GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Promoting and adhering to the principles of academic integrity is a mandatory requirement for all participants in the editorial and publication process of the Eastern Ukrainian Medical Journal (EUMJ).

Violations of academic integrity may include:

1. On the part of the authors:

• academic plagiarism — publication (in part or in full) of scientific results obtained by other persons as the results of one's own research and/or reproduction of published texts by other authors without indicating authorship;
• self-plagiarism — publishing (partially or in full) one's own previously published scientific results as new scientific results;
• falsification — deliberate change or modification of existing data relating to the educational process or scientific research;
• fabrication — the fabrication of data or facts used in the educational process or scientific research;
• fraud — providing knowingly false information regarding one's own educational (scientific, creative) activities or the organization of the educational process.

2. On the part of the editorial staff or reviewers:

• offer or actual provision or receipt by a participant in the editorial process of any material or non-material benefits to distort the publication process and make a positive decision on the publication of the article;
• biased evaluation of the work submitted for publication - deliberate overestimation or underestimation of the results, content of the research, by reviewers or editors;
• making changes to the text of the submitted manuscript without agreement with the authors.

In their activities, the editorial office and the editorial board rely on international standards of publication ethics and ensure a transparent, fair, and timely procedure for considering complaints and appeals in accordance with COPE Core Practices and ICMJE recommendations.

This policy applies to all stages of the editorial process — from manuscript submission to post-publication support. 

 

WHAT IS CONSIDERED A COMPLAINT OR APPEAL?

The editorial board carefully considers appeals regarding possible scientific misconduct and violations of publication ethics (in accordance with COPE recommendations), in particular:

• complaints about violations of publication ethics, including plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplication, concealment of research results, citation manipulation, undeclared conflict of interest, etc.;
• appeals against editorial decisions (rejection, request for substantial amendments);
• reports of errors in already published articles;
• complaints about the review procedure;
• disputes regarding authorship or contribution of authors.

 

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS SUBMISSION

Requests, complaints or appeals may be initiated by authors, editors or readers and must:

• be sent in writing to the official email address of the editorial office indicated on the journal website;
• contain a clear description of the essence of the issue;
• be accompanied by evidence or arguments (if any).

 

РROCEEDING

• The editorial office confirms receipt of the request, complaint, or appeal.
• To investigate the request, complaint, or appeal, the editor-in-chief or an authorized member of the editorial board considers it in accordance with the recommendations COPE.
• If necessary, independent experts or members of the editorial board without a potential conflict of interest are involved.
• If the allegations are confirmed to be justified, the authors involved will be contacted by email and given the opportunity to explain and, if possible, correct the situation.
• All parties to the process adhere to the principles of confidentiality and impartiality.
• The final reasoned decision is communicated to the applicant in writing.

 

CORRECTION, EXPRESSION OF CONCERN, AND RETRACTION

Depending on the situation and nature of the violations identified, the journal may take the following measures:

• If the allegations concern the authors, the process of reviewing and publishing their manuscript is suspended until the investigation is completed; the manuscript may be rejected. The investigation is carried out even if the authors withdraw the manuscript.
• If the allegations concern reviewers or editors, they will be replaced in the review process during the ongoing investigation of the case.
• If the article has already been published, the editorial board immediately takes appropriate measures depending on the nature and seriousness of the scientific misconduct.

The editorial office and editorial board of the "Eastern Ukrainian Medical Journal" admits that despite the thoroughness of editorial and review control, in some exceptional cases, errors or inaccuracies in articles may be detected after publication. The journal adheres to a clear, transparent, and fair procedure for making changes to already published materials, which complies with the COPE recommendations and the editorial policy of the journal. At the same time, changes to publications are made as promptly as possible while maintaining the integrity of the content.

In case of confirmation of scientific misconduct or significant errors, the editorial board applies the following measures:

Correction / Erratum – in case of unintentional errors;

Expression of Concern – in case of reasonable suspicions;

Retraction (withdrawal of the article) – in case of serious violations of publication ethics that were not obvious at the stage of publication of the article, in particular:

• fraud and manipulation of authorship;
• critical errors, manipulations, and falsifications that undermine the reliability of the main conclusions;
• duplication of already published work (without appropriate reference or permission);
• hidden conflict of interest that affected the objectivity of the conclusions;
• use of various types of text borrowings, including technologies using AI, without proper references and appropriate statements;
• conducting unethical research and violating professional codes of ethics.

Article withdrawal procedure:

• submission of a written request for paper retraction by the author, reviewer, reader, or member of the editorial board;
• investigating the facts stated in the request and substantiating the conclusions;
• the decision to retract the paper is made collectively by the editorial board of the journal; the reason for the paper retraction is indicated;
• publishing a retraction notice indicating the initiator and the reason for the retraction. The notice is attached to the article itself, which remains available in the journal archive. The corresponding information and the mark “Retracted” is added to the paper title; the mark “Retracted” is added to each page of the full-text paper;
• information about the paper retraction is transmitted to scientometric and abstract databases;
• the text of the retracted paper can be completely deleted only in exceptional cases, for example, if there are legal grounds and a court decision. In such situations, the bibliographic information remains on the site along with an explanation of the reasons for the removal. 

 

INDEPENDENCE OF REVIEWING

Submission of a complaint or appeal does not affect the independence of the review process and is not a basis for discrimination against authors. The policy is consistent with the COPE ethical guidelines for review.

 

POLICY UPDATES

This policy is regularly reviewed and updated in accordance with the recommendations of COPE, ICMJE, and the principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.