Publication Ethics

To prevent unethical practices in scientific publications (including plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publications, and others), all participants in the publication process-editors, members of the editorial board, authors, and reviewers-are required to comply with ethical standards and take measures to prevent violations. Manuscripts containing unreliable data, plagiarism, or duplicate publications are subject to rejection or retraction.

Compliance with publication ethics principles ensures the protection of authors’ intellectual property rights, guarantees high publication quality, and prevents improper use of published materials.

Ethical Principles for Authors

Authors are required to:

• submit accurate and original data, confirming that each co-author has made a significant contribution to the research; fabrication and falsification of data are unacceptable;

• promptly inform the editorial office of any errors or inaccuracies identified after submission or publication of the manuscript;

• confirm the originality of the manuscript, that it has not been previously published, and that it is not under simultaneous consideration by another journal;

• correctly cite sources and reference prior research, avoiding misrepresentation; direct quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks and accompanied by appropriate references;

• avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism in any form;

• disclose all sources of financial and material support;

• prepare manuscripts in accordance with the Journal’s requirements;

• comply with international copyright standards and national legislation;

• respond respectfully to reviewers’ and editors’ comments, providing necessary clarifications and additional data when requested.

Ethical Principles for Reviewers

Reviewers are required to:

• conduct objective and confidential peer review aimed at improving the quality of manuscripts;

• provide clear, well-reasoned, and unbiased comments;

• maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and not use unpublished data for personal purposes;

• disclose any conflicts of interest (financial, academic, or personal) that may affect objectivity;

• decline the review if a conflict of interest exists.

Ethical Principles for Editors and the Editorial Board

Editors and members of the editorial board are responsible for the integrity of the publication process and must:

• make decisions based solely on the scientific merit, relevance, and reliability of the data;

• ensure confidentiality of manuscripts and anonymity of reviewers;

• avoid conflicts of interest in relation to submitted and rejected manuscripts;

• prevent the publication of materials when evidence of plagiarism or unethical practices is identified;

• publish corrections, retractions, or clarifications when necessary.

Ethical Principles for the Publisher

The Publisher undertakes to:

• support the editorial board, reviewers, and authors in fulfilling their ethical obligations;

• ensure the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;

• guarantee the independence of editorial decisions from commercial interests (including advertising revenue);

• cooperate with other publishers and organizations in addressing issues related to publication ethics;

• facilitate the retraction or correction of publications containing unreliable data or plagiarism.

Confidentiality

All unpublished materials are treated as confidential documents.

Personal data of authors and reviewers are protected in accordance with applicable legislation.

Reviewers and editors are prohibited from disclosing or using unpublished data for personal purposes.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest.

Editors and reviewers must refrain from handling manuscripts in cases of a conflict of interest.

In the event of ethical complaints regarding submitted or published materials, the Editor-in-Chief conducts an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines; where necessary, corrections, retractions, or apologies are published.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

The Journal follows the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association — Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects.

Research involving human participants must comply with ethical standards, ensure voluntary participation, and obtain informed consent.

Animal experiments must be conducted humanely and in accordance with international guidelines.

In the manuscript, authors must indicate the presence of informed consent from participants and confirm approval of the study by the relevant institutional ethics committee.