The Editorial Board of the “Ukrainian Journal of Constitutional Law” (hereinafter – the Journal) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. In all our publishing activities, we strictly adhere to the guidelines and Core Practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and Elsevier. Compliance with these principles is mandatory for all parties involved in the publishing process: Authors, Editors, Reviewers, and the Publisher.
1. Duties of Editors
- Publication Decisions: The Co-Editors-in-Chief bear ultimate responsibility for deciding which submitted manuscripts will be published. This decision is based exclusively on the scientific merit, originality, and relevance of the work, as well as the results of double-blind peer review, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
- Confidentiality and AI Tools: The editors and editorial staff must protect the confidentiality of all submitted materials. In accordance with COPE guidelines, editors are strictly prohibited from uploading submitted manuscripts or any parts of them into Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools or Large Language Models (LLMs), as this constitutes a direct breach of confidentiality and intellectual property rights.
- Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Editors must recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors or institutions connected to the papers.
- Investigation of Malpractice: The Editorial Board, in cooperation with the Publisher (LLC “Editorial Board of the Journal ‘Ukrainian Journal of Constitutional Law'”), will actively respond to any allegations or suspicions of research misconduct (plagiarism, data fabrication, citation manipulation, etc.) following the relevant COPE flowcharts.
2. Duties of Reviewers
- Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists editors in making informed decisions and helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts. The Journal utilizes a strict double-blind peer review model where the identity of both the author and the reviewer remains anonymous.
- Promptness: Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible must immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation.
- Confidentiality and AI Limitations: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as strictly confidential documents. Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading the manuscript, in whole or in part, into AI tools or LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) to generate reviews, summaries, or translations, as this violates the author’s confidentiality and copyright.
- Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable. Reviewers must express their views clearly with supporting academic arguments and constructive feedback.
- Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the papers.
3. Duties of Authors
- Reporting Standards and Data Availability: Authors of original research must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to raw data related to their manuscript, provided it does not violate privacy, intellectual property, or confidentiality rules.
- Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): In accordance with COPE principles, AI tools and Large Language Models cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. If authors use AI tools for writing assistance, data analysis, or translation, they must transparently disclose this in the methodology or acknowledgments section. Authors bear full, ultimate responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the content, including the absence of AI-hallucinated citations or fabricated sources.
- Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. The Journal has a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of academic plagiarism, redundant publication, and text recycling.
- Multiple or Concurrent Publication: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is strictly unacceptable.
- Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. The Journal strongly recommends using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework to specify individual inputs.
- Disclosure and Funding: Authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be clearly stated.
4. Handling Allegations of Misconduct, Corrections, and Retractions
- Sanctions for Academic Dishonesty: If plagiarism, data fabrication, or other violations of academic integrity are proven, the manuscript will be immediately rejected. If the article has already been published, the editors will initiate a formal retraction process. The author’s home institution and respective indexing databases will be formally notified.
- Corrections and Retractions: The Journal strictly follows the COPE Retractions Guidelines and uses the standardized EASE Retraction Form. If significant errors are found in a published article, a Correction (Errata) or Retraction note will be published with a dedicated DOI and permanently linked to the original PDF.
- Appeals Process: Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions. Appeals are thoroughly investigated by a Co-Editor-in-Chief who was not involved in the initial review or decision-making process of the paper. Decisions made after a formal appeal review are final.
- Complaints Procedure: Any complaints regarding the journal’s staff, editors, or publisher should be sent to the official email: editor@constjournal.com. All incidents will be thoroughly investigated by the managing editor or co-editors-in-chief, and the complainant will be notified of the outcome.
5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
The Journal strictly rejects any form of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, or age. We actively promote gender balance, equity, and international diversity among our editorial board, authors, and reviewers, ensuring an open and inclusive environment for the global academic community.