The editorial board of Human Being: Image and Essence. Humanitarian Aspects abides by the principles introduced by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/). The publication ethics implies a set of ethical norms which are stringently followed by the editorial board of the journal, reviewers and authors.
Ethics Policy of the Journal
The manuscript is accepted for publication or rejected through unbiased analysis of its originality and relevance of the findings presented. There is no discrimination based on gender, race, ethnical background, religion or political sentiment. The decision is taken regardless of business or political interests. The editorial board has adopted a respectful and unbiased attitude towards the authors.
The copyright claims of the authors of the manuscripts submitted for publication are stringently observed. The editorial board abides by the ethics principles: does not inform any third parties of the manuscript review process, of the review process results. Rejected papers are not passed on to the third parties without a written consent of the author.
Before passing on the manuscript to the reviewer the editorial board certifies that there is no conflict of interests between the author and the reviewer. It allows for no personal or family relations between the author and the reviewer.
In case there are legal or ethical claims concerning the content of the paper or copyright violation to the author before or after its publication, the editorial board considers these claims and authorizes additional review process, if needed, and takes legal action. The finalized decision is taken by the editorial board. The editorial board certifies that all the steps to restore the violated rights are taken.
The editorial board doesn’t publish papers which feature incorrect citation including citation of the papers the author him/herself published earlier. When reviewed, the manuscript is always checked for originality through the antiplagiarism databases (www.eLibrary.ru, Russian State Library thesis collection).
In case of plagiarism, the manuscript is rejected at any stage of the review process. In case the instance of plagiarism is revealed upon publication of the paper, there is a written notice published in the next issue of the journal. The editorial board apologizes to the readers and to the author of the original paper and stops any further collaboration with the copyright violator.
The editorial board doesn’t publish papers which have already been published or submitted to other journals and should appear in print before the issue of Human Being: Image and Essence. Humanitarian Aspects.
In case the author of the published paper has found grave flaws or imperfections in it, the editorial board undertakes to publish amendments to this paper within one year after the publication.
The finalized decision about publishing or rejecting the paper is taken by the editorial board given the outcome of the review process and the editors’ opinion.
Ethics Policy of the Reviewers
Reviewers act as unbiased qualified assessors.
Reviewers undertake to abide by the ethics principles: they do not pass on manuscripts to the third parties, do not inform any third parties of the manuscript review process and of the review process results.
Reviewers provide an unbiased and grounded assessment to the manuscripts submitted, no critical remarks concerning the author of the manuscript are allowed.
During the review process reviewers don’t rely on unpublished sources.
On receiving the manuscript reviewers inform the editorial board if there is a conflict of interests with the author. In case there is such a conflict the manuscript is offered to another reviewer.
The authors who submit their articles for publication in the journal should abide by the ethical principles to follow:
– They undertake to conform to the academic standards in their papers, they are responsible for the reliability and the originality of the findings, they undertake not to falsify any sources.
– They undertake to submit only unpublished new papers, they undertake not to submit the same paper to several journals.
– They undertake to avoid incorrect citation. Citation of other authors’ works should be done correctly without allowing for rendering other works without proper reference.
– They undertake to respect third parties’ contributions by listing those who have contributed to the research and the paper as co-authors and not mentioning those unrelated to the research and the writing process.
– They undertake to mention any sources of financing including grants, subsidies, etc.
– They undertake to inform the editorial board – at any stage of the review process and publication as well as upon publication – about the flaws and imperfections identified.
In case of disagreements relating to the ethics policy, they are resolved by the editorial board. If the editorial board members are unavailable, the editor-in-chief alone.