the journal, their removal should be, however, clearly marked.

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If the Editors are made aware of an allegation of misconduct related to the published material, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines will be followed.

Editors encourage Authors, Reviewers and Readers to contact the Editorial Office via email, phone, or post in the case of any suspicion of misconduct, such as (but not limited to): plagiarism, data falsification, figures/tables/citation manipulation or reuse without proper consent, unethical AI usage, authorship, and contribution problems. Allegations brought to the Editors’ or Publisher’s attention (pre- and post- publication) will result in specific-to-case measures that will be implemented according to the COPE guidelines.

Editors together with the Publisher will undertake an investigation in order to verify the allegations. The outcomes of the procedure will be communicated to the sender, to the subject of the allegations and to appropriate institutions. In the case of false allegations, the outcome will also be communicated to all parties involved, including the institution and managers of the whistle-blower.

Editor, Author and reviewer roles

The Journal follows the COPE Code of Conduct in defining roles and duties, as well as Recommendations for Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications specified by the Council of Science Editors (CSE).

Roles and responsibilities of the Editors:
− The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) is appointed by the University of Warsaw. It is the EiC’s obligation to appoint Deputy Editors and other staff needed for the Journal’s functioning.
− Editors are accountable for all the content published in the Journal.
− They are responsible for monitoring and ensuring fairness, timeliness, thoroughness, and civility of the peer-review and editorial processes.
− They maintain the integrity of the academic record of the published material.
− They are responsible for making unbiased decisions.
− They follow the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/editorial-board-participation-cope-guideline.pdf) when appointing new members of the Editorial Team for a 5-year term. The term may be reduced due to a member’s biased or unethical behaviour.
– They define and execute the Journal’s policy, handle complaints and misconducts.
– They disclose any conflicts of interest, should they emerge.

Standards for Authors

• Scientific reliability: Article authors are obliged to present an account of the research performed and an objective discussion of its results. Articles should contain sufficient information in order to identify the sources used, as well as to permit others to replicate the research. Presenting and interpreting data and research results that is not compliant with the ethical publication standards is unacceptable and may result in article removal.
• Originality of the paper: Authors may submit only their own, original works. The research and/or data of other scholars used in the work should be appropriately and clearly cited or quoted. Plagiarism or data fabrication is unacceptable.
• Data access: Authors may be asked to provide the research data which is not cited in the text. They are obliged to provide access to such data, also after publication.
• Avoiding authors’ competing interests: Authors should not publish texts presenting the same research in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscripts to more than one journal constitutes unethical behaviour.
• Authorship of the paper:

– Authors submitting a manuscript by several authors are obliged to disclose contributions made by particular authors (including their affiliation address and the level of the contribution, i.e. information on the authors of the concept, assumptions, methods, protocols, etc. used during the preparation of the manuscript).

– Ghostwriting and guest authorship are treated as scientific misconduct; all detected cases shall be disclosed and a notification shall be sent to relevant institutions, such as institutions employing the authors, scientific societies, associations of scientific editors, etc.

– Authors submitting a manuscript are obliged to ensure that all those who have made contributions agree on the final form of the manuscript.

• Source reliability: Authors are obliged to cite in an attached reference list all publications which have been used when preparing the article.
• Errors in the paper: Should (an) author(s) discover any significant errors or inaccuracies in their paper, they are obliged to notify the Editorial Board immediately in order to withdraw the paper or correct the errors.

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Roles and responsibilities of the Authors:
The Journal follows the CSE guidelines that define the Authors’ roles The Author-Editor relation is founded on confidentiality.

− The Corresponding Author is responsible for managing all queries and communication between the Journal and the Authors, including making corrections, providing feedback, and providing necessary permissions.
− Authors provide a statement confirming the originality of the submitted study.
− They disclose the originality of the content, their actual contribution to the study, conflict of interest, and funding.
− They follow the Journal’s or the Publisher’s guidelines concerning the reuse of any copyrighted material and provides the material’s proper attribution. This includes the Author’s own work as well.
− They should be aware of any data sharing responsibilities required by the funding agencies (please see the Journal’s policy on data sharing).
− In the case of research involving humans, confidential materials and any other information protected by legal regulations, Authors must provide appropriate consents and permissions.

The Journal follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines and defines the Author as a person who has made a significant intellectual contribution to the study, drafted or reviewed it critically for important intellectual content, given the final approval of the article to be published and is accountable for all aspect of the work related to the accuracy and integrity of any part of the work. One has to meet all the four criteria to be defined as an Author.

The Corresponding Author confirms that all the individuals listed as Authors have contributed significantly to the research presented in the submitted article. The Corresponding Author also confirms that all individuals listed as Authors have contributed to the entire manuscript.

Contributors
Individuals who do not meet all the four criteria of authorship cannot be listed as Authors. A proper acknowledgement of their input should be provided in the manuscript. As per the ICMJE guidelines. Such individuals may be responsible for:
a) the acquisition of funding,
b) general supervision of a research group or general administrative support,
c) writing assistance,
d) technical editing,
e) language editing,
f) proofreading.
In the case of individuals who have contributed unequally to the work, the Editors recommend that detailed information on their contribution be provided.
The Journal strongly supports the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) when describing each Contributor’s specific role. More information on CRediT can be found at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/leap.1210

Changes to Authorship
If the Authors request that an Author be removed or added after the manuscript has been submitted or published, they provide an explanation of the requested change and a signed agreement from all the listed Authors, including the Author who is to be removed or added. Changes to Authorship are allowed only before the acceptance of the manuscript and only if approved by the Editor. The Editor may agree to introduce changes to the Authorship. This includes name changes, addition,
removal, or rearrangement of the Authors after the article has been accepted for publication. Such requests will result in a suspension of the manuscript until the issue is resolved. In the case of an already published material a corrigendum is released.

AI Authorship
Upon submission of an article, the Journal requires the Authors to disclose whether they have used artificial intelligence AI-assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators). The Authors who have used such technology specify, in the cover letter or within the submitted work, the details of such usage. The use of AI for writing assistance should be disclosed in the acknowledgment section.

Unaccepted Authorship
There are three types of authorship that are considered unacceptable:
a) Ghost authors who contribute substantially but are not acknowledged.
b) Guest authors who make no discernible contributions.
c) Gift authors whose contribution is based solely on a tenuous affiliation with a study.
The Journal follows the definitions of inappropriate authorship as specified by the Council of Science Editors: https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities.

Conflicts of interest / Competing interests
All Authors must disclose any conflict of interest defined as a financial or personal relation with other individuals or organizations, activities or positions that can bias the submitted article. Such conflict includes but is not limited to the matters of familial kinship, employment, consulting services, honoraria, and funding.
Conflict of interest also refers to any of the above-mentioned relations between Authors and the Journal’s Editors, Reviewers, Editorial Board, Editorial Office, as well as the Publisher. Authors are advised to disclose any potential conflict of interest before submitting the manuscript or during the editorial procedure. The Journal will also acknowledge the post-publication disclosure. Competing interest among the Journal staff, including Editors, Board, staff members and the Publisher, will be disclosed, if applicable, on the Journal’s website.

Prepublication

Any fragment of work which has been already copyrighted to a third party, published, posted or reposited in the form that has been submitted to the Journal will be considered as pre-publication and consequently will not be published. The Journal can publish a manuscript that has been uploaded on a preprint server or has a DOI only if a significant amount of new data or original material is added. Preprint is not considered as prior publication only if the work fulfils the following definition: “a
complete scientific manuscript (often one also being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal) that is uploaded by the authors to a public server without formal review” (Jeremy M. Berg et al., ”Preprints for the Life Sciences.” Science 352 (2016), 899-901. DOI:10.1126/science.aaf9133).
The Journal allows to republish a conference paper only if a full disclosure and citation is provided.

As the journal employs a double-blind peer review process, authors must also submit an anonymized version of the manuscript. All information that could identify the authors, including names, institutional affiliations, funding statements, acknowledgements, and similar identifying details, should be removed from this version.

Standards for reviewers

Reviewers review manuscripts under the Editorial Board’s instructions. Their activity may, therefore, affect Editorial Board members’ decisions. Reviewers may also assist in establishing the final form of the paper and improving publications through communications with the authors.

• Deadlines: Reviewers are obliged to submit reviews on a determined date. If, for any reason (due to the topic of the manuscript, lack of time, etc.), they are unable to comply with the time limit or carry out the review, they should notify the Editorial Board immediately.
• Confidentiality: All reviewed manuscripts and their reviews are treated as confidential documents. Sharing manuscripts with a third party is unacceptable (with the exception of those who take part in the publication process).
• Objectivity standards: Reviews should be objective. Personal criticism of the authors is deemed at least inappropriate. All comments should be expressed with appropriate arguments.
• Source reliability: If such a case occurs, reviewers should mark particular works on the topic of the article which have not been cited by the author. The reviewer should mark all significant similarities between the article and other works, and notify the Editorial Board.
• Avoiding competing interests: Reviewers cannot use the manuscripts they review for their own needs or benefits. They should not assess manuscripts where they have potential conflicts of interest with the author(s).

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Roles and Responsibilities of the Reviewers:
The Journal follows the CSE guidelines concerning the Reviewers’ roles and responsibilities:

Responsibilities toward the Authors:
– Reviewers keep in confidence the details concerning the review process.
– They provide written, unbiased, and constructive feedback in a timely manner.
– They comment on the originality, accuracy, relevance, and linguistic competence of the article.

Responsibilities toward the Editors:
– Reviewers reply promptly to invitations.
– They disclose any conflict of interest, ethical concerns, bias, plagiarism, or any other
misconduct discovered.
– They provide constructive criticism.
– They indicate the ways to improve the manuscript.

Responsibilities toward the Readers:
– Reviewers make sure that the presented research can be validated by the methods and
analyses described in the manuscript.
– They make sure that the cited works are relevant and up to date.

Conflicts of interest / Competing interests

Reviewers are advised to disclose any potential conflict of interest when they agree to review a manuscript or, if not yet known, after the publication. If a concern about a conflict of interest is made, the manuscript will be assigned to a different Editor or Reviewer. In the case of an acknowledged conflict of interest, the review procedures and the editorial decisions will be made independently of the disclosed information, based solely on the quality of the manuscript.

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Complaints and appeals
Apart from misconduct allegations, Editors encourage Authors, Reviewers, Readers, and other individuals to contact the EiC, Editors, Editorial Board Members, the Publisher, or the Editorial Office in the case of complaints against the Journal, its staff, the Editorial Board, Publisher, or Reviewers. Individuals wishing to rise a concern or make a complaint may send an email to actaalba[at]gmail.com. The appropriate party will investigate whether correct procedures have been followed. The complainant will be notified about the outcome in writing. Complaints may concern editorial decisions, published articles, the review procedure, delays, unethical
behaviour, and any other activity that is seen by the complainant as important. If the complainant wishes to pursue the complaint further, they may contact COPE directly. The procedure is available at: https://publicationethics.org/facilitation-and-integrity-subcommittee.

Data and reproducibility
Research data typically refers to digital, machine-readable files and can be defined as the results of experiments and observations that validate the research. The Journal encourages Authors to post their data in standard formats that can be accessed and re-used by others. The Journal follows the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of digital assets (FAIR) principles. It supports data integrity and encourages Authors to share the data associated with their research and any other information that supports it. The Journal also encourages Authors to share their data on social media, repositories, and personal and institutional websites.
The Journal supports the TRUST principles for digital repositories and encourages Authors to place the data in one of the repositories listed in OpenDOAR. Authors should also follow institutional and, if applicable, the funding body’s guidelines when choosing the platform to share their data. Authors are also encouraged to cite the data in their manuscript or indicate how to access the data by providing the DOI or access number. The Journal encourages Authors to share the VoR (Version of Record) and the AAM (Author Accepted Manuscript) together with the data associated with the research. The Journal encourages Authors to consult https://www.howcanishareit.com/ in order to determine how the published article can be shared.

Ethical oversight
Authors, Editors, Publishers, and Readers adhere to the publishing ethics described herein on the Journal page. The Journal encourages reports on any unethical practices such as, but not limited to, fabrication of data/research/figures/tables, plagiarism, authorship falsification, duplicate publication, peer review
manipulation, concealment of conflict of interest, paper mill publication, and others. Upon submission, the Corresponding Author has to receive the approval form from all the Authors. The forms must be available upon request to the Journal’s Editors and include all the necessary consents to the use of third-party materials. The consent has to be obtained also for any research on human beings, managing confidential data, and ethical nosiness/marketing practices. If any concerns arise, Editors will follow the COPE guidelines.

Post- publication
Discussions
The Journal supports post-publication debates regarding the published articles. Readers can submit their concerns, opinions, criticism, or letters of support. The Journal has the right to peer review the criticism, the response to criticism and to publish the discussion. The discussions can also be held on third party moderated platforms, such as PubPeer.
As the Journal follows the COPE guidelines, the Editors require that criticism should:
– be reasonable,
– not contain libellous or defamatory content,
– have evidence or data that support the claims.
Readers can express their concern regarding the published material. The concerns should be sent via email at actaalba[at]gmail.com. Depending on the nature of the concern and the outcomes of an investigation, the Journal may publish:
– an addendum (significant information disclosed after the publication that enhances the
readers’ understanding of the article),
– Editor’s note (to inform that an investigation has been started),
– editorial expression of concern (to alert the readers about serious concerns),
– correction,
– retraction,
– corrigendum.
In the above instances, the Journal follows the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/resources/forum-discussions/expressions-of-concern)

Corrections
If an Author notices a mistake after the article has already been published, they are requested to contact the Editorial Office at actaalba[at]gmail.com. Depending on the nature of the error, the Editorial Office will investigate the case and decide whether an erratum or corrigendum needs to be published. Only for substantial errors the procedure of corrections will be taken. Reports on mistakes in punctuation, mistakes not influencing the meaning of the paper or not affecting the scientific integrity of the paper, will not be processed.

Retraction
The Journal follows the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/node/19896) with regard to the retraction process. An article will be immediately retracted if:
− It constitutes plagiarism,
− The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources or disclosure to the Editor, permission to republish, or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication),
− It contains material or data without authorisation for use,
− Copyrights have been violated or there is some other serious legal issue (e.g., libel, privacy),
− It contains unethical research,
− It has been published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review
process,
− The Author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest that, in the view of the Editors, would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers.

An appropriate retraction note will be published both as an individual statement, separate from the article’s contents, and within the article on the first page of the online version.

Article removal
The Journal will not remove any published material unless it gravely violates the law. In such case, retraction is not sufficient, since the article may be subject to a court order or pose hazard to human beings. In such cases the body of the article will be removed and only the metadata (the names of the Authors)
retained, followed by a statement that explains the removal due to legal reasons.

Revenue sources
This is an Open Access Journal with no subscription charges. The Journal does not receive any revenues
from publication of regular issues.
The Journal is financed by the University of Warsaw.
Any revenues from special issues, supplements or any other form of subsidies or sponsorships that occur on an irregular basis, do not influence the decisions of the Editors.
There is no subscription fee.

Advertising
The Journal does not accept publication of any advertising material. In-house advertising might appear in a form of banners on the Journal web site and within the Journal. Advertisements are not related in any way to the editorial decisions.

Direct marketing
In the case of direct marketing, the Editors will make every effort to target them accurately and unobtrusively.