Ethical Standards
The editorial board of the journal "Current Issues of the Humanities" maintains a set of requirements for the selection and acceptance of articles submitted to the journal. These standards are determined by the journal’s scientific focus, as well as by the quality standards of scientific research and its presentation adopted by the academic community.
The editorial board encourages adherence to the principles of the Code of Ethics for Scientific Publications developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Ethical Obligations of Journal Editors
The editor must consider all manuscripts submitted for publication without prejudice, evaluating each one appropriately regardless of the authors’ race, religion, nationality, as well as their position or place of employment.
Information is not permitted for publication if there are sufficient grounds to believe that it is plagiarized.
All submitted materials undergo careful selection and peer review. The editorial board reserves the right to reject an article or return it for revision. The author is obliged to revise the article in accordance with the comments of reviewers or the editorial board.
The editor’s decision regarding the acceptance of an article for publication is based on such characteristics as the significance of the results, originality, quality of presentation, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Manuscripts may be rejected without review if the editor considers that they do not fit the journal’s scope. In making such decisions, the editor may consult members of the editorial board or reviewers.
Ethical Obligations of Authors
Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original articles, and if they have used the work or words of others, this must be properly cited in the form of references or quotations in quotation marks.
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal is considered unethical behavior and is unacceptable.
The article must be well-structured, contain sufficient references, and be formatted in accordance with the requirements.
Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements in an article constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its publication.
Authors bear full responsibility for the content of their articles and for the fact of their publication. The journal’s editorial board accepts no responsibility to authors for any possible damage resulting from the publication of an article. The editorial board reserves the right to retract an article if it is found that any rights or generally accepted norms of academic ethics were violated during the publication process. The author will be informed about the retraction of the article.
Ethical Obligations of Reviewers
To ensure the objectivity of manuscript evaluation, the editorial board follows a double-blind peer review process.
Since manuscript review is an essential stage in the publication process and therefore in the implementation of the scientific method itself, every scholar is obliged to perform a certain amount of reviewing work.
If the selected reviewer is not confident that their qualifications correspond to the level of research presented in the manuscript, they should immediately return the manuscript.
The reviewer must objectively assess the quality of the manuscript, including the presented experimental and theoretical work, its interpretation and presentation, as well as the extent to which the work meets high scientific and literary standards. The reviewer must respect the intellectual independence of the authors.
Reviewers should adequately explain and justify their judgments so that editors and authors can understand the basis of their comments. Any claim that an observation, conclusion, or argument has been previously published must be accompanied by an appropriate reference.
The reviewer must draw the editor’s attention to any significant similarity between the manuscript under review and any published article or any manuscript simultaneously submitted to another journal.
Reviewers must not use or disclose unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations contained in the manuscript unless the author has given consent.
Ethical Requirements for Research Involving Humans, Animals, Biological Materials, and Personal Data
The editorial board of the journal adheres to international ethical standards for conducting scientific research, including the Declaration of Helsinki, the principles of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), and applicable legislation on personal data protection.
Research involving humans must be conducted in accordance with the principles of voluntary participation, informed consent, and respect for the dignity, rights, and safety of participants. Authors are required to confirm that all participants were properly informed about the purpose, methods, and possible consequences of the study and gave their voluntary consent to participate.
In cases where research involves animals, authors must comply with internationally recognized ethical standards for the humane treatment of animals, minimizing any suffering and ensuring appropriate conditions for their care and use.
Research involving biological materials must comply with ethical standards for the acquisition, storage, and use of such materials. Authors are required to confirm the legality of their acquisition and compliance with relevant procedures.
When personal data of research participants are used, authors must ensure their protection in accordance with applicable legislation. Personal data must be anonymized or de-identified in such a way that individuals cannot be identified.
The editorial board may request authors to provide confirmation of compliance with ethical standards, including information on approval by an ethics committee (if applicable). In case of identified violations of ethical requirements, a manuscript may be rejected or retracted after publication.
All research must comply with the principles of responsibility, transparency, and respect for human and animal rights.
Procedure for Handling Complaints Regarding Violations of Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics
The editorial board of the journal adheres to the principles of academic integrity and publication ethics, as well as the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). All complaints are considered confidentially, impartially, and with respect for the rights of all parties involved.
Complaints may concern possible violations, including plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data falsification or fabrication, incorrect authorship, duplicate publication, conflicts of interest, or violations of ethical standards in the peer review process.
A complaint must be submitted in written form to the official editorial email address, with a clear description of the alleged violation and, where possible, supporting materials. Anonymous submissions may be considered if they contain sufficiently substantiated information.
Upon receipt of a complaint, a preliminary assessment of its validity is conducted. If necessary, the editorial office may request additional explanations. If the complaint requires a detailed review, an editorial committee is formed, and independent experts may be involved if needed. The overall review period is typically about one month.
Based on the outcome of the review, a decision may be made to reject the complaint, issue corrections, refuse publication, retract a published article, or notify the author’s institution about the identified violations.
The editorial board also provides the possibility to appeal the decision. All procedures are carried out in accordance with confidentiality, transparency, and the principles of fair consideration.
Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Based Technologies
The journal recognizes the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-based technologies as supporting tools in scholarly work, particularly for improving language quality, formatting materials, or preliminary data processing. At the same time, the editorial board emphasizes the need to ensure transparency, academic integrity, and the responsible use of such technologies.
The use of AI is permitted solely as a supportive tool. In particular, it may be used for language editing, technical improvement of text, or assistance in analytical processes. However, AI cannot act as an author or co-author of a publication and bears no responsibility for its content.
The use of AI for generating the core scientific content of an article is prohibited, including the creation of research results, interpretations, conclusions, or the generation or falsification of data. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and scientific integrity of the submitted materials, regardless of the tools used.
Authors are required to disclose the use of AI in the preparation of their manuscript. Such disclosure should include the name of the tool, the purpose of its use, and the extent of its involvement in preparing the material. Failure to disclose significant AI usage may be considered a violation of publication ethics.
The editorial board reserves the right to verify the provided information and take appropriate action in cases of improper use of AI, including rejection of the manuscript or retraction of a published article.
This policy is aimed at ensuring the responsible use of innovative technologies while maintaining high standards of academic integrity and publication ethics.
Retraction Policy for Published Articles
Retraction of an article is applied in cases where significant violations are identified that affect the reliability or scientific value of the published work.
Grounds for retraction may include the detection of plagiarism or self-plagiarism, data falsification or fabrication, serious errors that distort the research results, copyright violations, duplicate publication, or other forms of publication ethics misconduct.
The decision to retract an article is made by the editorial board after a thorough review of the circumstances. If necessary, independent experts may be involved, and authors may be asked to provide explanations. Authors are informed about the initiation of the procedure and are given the opportunity to present their arguments.
If a decision to retract is made, the relevant article is marked as retracted in all online versions of the journal, with an explanation of the reasons. The article text may remain openly accessible, but it will be clearly labeled “Retraction” or “Withdrawn” to ensure transparency of the scholarly record.
The editorial board may also notify the author’s institution in cases of serious violations. All procedures are conducted in accordance with confidentiality, impartiality, and the principles of academic integrity.