Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy

Ethical Code of the Journal Political Life

In preparing a peer-reviewed scholarly journal for publication, the Editorial Board seeks to minimize the possibility of abuse of readers’ trust and to ensure the academic integrity and scientific quality of the publication. In this regard, the Editorial Board strongly recommends that all authors adhere to the ethical standards of academic publishing.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and Elsevier, the Editorial Board has approved the following principles governing the work of editors, reviewers, and authors of the journal.

Duties of the Editor and Members of the Editorial Board

1.1. The editor is responsible for making decisions regarding which of the submitted articles will be published. In making these decisions, the editor is guided by this policy as well as by the applicable legislation concerning defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editorial decisions must be made in the interests of the journal, taking into account the opinions of other members of the editorial board and reviewers.

1.2. The editor verifies that the materials submitted for publication correspond to the scope of the journal and meet the general professional requirements for scholarly publications.

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

1.4. The editor and members of the editorial board evaluate submitted manuscripts solely on the basis of their scholarly content, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views.

1.5. The editor and members of the editorial board must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding authors, reviewers, or editorial staff involved in the editorial process.

1.6. Ideas and data obtained from submitted manuscripts must not be used in the personal research of the editor or members of the editorial board without the author’s written consent.

Duties of Reviewers

2.1. The expert evaluation of submitted manuscripts assists the editor in making well-founded decisions regarding the publication of the best materials. If necessary, the reviewer may contribute to improving the manuscript by providing constructive comments through the editorial board.

2.2. A reviewer has the right to decline the evaluation of a manuscript if:

• they consider themselves insufficiently competent in the relevant subject area;
• they are unable to complete the review within a reasonable time frame.

2.3. All manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents. They must not be discussed with third parties, except for members of the editorial staff involved in the editorial process.

2.4. Reviewers’ reports must be objective and supported by clear justification of their conclusions. Personal criticism of the authors should be avoided.

2.5. The reviewer should indicate relevant scholarly works that have not been cited in the manuscript. The reviewer is also expected to report any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and other known publications.

2.6. Any information or ideas obtained during the peer-review process must remain confidential and must not be used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. The reviewer must decline to review the manuscript if there is a potential conflict of interest (arising from competition, collaboration, or other relationships with the authors or their institutions).

2.7. Additional ethical recommendations for reviewers are provided in the Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Duties of Authors

3.1. Authors submit manuscripts to the editorial office prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for scholarly publications in specialized academic journals, the content and technical requirements of the journal, as well as the thematic scope of the journal. In accordance with these requirements, an original article in a specialized academic journal must contain the following structural elements:

• statement of the problem;
• relevance of the research;
• connection of the author’s developments with important scientific and practical tasks;
• analysis of recent studies and publications;
• identification of previously unresolved aspects of the general problem addressed in the article;
• scientific novelty;
• methodological or general scientific significance;
• presentation of the main research material;
• main conclusions;
• prospects for the application of the research results.

3.2. All factual data presented in the article must be accurate, verified, and reliable. Unreliable or falsified information constitutes a violation of the principles of academic integrity.

3.3. When using research results, ideas, or fragments of texts from other authors, proper citation with references to the relevant sources is mandatory. Quotations from published works may be included in the text only if the source is indicated. Only those fragments that do not carry independent semantic significance (for example, commonly known formulations) may be used without reference.

3.4. All authors must adhere to academic citation standards and provide bibliographic references to publications that were essential to the conduct of the research.

3.5. Only original scientific articles that have not been previously published and are not under consideration by other journals are accepted for review.

3.6. Authorship of the article should be attributed to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the research, the preparation of the text, or its scientific editing. All participants involved in the preparation of the material must be indicated as co-authors. The contributions of other individuals (such as scientific consultation or technical assistance) should be properly acknowledged in acknowledgements or notes.