Restoring the rights and legitimate interests of authors in relation to published scholarly articles and responding promptly to violations of ethical standards through complaints, claims, and comments is one of the journal's editorial priorities. Each complaint is examined on its merits, in light of its nature and complexity, applicants receive timely and constructive responses, and every decision is made with due regard to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The editorial board provides prompt and constructive responses to complaints.
Who may file a complaint
Complaints may be submitted by an author or group of authors, a reviewer, a member of the editorial board, a reader, or any other person who has identified a potential ethical violation.
Subject matter of the complaint
Complaints are considered where they concern plagiarism, self-plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of data, authorship violations, including unjustified inclusion or exclusion of authors, undisclosed conflicts of interest, dishonest peer review, improper use of another author's materials, or failure to comply with the journal's submission and formatting requirements.
Complaints are handled in the following order.
- A complaint received by the editorial board is forwarded by the executive secretary to the Chair of the editorial board for preliminary review.
- If the complaint concerns the Chair of the editorial board, it is forwarded to the Deputy Chair.
- A temporary committee of at least three members drawn from the editorial board is formed to analyze the substance of the complaint.
- Where necessary, explanations may be requested from authors, reviewers, and editorial board members, including in cases involving alleged ethical breaches such as plagiarism or data falsification.
As a first step, the journal assesses whether the complaint is well founded and constructive in relation to the scholarly substance reflected in the article.
Anonymous complaints and submissions are not considered.
Complaints and submissions are reviewed within 10 days of receipt, after which the applicant is informed of the outcome in writing. Depending on the complexity of the matter, however, an additional review period may be established, and the applicant will be notified of that in writing.
All complaint materials are handled confidentially. Information is not disclosed except where disclosure is necessary to establish objectively the circumstances underlying the facts stated in the complaint.
Committee decision
Once the review is complete, the committee adopts a decision, which may provide for:
- dismissing the complaint as unfounded;
- making corrections or clarifications to the scholarly publication;
- publishing a retraction notice or formal response concerning the article;
- reporting a violation of academic integrity.
Correction of errors
Procedure for correcting errors and comments submitted by authors: if the comments confirm that the errors are serious, the editorial board may publish an erratum on the journal's website relating to the electronic version of the article where the issue stems from the production process, or, where substantial errors in the article are confirmed, such as unreliable data and conclusions, plagiarism, duplicate publication, and the like, may retract the article in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Notifications and complaints should be sent to the journal's email address: archives_journal@nncise.org.ua.
A complaint must be concise, specific, and contain enough information to demonstrate a possible breach of publication ethics. Where possible, supporting documents confirming the claim should also be attached.
Personal complaints directed at authors, editors, reviewers, or the editorial board receive a response explaining why the matter falls outside the journal's responsibility. In addition, the journal refrains from conducting a review where complaints are submitted in an abusive, threatening, or defamatory form.