Editorial Policy

Compliance with the Principles and Recommendations of COPE, WAME, DORA, etc.

The editorial policy of the scientific publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” is based on generally recognised international principles of publication ethics and academic integrity. In its activities, the Editorial Office is guided by the recommendations and standards of leading international organisations in the field of scholarly publishing, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), as well as the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

The Editorial Board adheres to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics concerning the prevention of plagiarism, falsification and fabrication of research results, ensuring the transparency of editorial procedures, proper peer review, and the management of potential conflicts of interest. All manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo independent scholarly peer review.

In its activities, the Editorial Office also takes into account the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors concerning the maintenance of ethical standards in editorial work and the responsibilities of authors, reviewers, and editors, and supports the principles of responsible research assessment set out in the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, which provide for the objective evaluation of scholarly research irrespective of formal scientometric indicators.

Adherence to these principles is aimed at ensuring the high quality of scholarly publications, transparency of editorial processes, compliance with standards of academic integrity, and the development of responsible scholarly communication.

Principles of Editorial Policy.

- objectivity and impartiality in the selection of articles for publication;
- high standards regarding the quality of scholarly research;
- mandatory confidential peer review of articles;
- collegiality in decision-making regarding the publication of articles;
- accessibility and promptness in communication with authors;
- strict observance of copyright and related rights;
- strict adherence to the journal’s publication schedule.

The publication systematically works towards its inclusion in international electronic libraries, catalogues, and scientometric databases with the aim of becoming integrated into the global scholarly information space, improving the journal’s ranking, and increasing the citation indices of its authors.

The members of the Editorial Board categorically condemn manifestations of plagiarism in articles as violations of copyright and scholarly ethics and take all possible measures to prevent them. Compliance with standards of ethical conduct is essential for all participants in the publication process: the author(s), editor, reviewers, founder of the publication, and reader.

Ethical Obligations of the Editorial Board.

1. The Editorial Board is responsible for the publication, for making fair and impartial decisions, for ensuring a conscientious peer-review process, and for preventing the disclosure to other persons of information related to the content of manuscripts submitted for review, except to persons involved in their professional evaluation.
2. All author-submitted materials presented to the Editorial Board must not have been previously published and are subject to careful selection and peer review. The Editorial Board, under the direction of the Responsible Editor, is guided by the reliability of the data submitted and the scholarly significance of the materials presented, makes impartial decisions independent of commercial or other interests, and ensures a fair and objective peer-review process.
3. All members of the Editorial Board are reviewers. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject articles if they do not correspond to the subject scope of the publication, are unacceptable for publication because of their low quality, or to return them to the authors for revision in accordance with the reviewers’ comments. The Editorial Board reserves the right to submit a manuscript for consideration to an external reviewer or a group of reviewers, as well as the right to retract an already published article if a violation of any person’s rights or generally accepted standards of scholarly ethics is identified. The institution / organisation / establishment where the research was conducted, as well as the author, shall be informed of the retraction of the article. Preventing unlawful publications is the responsibility of every participant in the publication process.
4. The peer review of all materials accepted for consideration is blind: the reviewer is not informed of the name of the author whose materials they are reviewing, and the author is not provided with information about the reviewer. However, if the reviewer raises comments concerning the content of the work or doubts concerning the reliability or accuracy of particular data, the Editorial Board will provide the author with an opportunity to provide explanations or clarifications.
5. The Editorial Board guarantees that materials not accepted for publication will not be used for the personal benefit of members of the Editorial Board without the author’s written consent.
6. The Editorial Board is open to cooperation and dialogue with all authors, reviewers, and readers regarding issues related to the publication of materials (including amendments and corrections to published materials, the publication of retractions and/or apologies) and the taking of measures to restore violated rights.

Ethical Obligations of Reviewers.

Peer review is carried out by highly qualified specialists who hold an academic degree not lower than Candidate of Sciences (Doctor of Philosophy), have sufficient professional experience in the field of philology, and have publications in the relevant field. The expert assessment should help the author improve the quality of the article text and assist the Responsible Editor and the Editorial Board in making a decision regarding publication. The reviewer conducts a scholarly evaluation of the author’s materials; consequently, their actions must be impartial and based on adherence to the following principles:

1. Author-submitted material (manuscript) accepted for peer review must be treated as a confidential document that may not be provided for examination or discussion to third parties who have not been authorised to do so by the Editorial Board. The reviewer is obliged to provide the review of the manuscript in a timely manner.
2. The reviewer is obliged to provide an objective and reasoned assessment of the research results presented. All comments made by the reviewer must be substantiated and appropriate and must not concern the author personally. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable.
3. Unpublished data (information) obtained from author manuscripts submitted for consideration must not be used by the reviewer for personal purposes.
4. The reviewer must draw the Editorial Board’s attention to any substantial similarity between the manuscript submitted to them for evaluation and any other published article or manuscript, to the improper presentation of borrowed text, or to the absence of references to other authors.

Ethical Obligations of Authors.

1. Author-submitted materials (manuscripts) presented to the Editorial Board must be prepared in accordance with the established requirements. Information materials for authors concerning the publication of materials, including requirements for article formatting, the procedure for submitting articles to the Editorial Board, etc., are available on the publication’s website in the relevant section.
2. Authors are obliged to comply with the legislation of Ukraine on the protection of intellectual property rights, as well as with the principles of scholarly ethics. Criticism of the works of researchers holding opposing views on the subject of the research must be expressed appropriately and in a substantiated manner and under no circumstances may be personal in nature.
3. Authors guarantee that the materials submitted to the Editorial Board have not previously been published and are not under consideration by other publications, and guarantee that the list of authors includes only and all those researchers who have made a substantial contribution to the preparation of the materials; the authors also guarantee that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and its submission to the Editorial Board for consideration.
4. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of references, including references to their own previous works. References must be formatted in accordance with the established requirements. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable.
5. Authors must assist the Editorial Board in preparing materials for publication, in particular by promptly reporting all errors and inaccuracies they independently identify and by providing explanations and supporting information requested by the Editorial Board.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

All participants in the editorial and publishing process (authors, reviewers, members of the Editorial Board, and the Responsible Secretary) are obliged to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may affect the results of evaluation, editorial decision-making, or the interpretation of research results.

A conflict of interest may be financial, professional, institutional, personal, or of another nature. Potential conflicts of interest include, in particular, employment relationships, joint scholarly activities, participation in joint projects, family or personal relationships, as well as the receipt of financial support (grants or scholarships) that may affect the objectivity of the research.

Authors must disclose all sources of research funding and declare the presence or absence of a conflict of interest when submitting the manuscript. The relevant information is published together with the article.

Reviewers are obliged to decline to review a manuscript where circumstances exist that may affect their impartiality or the objectivity of their assessment.

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board do not participate in decision-making concerning manuscripts in relation to which they have a conflict of interest. In such cases, responsibility for the decision is transferred to an authorised member of the Editorial Board upon the recommendation of the Responsible Secretary of the publication.

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after the publication of an article, the Editorial Office has the right to take the necessary measures in accordance with COPE recommendations, including the publication of a notice concerning the violation or the retraction of the article.

Right of Authors of Rejected Manuscripts to Appeal

Authors have the right to appeal a decision by the Editorial Office to reject a manuscript if they believe that factual errors, violations of editorial procedures, or biased assessment occurred during editorial consideration or peer review.

An appeal must be submitted to the journal’s Editorial Office in writing no later than 30 calendar days after receipt of notification that the manuscript has been rejected. The author must provide a substantiated explanation of the reasons for disagreeing with the Editorial Office’s decision and, where necessary, documentary evidence supporting their arguments.

Upon receipt of an appeal, the Editor-in-Chief or an authorised member of the Editorial Board conducts an independent review of the case materials. If necessary, the manuscript may be submitted to independent experts for additional or repeated peer review.

Appeals are considered impartially and confidentially. The final decision following consideration of an appeal is made by the Editorial Board and communicated to the author in writing. The decision made following consideration of the appeal is final.

Submitting an appeal does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript for publication but ensures the author’s right to a fair and transparent review of the editorial decision in accordance with the principles of academic integrity and international standards of scholarly publishing.

Permission for Self-Archiving (Depositing) an Article

The Editorial Office of the scientific publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” grants the Author the right to archive (deposit) the final version of the article – the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) – in an institutional and/or subject repository.

Depositing is permitted provided that:

1. a) the article has been accepted for publication after undergoing the peer-review process;
2. b) the repository provides open access to the material;
3. c) a reference to the official publication of the article in the journal is retained (indicating the journal title, year, issue, pages and/or DOI).

Such self-archiving is intended to ensure the maximum visibility, dissemination, and scholarly impact of the publication and is also consistent with the principles of open science.

The Editorial Office of the scientific publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” reserves the right to publish the final published version of the article (Version of Record) in the journal.

Policy on Ethical Approval of Research

The Editorial Office of the scientific professional publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” adheres to the principles of academic integrity and ethical standards of scholarly research and requires Authors to comply with the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine.

When submitting articles containing the results of research conducted with the involvement of:

• human participants (including surveys, interviews, observations, experiments);
• animals;
• human or animal biological materials;
• personal or confidential data,

Authors are obliged to provide information on the availability of the mandatory ethical opinion (approval) of the relevant ethics committee, bioethics commission, or other authorised body if such research falls within the scope of the legislation of Ukraine.

The relevant information must be provided in the text of the article (in the “Methodology”, “Materials and Methods”, or a separate “Ethical Aspects of the Research” section) and/or submitted to the Editorial Office upon request during manuscript submission.

The Editorial Office reserves the right to reject the material if the absence of ethical approval or a violation of ethical standards calls into question the scholarly and legal validity of the research.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

The Editorial Office of the scientific professional publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” recognises the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in scholarly activity, while emphasising the priority of authorial responsibility, academic integrity, and scholarly reliability.

This policy defines permissible and impermissible areas of AI use in the preparation of publications, as well as requirements for disclosure concerning its use.

Authors may use AI tools solely as auxiliary tools, in particular for: structuring materials and the technical processing of data, provided that this does not affect their interpretation.

All results obtained through the use of AI must be verified, edited, and approved by the Author, who bears full responsibility for the content of the article.

The use of AI is not permitted for: creating scholarly content without substantial authorial contribution (hypotheses, conclusions, interpretations of results); fabricating, falsifying, or manipulating data; automatically generating peer reviews, evaluations, or responses to reviewers; concealing the use of AI in cases where its application is substantial.

Such practices are regarded as violations of the principles of academic integrity.

Authors are obliged to declare the use of AI or AI-assisted technologies if they were used at any stage of manuscript preparation.

The relevant information must be provided in the text of the article (for example, in the “Acknowledgements”, “Methodology”, or a separate note), indicating: the name of the tool; the purpose of its use; the nature of the operations performed.

Authors bear full responsibility for the originality, reliability, and scholarly value of the submitted materials, irrespective of the use of AI.

The Editorial Office reserves the right to: request additional explanations concerning the use of AI; use tools to detect violations of academic integrity; reject manuscripts in cases of non-compliance with this policy.

Procedure for Handling Complaints Concerning Violations of Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics

The Editorial Office of the scientific professional publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” considers complaints concerning possible violations of academic integrity and publication ethics in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and the ethical standards of scholarly publishing.

Complaints must be submitted to the Editorial Office in writing, with substantiation and, where possible, supporting evidence. The Editorial Office conducts a review, engages independent experts where necessary, and provides the parties with an opportunity to submit explanations.

Following consideration of the complaint, the Editorial Office makes an appropriate decision, including, where applicable, rejection of the manuscript, publication of corrections, retraction of the publication, or rejection of the complaint as unsubstantiated.

Other Issues of Publication Ethics.

1. Materials are published in the order in which they are received.
2. Authors do not receive remuneration (an honorarium) from the Editorial Board for the publication of materials in the scientific publication “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology”.
3. Authors are entitled to receive one complimentary copy of the publication for each published article. If an article has more than one author, the second and subsequent copies of the issue are provided subject to reimbursement of their cost.
4. The source of funding for the publication is authors’ fees.
5. The publication frequency of the “Bulletin of Mariupol State University. Series: Philosophy, Culture Studies, Sociology” is twice a year.

Articles for publication in the June issue are accepted until May 10.

Articles for publication in the November issue are accepted until October 20.

Materials submitted by an author after May 10 and October 20 are accepted for consideration for publication in the subsequent issue unless the author informs the Editorial Office of their wish to withdraw the materials from consideration.