Publication Ethics

The editorial policy of the journal «Reporter of the Priazovskyi State Technical University. Section: Technical Sciences» is based on the principles of academic freedom and responsibility. All participants in the publishing process — authors, editors, and reviewers — are obliged to adhere to ethical standards based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the experience of leading scientific communities, and the current legislation of Ukraine. The adoption of this code ensures the protection of intellectual property rights and restricts actions aimed at satisfying personal or commercial interests that contradict the objectivity of scientific knowledge.

1. Ethical Standards and Authority of the Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are fully responsible for the content of the publication and the maintenance of its scientific reputation. The decision to publish is based exclusively on the scientific quality of the manuscript, its novelty, and relevance to the journal's profile, without regard to the gender, race, religious beliefs, or institutional affiliation of the author.

Non-discrimination and Equal Treatment Declaration: The Editorial Board adheres to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. The evaluation of manuscripts is conducted solely on the basis of their scientific merit. We guarantee equal treatment of all authors, reviewers, and readers regardless of their race, ethnic or social origin, gender, citizenship, religious beliefs, age, disability, political views, or sexual orientation. Any manifestations of discrimination or biased treatment by editorial members or reviewers are strictly prohibited.

The Editorial Board is guided by the following norms:

  • Confidentiality and Intellectual Property: Editors guarantee the confidentiality of the manuscript until its publication. Any unpublished materials, ideas, or methods may not be used by members of the Editorial Board in their own research without the written permission of the author.

  • Transparency and Recusal: In cases that could be interpreted as a conflict of interest (e.g., submission of an article by a departmental colleague or an Editorial Board member), the manuscript management procedure is transferred to an independent editor in compliance with the «double independence».

  • Control over Citation Manipulation: In accordance with COPE Guidance on Citation Manipulation, the Editorial Board conducts regular citation audits. «Coercive citation» – the requirement by the editorial office for an author to add citations to articles from the «Reporter of the Priazovskyi State Technical University. Section: Technical Sciences» as a condition for acceptance — is strictly prohibited. Any anomalies (e.g., a high proportion of journal self-citation) are subject to internal investigation.

  • Protection of the Scientific Record: Upon discovery of significant errors or signs of misconduct in already published articles, the Editorial Board is obliged to publish a Correction or initiate a Retraction in accordance with the  COPE Retraction Guidelines.

2. Responsibilities and Ethical Guarantees of Authors

Authors bear full responsibility for the research content and the reliability of the results obtained. The manuscript must contain sufficient information and references to allow other researchers to replicate the described experiments.

Key requirements for authors include:

  • Originality and Plagiarism Prevention: The submission of a manuscript that has already been published or is under consideration by another journal is unacceptable. Any form of plagiarism (textual or conceptual) will result in the immediate rejection of the article.

  • Citation Ethics and Metric Manipulation: Authors should cite only those works that are directly relevant to the study. We restrict manipulative practices:

    1. Author Self-citation: References to one's own work must be justified (recommended limit – up to 25%).

    2. Citation Stacking: Coordinated mutual citation among groups of authors to artificially inflate individual metrics is prohibited.

    3. Mandatory DOI: Every source in the reference list that has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) must be accompanied by it.

  • Open Data and FAIR Principles: The journal supports the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management. Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in international repositories (Zenodo, Figshare, etc.) and include the data DOI in the article's metadata.

  • Authorship Criteria: Co-authors may only be individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution. The use of fictitious names or «honorary authorship» is a breach of ethics.

3. Ethical Norms for Reviewers

Peer review is an essential element of the scientific method that ensures an objective assessment of knowledge. Every scientist publishing in our edition undertakes the ethical obligation to serve as a reviewer in their field.

  • Objectivity and Independence: Reviewers must evaluate the work impartially, respecting the intellectual independence of the authors. Personal criticism is unacceptable. Any comments must be reasoned and supported by evidence.

  • Conflict of Interest: A reviewer is obliged to recuse themselves from considering a manuscript if they have personal, professional, or competitive relationships with the author or institution that could influence the objectivity of the conclusions.

  • Detection of Misconduct: The reviewer should alert the editor to any significant parallels between the manuscript and already published works, as well as cases of insufficient citation.

  • Reviewer Citation Manipulation: It is strictly prohibited to require authors to cite the reviewer’s own work without a compelling scientific reason. Such actions are regarded as an abuse of position and metric manipulation.

  • Confidentiality: The manuscript is a confidential document. Using information from the manuscript for the reviewer's own purposes before its official publication is prohibited.

4. Research Ethics: Protection of Subjects, Bioethics, and Confidentiality

The journal implements a strict policy regarding the mandatory ethical approval for research subject to relevant Ukrainian legislation and international conventions.

  • Research Involving Human Subjects and Personal Data: Any scientific work involving human participation (including ergonomic testing of engineering solutions, surveys, social engineering, or the use of confidential data) must comply with the principles of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki and  Law of Ukraine «On Protection of Personal Data». Authors are required to ensure the informed consent of participants and guarantee full data anonymization unless otherwise provided by special permission.

  • Use of Animals and Biomaterials: Experiments involving animals must comply with the Law of Ukraine «On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty» та Directive 2010/63/EU. The Editorial Board requires adherence to the principle of humanity and the minimization of stress in test subjects.

  • Mandatory Ethical Approval: Authors of manuscripts related to the aforementioned categories must obtain official approval from a Bioethics Committee, the Institutional Ethics Committee, or an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The "Materials and Methods" section must specify the full name of the approving body, the protocol number, and the date of the session. The absence of such information is grounds for the rejection of the article.