Ethics

The editorial board of the journal accepts and adheres to the principles of publication ethics accepted by the international scientific community and reflected in the recommendations of the Publication Ethics Committee (Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Duties of the editorial board

The editor is responsible for validating submitted articles and making the final decision regarding their publication.
The editor is guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and observes all legal norms regarding defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
The editor evaluates the content of the manuscripts regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship or political philosophy of the authors.
The Editor and any member of the Editorial Board must not disclose any information about the submitted manuscript to anyone other than the authors or reviewers.
Editors should decline to review manuscripts in which there is a conflict of interest as a result of competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or affiliations with any of the authors associated with the articles.
Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and post corrections if competing interests are disclosed after publication.
The editor takes appropriate action when ethical complaints are raised about a submitted manuscript or published paper. Such measures include contacting the author of the manuscript and duly considering the relevant complaint or allegations made. If the complaint is confirmed, it requires the publication of a correction or withdrawal of the published material.

Duties of reviewers

Reviewers assist the editor in making editorial decisions and through editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the material submitted for publication.
All manuscripts received for review will be treated as confidential documents and will not be released to third parties without authorization from the editor.
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate. Referees clearly express their views with supporting arguments.
The reviewer should bring to the editor's attention any significant similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript should not be used in a reviewer's own research without the express written consent of the author.
Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest as a result of competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or affiliations with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the reports.

Duties of authors

Materials submitted for publication should present an accurate account of the research conducted, as well as an objective analysis of its significance.
Basic data should be presented accurately in the article.
The document should contain sufficient detail and references to allow reproduction of the development.
Deceptive or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original work, and if authors have used the work of other authors, this must be cited appropriately.
Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. If any article submitted to the journal is plagiarized, the editors reserve the right to reject that article and any others submitted by the same authors.
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. Publication of certain types of articles in more than one journal is sometimes justified, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the respective journals must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary paper. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been previously published, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication has been approved by all authors and tacitly or expressly by the responsible authorities where the work was done, and that, if is accepted, it will not be published elsewhere.
Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported.
Authorship should be limited to those who contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
All authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other material conflict of interest that could be interpreted as influencing the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her own published work, it is the author's responsibility to immediately notify the editor or publisher of the journal and to cooperate with the editor in retracting or correcting the article. If the editor or publisher learns from a third party that the published work contains a material error, it is the author's duty to immediately retract or correct the article or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original article.