Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics Policy

General Provisions

The editorial board of the journal «Economic Strategy and Prospects of Trade and Services Sector Development» adheres to internationally recognised standards of publication ethics and the principles of academic integrity, following the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applicable Ukrainian legislation governing scientific activity.

The editorial policy is directed at ensuring the high quality of scholarly publications, transparency of editorial procedures, objectivity of peer review, and the prevention of all forms of scientific misconduct.

 

Principles of Publication Ethics

The editorial board of the journal ensures:

•        independence of editorial decisions from any administrative, financial, or political influence;

•        transparency of the submission, review, and publication procedures;

•        objectivity and impartiality of peer review;

•        confidentiality of information received during the editorial process;

•        a non-discriminatory approach to authors regardless of their institution, country, gender, age, or academic status;

•        compliance with international citation and copyright standards.

 

Duties of Authors

Authors must:

•        submit only original scholarly works that have not been previously published and are not under consideration at other publications;

•        ensure the accuracy of data presented, the correctness of the methodology, and the soundness of conclusions;

•        provide appropriate references to all sources used;

•        acknowledge all persons who have made a substantial contribution to the research, and avoid improper inclusion or exclusion of authors;

•        disclose information on research funding sources and potential conflicts of interest;

•        ensure the availability of research data or specify the conditions for access thereto (where applicable);

•        disclose information on the use of artificial intelligence technologies during the preparation of the article (where applicable);

•        notify the editorial board of any significant errors identified after publication and assist in their correction.

 

Duties of the Editorial Board

The editorial board of the journal:

•        ensures objective editorial decisions based on the scholarly significance and quality of the manuscript;

•        organises independent peer review of submitted materials;

•        prevents the publication of materials showing signs of academic misconduct;

•        responds to all substantiated complaints regarding violations of publication ethics;

•        makes decisions on corrections, retractions, or the publication of expressions of concern in the event that significant violations are identified.

 

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers are required to:

•        conduct reviews objectively and with sound reasoning;

•        notify the editorial board of any potential conflict of interest;

•        maintain the confidentiality of materials received;

•        notify the editorial board of any identified signs of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other violations.

 

Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editorial board members are required to disclose any financial, professional, or personal circumstances that may affect the objectivity of the evaluation of a manuscript. Upon identification of a conflict of interest, the person concerned is excluded from participation in the editorial process.

 

Academic Misconduct Policy

Violations of publication ethics include, in particular:

•        plagiarism and self-plagiarism without proper attribution;

•        fabrication or falsification of data;

•        duplicate publication;

•        authorship manipulation;

•        concealment of a conflict of interest;

•        malpractice in peer review.

Where violations are confirmed, the editorial board may apply the following measures:

•        rejection of the manuscript;

•        publication of a correction or violation notice;

•        publication of an Expression of Concern where there are doubts regarding the reliability of results;

•        retraction of the article;

•        notification of the institutions at which the authors are employed.

 

Corrections and Retractions

The editorial board ensures the timely correction of errors in publications, as well as the retraction of articles in cases of significant violations of publication ethics or unreliable research findings. Information on corrections or retractions is published on the journal website with a statement of the reasons for the relevant decision.

 

Appeal

Authors have the right to submit a substantiated appeal regarding an editorial decision. The appeal is reviewed by the editorial board with the involvement of independent experts (where necessary), after which a final decision is made.

 

Compliance with International Standards

The editorial board of the journal upholds the principles of open science, academic integrity, and publication transparency, promotes the adoption of international scholarly publishing standards, and pursues the continuous improvement of editorial procedures in accordance with COPE recommendations and those of other international organisations in the field of scholarly publishing.

This policy is applied in conjunction with the editorial policy, peer review policy, retraction policy, and other internal journal documents.