PUBLISHING ETHICS[1]

Authors must be led by ethical rules in publishing. Author ethics is a necessary segment of quality of author’s paper as well as of the journal. Responsibility for respecting ethical rules lies with authors, and with the editorial of the journal, as well as with the reviewers.

Authors’ duties

Authors of original papers should present their paper truly and in objective manner. Data used in the paper must contain a truthful source, if not created by author. Paper should contain sufficient detail and references in order to be checkable by others. Fraudulent or inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Authors may be asked to provide data that they used as sources for their paper, and they are accordingly advised to keep such data.

Originality and plagiarism

Authors must assure that the paper they wrote is original paper as a whole, and if they have used paper of part of paper of others, they must appropriately cite and quote the text by references, or footnotes.

Plagiarism takes many forms, from ‘passing off’ another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple publication

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

However, later publication of certain papers in more journals may sometimes be justified, provided that certain conditions are met. Authors and editors of journals must agree regarding the secondary publication, that has to contain the same data and interpretation of the primary paper. In that sense primary reference must be cited in secondary publication.

Submission of authors translated paper to other journal also constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable, if it does not refer to primary paper.

Reference quality

When using bibliography and sources, authors must take care on the importance and impact of those references in the scientific field of their paper. Data obtained through conversation, correspondence or discussion with third persons cannot be used without the explicit permission of that source.

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those persons who made significant contribution to the idea, interpretation and the writing of the paper. All those who made a significant impact should be addressed to as co-authors. Author is responsible for the choice and the quality of co-authors. Author should be listed first in the paper, followed by co-authors.

Substantial errors in published papers

When author reveals a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published paper, he/she is obliged to immediately inform the editor of the journal thereof, and to correct the error in cooperation with the editorial. The correction shall be published in the following issue of the journal ‘Aktuelnosti’.

Duties of editor

Editor of peer reviewed journal makes decision on papers to be published. Validity of the paper and its significance for researchers and readers must be the grounds for such decision. Editor may consult with other editors when making the decision.

Editor estimates the paper according to its content regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnical or national origin, citizenship or political conviction of authors.

Editor and editorial board must not disclose information on submitted manuscript to anyone but the author at issue, potential peer reviewers and the publisher.

Editor must not used unpublished material for his/her own research without the explicit consent by the author.

Information or ideas obtained through performing editorial function must be kept as confidential and must not be used for personal advantage.

Editor should excuse him/herself from considering manuscripts regarding which they have conflict of interests such as competition, connection with authors, legal persons or institutions.

Authors should not be obliged to cite earlier issues of the journal as a condition for their paper to be accepted.

Duties of peer reviewers

System of peer reviews is a essential component of enuring the quality of papers to be published.

Selected reviewer who does not feel competent enough to evaluate the research in the manuscript or is aware that such evaluation cannot be done fast enough, should notify the editor thereof and to excuse him/herself from such review.

All manuscripts are considered confidential. They may be discussed with other persons only if permitted by the editor.

Reviews must be done in an objecive manner. Personal critique of the author is not allowed. Reviewers should express their opinion clearly and supported by arguments.

Reviewers should point out the relevant published paper from the scientific field at issue which is not cited by the author. Reviewers should also notify the editor in case of substantive similarity of the manuscript with other published papers that they are aware of.

Unpublished material in submitted manuscript must not be used for the purpose of personal research of reviewers without the explicit consent by the author. Information or ideas reviewers are aware of, must be considered confidential and must not be used for personal advantage. Reviewers must excuse themself from evaluation of manuscript regarding which they have conflict of interest such as competition, connection with authors, legal persons or institutions.