Code of Ethics

Preparing for publication in a scientific peer-reviewed journal, the editorial staff seeks to minimize the possibility of abuse of readers' trust, to guarantee the academic and scientific nature of the publication.

In this regard, we strongly recommend that all authors comply with the ethical standards of academic publications.

Based on recommendations from the Publishing Ethics Committee, Elsevier, The Editorial Board approved the following principles for the work of editors, reviewers, and authors of the journal.

 

Responsibilities of the Editor and Editorial Board

1.1. The editor is responsible for deciding which of the submitted articles will be published. In his decisions, the editor is guided by these rules, as well as laws regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The decision of the editor should be made in the interests of the journal and take into account the opinions of other editors and reviewers.

1.2. The editor checks the materials submitted for publication for compliance with the topics of the journal series and for compliance with the general professional requirements for scientific publications, which are determined by the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine.

1.3. The editor decides on the appointment of reviewers from the editorial board, taking into account their overall workload and consent.

1.4. The editor and editors evaluate the submitted manuscripts according to their content, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political preferences of their authors.

1.5. The editor and editors should not disclose information about the text of the article to anyone other than the authors themselves, reviewers, and other editors.

1.6. The ideas and data of the submitted manuscripts cannot be used in the editorial and/or editorial staff's own research without the written consent of the author.

1.7. Additional tips on the ethical aspects of the work of editors and editorial staff are found in the COPE Code of Editorial Ethics and Best Practices for Editorial Work.

 

Reviewer Responsibilities

2.1. An expert assessment of the submitted manuscripts allows the editor to make the right decisions on publishing the best articles in the journal. In some cases, the reviewer can help the author to improve the work through the mediation of the publisher.

2.2. The reviewer may refuse to evaluate the submitted materials if he/she 1) does not feel qualified enough to evaluate the submitted study, or 2) that he/she is not able to evaluate the manuscript within a reasonable time.

2.3. Each manuscript submitted for review is a confidential document. Manuscripts can only be discussed with those who belong to the journal.

2.4. Manuscript reviews should strive for objectivity. Reviewers should reason about their assessments and avoid personal criticism.

2.5. It is expected that the reviewer will point out important publications that were not indicated by the author in the material. In addition, it is expected that the reviewer will point out to him / her significant similarities or coincidences of parts of the manuscript and already published texts.

2.6. Information and ideas obtained during the review should be confidential and cannot be used in the interests of reviewers. Reviewers are expected to refuse to evaluate manuscripts for which they have a conflict of interest (as a result of competition, cooperation, or other interesting relationships with any of the authors or their institutions).

2.7. Further advice on the ethical aspects of the reviewers' work is contained in the COPE Code of Ethics for Reviewers.

 

Responsibilities of the authors

3.1. The authors prepare manuscripts of articles that are submitted to the editors in accordance with the requirements of the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine for professional publications and, in accordance with the profile of the journal. According to the requirements of the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine, the original article in a professional publication should consist of the following sections:

statement of the problem;
relevance of the study;
connection of copyright developments with important scientific and practical tasks;
analysis of recent studies and publications;
allocation of previously unresolved parts of the general problem to which the article is devoted;
novelty;
methodological or general scientific value;
presentation of the main material;
main findings;
prospects for using research results.

3.2. The basic data provided in the articles must be accurate and verified. Inaccurate and unverified statements in articles contradict the requirements of scientific ethics and are unacceptable.

3.3. When using scientific results, ideas, publications, and other materials of other authors, the text must contain links to publications of these authors. Fragments of published (published) texts of other authors (citations) may be included in publications solely with reference to the source (except for fragments that do not carry an independent semantic load).

3.4. When writing an article, academic citation rules should apply. In addition, authors should indicate publications that were decisive for their research.

3.5. Authors submit texts that have not previously been published.

3.6. The authorship of the articles refers to those who have made a significant contribution to the preparation of the study report. All who contributed to the preparation of the text of the article should be indicated as co-authors.

 

Complaints and Allegations Handling Procedure

The editorial board of the journal International and Political Studies is committed to upholding high standards of academic integrity. All complaints and allegations concerning potential breaches of publication ethics are addressed transparently, objectively, and confidentially, in line with the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The editorial office considers complaints and allegations related to:

plagiarism;

data fabrication or falsification;

duplicate or multiple publication;

inappropriate authorship (e.g., ghost authorship, guest authorship);

violations of the peer review process;

undisclosed conflicts of interest;

unethical conduct by authors, reviewers, or editors.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the official editorial email address. The complaint should include:

a clear and specific description of the issue;

names or identifying information of the individuals involved;

relevant evidence or references;

the complainant’s contact information (anonymous complaints may be considered if supported by sufficient and verifiable evidence).

Upon receipt of a complaint:

the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editorial board member will conduct an initial assessment within 10 working days;

the complainant may be asked to provide additional information or clarification;

if the complaint appears valid, a formal investigation will be initiated.

The editorial board conducts the investigation, involving independent experts if necessary. All parties involved have the right to provide a written explanation. Each party will be treated fairly and given the opportunity to respond.

Depending on the findings, the editorial board may take one or more of the following actions:

issue a correction or erratum;

publish a notice of concern or a formal retraction;

notify the author’s affiliated institution;

reject the manuscript or withdraw the published article;

impose a submission ban for a specified period;

take other appropriate measures as recommended by COPE.

Individuals subject to the complaint have the right to appeal the decision. A new review may be conducted with the involvement of independent experts who were not part of the initial process. All complaints and outcomes are documented and archived by the editorial office. These records may be used to improve editorial policy and prevent future misconduct.

 

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Scientific Publications

The journal "International and Political Studies" supports innovative technologies, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of scientific publications. At the same time, we emphasize the necessity of adhering to principles of academic integrity, transparency, and responsibility when using AI tools.

Authors are required to clearly indicate in the publication text where and how AI tools have been used (e.g., for text generation, data analysis, preparation of illustrations, etc.). Submissions fully generated by AI without significant author contribution to the scientific content and its interpretation are prohibited. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and quality of the materials, even if part of the work was performed with the help of AI.

The editorial office may use AI tools to assist in plagiarism detection, text preparation, fact-checking, and other aspects of the editorial process. Decisions regarding acceptance or rejection of articles remain solely with the editors and reviewers, regardless of the results obtained through the use of AI.

The use of AI must not violate copyright, confidentiality, or lead to data manipulation. Concealing the fact of AI use or misleading readers about the origin of the text or research results is prohibited.

Authors, reviewers, and editors are responsible for complying with this policy. In case of violations, corrections, rejection of publication, or retraction of articles may be applied in accordance with the editorial policy.

 

Retraction Policy for Published Articles

The editorial board of the journal "International and Political Studies" adheres to the ethical principles of academic publishing and ensures appropriate response to cases of academic misconduct. In the event of significant violations, the editorial board may retract a previously published article.

Grounds for Retraction: an article may be retracted in the following cases: confirmed instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or data falsification/fabrication; submission of the article without the consent of all co-authors or disputes regarding authorship; duplicate submission or redundant publication in another journal; significant errors in content affecting the validity of the conclusions; violations of research ethics (e.g., lack of approval from an ethics committee, use of unethical research methods); infringement of third-party rights, including copyright or breaches of confidentiality.

Retraction Procedure

A retraction review may be initiated by the editorial board, authors, reviewers, readers, or any interested party through official communication with the editorial office.

The editorial board conducts an internal investigation and, if necessary, involves experts, authors, and representatives of relevant institutions.

If violations are confirmed, the editorial board makes a formal decision to retract the article.

An official retraction notice is published in the journal, clearly stating the reasons and circumstances for the retraction. The notice is linked to the original article in the journal's electronic archive.

All electronic versions of the article (PDF, HTML) remain accessible but are clearly marked with the label "RETRACTED" on each page.

Retraction is not a form of punishment, but a mechanism for preserving academic integrity.

Authors have the right to submit an explanation or appeal, which will be reviewed by the editorial board.

The editorial board follows the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines when handling such cases.

 

Conflict of Interest

The editorial board of the journal "International and Political Studies" is committed to ensuring transparency at all stages of the publication process and preventing any influence of conflicts of interest on the objectivity of scientific evaluation and editorial decisions.

A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, professional, or other external factors may influence or appear to influence the impartiality of an author, reviewer, or editor.

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could be perceived as affecting the results or interpretation of their research. These may include:

financial support;

employment or consultancy relationships;

stock ownership;

patents or patent applications;

personal or professional relationships.

Conflict of interest information must be included in a separate section of the article. If no conflicts exist, the authors should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Reviewers must inform the editorial board if they have any potential conflicts of interest (e.g., personal relationships with the authors, recent co-authorship, competitive research) and decline to review if such a conflict may affect their objectivity.

Editors must not be involved in editorial decisions regarding manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. In such cases, the responsibility is delegated to another member of the editorial board.

The editorial board reserves the right to request additional information or take appropriate action if an undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered after publication.

 

Archiving and Long-Term Preservation Policy

The journal International and Political Studies ensures the long-term preservation, availability, and uninterrupted access to published materials in open access, in accordance with international standards of digital archiving.

To preserve scientific content, the journal:

Archives all published issues in the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine (repository: irbis-nbuv.gov.ua);

Deposits publications in the institutional repositories of the universities with which the authors are affiliated.

The journal uses the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, which supports open access and meets modern long-term archiving requirements.

All published articles are available on the journal's website permanently and without time restrictions.

Each article is assigned a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which provides a stable and long-lasting link.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which ensures legal preservation and reuse of content.