UJCL is firmly in the position of adherence to the ethics of publications and conformity with the international principles of academic publishing.
These detailed rules for the authors, editors, and reviewers were developed based on publication principles of Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) and in accordance with recommendations of Elsevier, best practice methods of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for journal editors.
UJCL takes the responsibility for the surveillance for all publishing stages extremely seriously, and, at the same time, the editorial board recognizes the plenitude of ethical or other obligations.
UJCL is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, both the Editors-in-Chief and the entire editorial board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.
All cases of breaches of ethics and related complaints will be studied in detail by the editors and will receive responses.
THE ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF AUTHORS
- Authorship and contribution to the work. The authorship of the work should be restricted by those individuals who have made a considerable contribution to the concept, its reflection, or interpretation in the study submitted to the publication. All contributors should be listed as co-authors and should confirm their responsibility for a whole manuscript or a particular section of the study. The submitter of the manuscript should ensure that the names of all co-authors are indicated in the article, and nobody who is not a co-author is included, that all co-authors have read and approved the final version of the scientific work, and have given their permission for its publication.
- Reporting standards. The authors of the research submitted for publication are responsible for ensuring that the data that form their research are clearly stated in written form. The article should contain sufficient information and references to the original sources to allow their use and / or review by others. The use of deliberately inaccurate data or deliberately manipulating data in the article is equal to unethical conduct and is therefore unacceptable.
- Access to data and data retention. Along with the articles, the authors submit initial information about themselves, their place of work (study), a personal photo, and grant their permission for the editorial board to use the aforementioned data for the purpose of their publication in the Journal and for retention by the editors for a rational time after their publication.
- Originality and plagiarism. The authors should submit only original works for publication. If authors used other people’s works and/or statements, they should be properly cited. Plagiarism in all its forms (including “presentation” of another’s article as an own one, copying or rephrasing a significant part of another’s text (without quoting the authorship), conversion of the results of studies conducted by others) is regarded as unethical behaviour and is unacceptable. The editorial board will by no means publish articles with any plagiarism.
- Multiple, re-issued, and competing publications. An author should not publish an article that in effect is the same study as previously published or published in more than in one journal. Submission of an article to more than one journal at the same time is considered to be unethical and unacceptable. In exceptional cases publication of previously published articles is permitted, in case of receiving the permission for such publication from all the co-authors of the article and from the editorial board of the publication in which the article was previously published. Reprinting of articles published in the Journal or in other editions is permitted only with the permission of all co-authors of the article and the edition of the Journal. The secondary publication should also contain a reference to the primary publication.
- Confirmation of sources. Authors should submit references to publications that have influenced the development of the idea, the development of the concept of the submitted work, or that were used in the study of the subject of such work in the text of the article. Information obtained privately, through private conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used without receiving written consent from its source. Information obtained while providing / obtaining confidential services such as judicial acts or grant applications should not be used without written consent of the executive of these services.
- Disclosure of information and conflict of interest. Authors should disclose the information on any financial and other significant conflicts of interests that may have an influence on the research results or their interpretation. The sources of financial support, if any, should be exposed when submitting the article.
- Significant mistakes of published works. If the authors discover significant mistakes or inaccuracies in their published work, they should immediately inform the editorial staff and assist them in the process of the correction or elimination of such. If the editor or publisher learns from a third person that the published work contains significant errors, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct them or provide evidence to the editorial board of the correctness of the original article.
THE ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
- Publication decisions. The Editors-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Journal of Constitutional Law are responsible for the final decision-making of the publication of articles submitted by the authors to the journal. The basis for making such decisions is the results of “double-blind” reviewing. The key factors which influence the decision of publishing an article are the relevance of the topic of the article and its value for the researchers and readers of the Journal; compliance of the article with the policy of the editorial board of the journal; Compliance with copyright and ethical requirements regarding plagiarism.
- The principle of fair play. Editors and reviewers of the articles submitted for the publication shall evaluate the manuscripts by their intellectual content, irrespective of the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views.
- Privacy. Editors-in-chief and editorial staff have no rights to divulge the information about the submitted works to anyone except the author, reviewers, editorial staff, and, if necessary, the publisher. The manuscripts of articles submitted for review are anonymous. The reviews of the contents are not disclosed by the editors, but, in case of necessity, can only be brought to the attention of relevant authors.
- Disclosure of information and conflict of interest. Unpublished materials used in the submitted manuscript should not be used in the editors’ own research without the author’s written consent. The internal information or ideas received during the review should remain confidential and cannot be used for personal benefits. In the case of a conflict of interest with one or both editors-in-chief, as a result of a competitive relationship, collaboration, or other relationship with one of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions associated with the submitted manuscripts, such an editor must recuse themselves (delegate to another member of the editorial board to review the manuscript).
- Investigation of ethical concerns. In the case of submitting a complaint regarding an infringement of ethics by the author in the published article, editors-in-chief will duly consider it, request clarification from the author of the article, conduct analysis, as appropriate with the involvement of relevant expert institutions, and/or research organizations. In case of confirmation of the information stated in the complaint, the editorial board will publish appropriate corrections, denials, and/or apologies. Each report of unethical conduct will be considered regardless of how long it has been since the article was published in the Journal. We follow the COPE Flowcharts when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct.Complaints about violations of ethical norms by reviewers are also accepted by the editorial board, the procedure for responding to such facts is contained in the Review section.
THE ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF REVIEWERS
The journal ensures ethical standards in the process of reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication. The review process is formed in accordance with the requirements of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and is intended to provide the security of the high quality of the journal’s printed materials, elimination of bias and injustice when rejecting or accepting articles.
The review process, in accordance with the editorial policy of the Journal and ethical standards, is based on the following principles:
- Contribution to editorial decisions. The basis for editors of making decisions about publishing the manuscripts is the expert evaluation of the reviewers. Expert evaluation is an important component of formal scientific communication. The editorial board encourages the collaboration of the editor and the author, which is aimed at improving his work. Scientists who perform the duties of reviewers are required to be responsible for their performance.
- Promptness. The reviewers chosen for the manuscript, who believe that their qualifications are insufficient to review a research paper or know that such a review will take a lot of time, should notify the editor and refuse to do such a review.
- Privacy. Each manuscript received for the review by the editorial board is a confidential document. It is forbidden for the reviewer to pass the work to others, disclose its contents, or discuss it with others without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief.
- Objectivity standards. Reviews of submitted researches should be objective. Reviewers are obliged to express their views clearly and reasonably.
- Confirmation of sources. Reviewers should pay attention to the use of non-cited works in the reviewed material. If any, the reviewer is obliged to inform the Editor-in-Chief. The reviewer is also obliged to draw the editor’s attention to the substantial or partial similarity of the manuscript to any other work with which the reviewer is directly acquainted.
- Disclosure of information and conflict of interest. Unpublished materials used in the submitted manuscript should not be used in the reviewer’s own research without the written permission of the author. The internal information or ideas received during the review should remain confidential and must not be used for personal benefits. Reviewers should not be involved in reviewing and evaluating manuscripts in which they are personally interested in.