PUBLICATION ETHICS

The policy was discussed and approved at the Editorial Board meeting
of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”
on Feb. 25, 2025

 

AUTHORSHIP, AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTION, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Authorship

The journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” adheres to the following authorship criteria (developed and described in the ICMJE recommendations):

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and
2. Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Final approval of the version to be published; and
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors. All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be mentioned in the “Acknowledgments” section.                                         

Contribution of authors and non-authors

The “Acknowledgments” section may mention people who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship, for example: who supported the study, acted as a mentor, assisted with data collection, coordinated the study, etc.

In order to correctly determine the contribution, the authors of “Current Issues of the State and Law” journal can use CRediT – Contributor Roles Taxonomy.

Accountability

It is the editors of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” who are accountable for adhering to the standards of authorship and author’s contribution.

The authors are obliged to provide transparent and correct information about the authors of the article and persons who made a significant contribution to the preparation of the article.

If a manuscript is submitted to the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, member of the Editorial Board or Editorial Council, the manuscript is reviewed only by external experts.

Authorship statement

By submitting an article signed by all declared authors to the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”, they guarantee that:

• each author meets the criteria for authorship set out in the ethical policy of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”;
• all persons who participated in the work on the study but are not authors are listed in the “Acknowledgements” section;
• each author's contribution is described. This information will be published in “Current Issues of the State and Law”;
• the authors take responsibility for the correctness of the information provided.

Upon receipt of the article, the editor checks the availability of information about the authors and all necessary documents. In the absence of signatures of all authors, the article is not accepted for consideration.

Disputes

In case of authorship disputes, the work with the article is terminated regardless of the stage (consideration, peer review, editing or preparation for printing) it is at.

All co-authors are informed about the authorship dispute by e-mail.

The editor of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” has the right to specify the exact period within which the authors can provide clarification on the requested issues. After the expiration of this deadline, the article is withdrawn from publication with the corresponding explanation.

If a dispute arises with respect to a published article, the editor of “Current Issues of the State and Law” publishes a correction, refutation, or withdrawal of the article, indicating the reason for the changes in the published document.

If it is necessary to add or remove a co-author before or after publication, the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” adheres to COPE guidelines: Changes in authorship. Adoption of extra author – before publication, Changes in authorship: Removal of author – before publication.

To prevent manipulation of co-authorship, the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” uses COPE Flowchart and pays attention to the following when working with the article:

• it is indicated that the study was funded by an organization whose authors are not on the general list. This requires a more thorough verification of the contribution of all authors and, if necessary, requesting necessary explanations from the responsible author.
• the list of authors includes scientists from another scientific field. This may indicate guest authorship.
• listing a person in the “Acknowledgments” section without indicating a specific contribution.
• a very long or very short list of authors that is atypical for the scientific field or article type.
• an incomplete description of the authors’ contributions: for example, no information about who prepared the manuscript draft or processed the data.
• “Antiplagiat” check shows that there are borrowings from the dissertation work, the author of which is not listed in the list of authors.
• articles on similar topics were published by other teams of authors.
• the list of authors suddenly changes at the stage of article publication without prior discussion with the Editorial Board of the journal.
• the author has a very large number of publications, although their position does not imply such publication activity.
• the author responsible for correspondence cannot respond to reviewers’ comments.

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” expects that organizations affiliated with the author will be willing to participate in the investigation of authorship disputes.

 

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is attentive to complaints about the behavior of editors and reviewers, which may concern such issues as breach of confidentiality, undisclosed conflicts of interest, misuse of confidential information obtained during the peer review process. Authors may also disagree with decisions regarding the expression of doubts on certain articles or complain about violations of editorial processes.

All complaints can be emailed to ilina@tsutmb.ru, and will be dealt with in a general manner. The grievance procedure does not take more than 7 days. The person who sent the complaint will be informed about the decision taken, as well as the measures to be taken and the timeframe for their implementation.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

Conflict of interests (according to WAME recommendations) is a condition in which people have conflicting or competing interests that can influence editorial decision making as well as the interpretation of data in an article. Conflicts of interests can be potential or recognized as well as actual. Personal, political, financial, scientific, or religious factors may affect objectivity.

Conflicts of interests may cover the following areas:

• financial: this conflict arises when a participant of the publication process has received or expects to receive money, gifts, or favors that may affect the work related to a particular publication: payment for research, consulting and public speaking royalties, etc.
• personal relationships: this conflict arises in the case of personal relationships with family, friends, competitors, former colleagues.
• political and religious beliefs: adherence to same religion, political party can influence the outcome of an article analyzing these issues.
• institutional affiliation: this conflict arises when someone involved in the publication process is directly connected to an organization that has an interest in the publication.

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” may ask the authors additional questions or request additional information if necessary.

Conflict of interests may concern authors, reviewers and editors.

The following policy terms are based on ICMJE recommendations.

Responsibilities of authors in disclosing conflict of interests

When authors submit a manuscript they are responsible for disclosing all relationships and activities that might bias or be seen to bias their work.

The author must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interests to the editor by including information about the conflict of interests in the respective section of the article.

If there is no conflict of interests, the author must also disclose it. Example of wording: “The author declares no relevant conflict of interests”.

Responsibilities of reviewers in disclosing conflict of interests

Reviewers must disclose to editors any conflict of interests that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and should recuse themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they’re reviewing before its publication to further their own interests.

Responsibilities of editors when disclosing a conflict of interests

Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts should recuse themselves from editorial decisions if they have relationships or conflict of interests that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration. Other editorial staff members who participate in editorial decisions must provide editors with a current description of their relationships and activities (as they might relate to editorial judgments) and recuse themselves from any decisions in which an interest that poses a potential conflict exists. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Editors should regularly publish their own disclosure statements and those of their journal staff.

Articles by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and members of the Editorial Board should clearly state the affiliation with the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”.

If an undisclosed conflict of interests is found in an unpublished article, the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” will act according to COPE guidelines.

If an undisclosed conflict of interests is found in a published article, the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” will act according to COPE guidelines.

 

DATA REUSE AND REPLICABILITY

This section of the policy has been developed based on COPE recommendations for handling data.

Authors are encouraged to provide access to the research data that substantiate the content of their publications but it is not mandatory. Authors’ consent to provide access to research data does not influence the decision to publish.

Definition of research data

Research data includes any factual material recorded in any medium used in the process of obtaining research results, whether in digital or non-digital form. This includes tabular data, code, images, audio and video files, documents, maps, processed and/or raw data. This policy applies to research data that may be required to validate research findings in articles published by “Current Issues of the State and Law”. Research data includes information obtained directly by the authors (“primary data”) as well as data from other sources analyzed by the authors during the course of the study (“secondary data”).

Data archiving

The preferred way to share data is through the use of data repositories (https://repositoryfinder.datacite.org/).

Data citation

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” welcomes access to research data under Creative Commons licenses. The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” does not insist on the mandatory use of public licenses when data are hosted in third-party repositories. The publisher of “Current Issues of the State and Law” does not claim ownership of the research data provided by the author along with the article.

Letters of inquiry about compliance with this policy may be addressed to the Executive Secretary of “Current Issues of the State and Law”.

 

ETHICAL OVERSIGHT

“Current Issues of the State and Law” shares COPE’s view that publication ethics includes not only ensuring the integrity and reliability of published research, but also ethical behavior towards research subjects. This category includes vulnerable population groups, laboratory animals, human subjects (in the case of relevant research), confidential data and business/marketing practices.

Vulnerable population groups

Vulnerable population groups include (but are not limited to) those who are unable to protect their own interests: pregnant women, newborns, children, fetuses in the womb, prisoners, disabled, mentally disabled, economically disadvantaged, hospitalized patients in serious condition, etc.

Research in vulnerable population groups should be planned only if these groups will benefit from the research. One concern is that not all research participants, for objective reasons, may understand all the conditions of the research. If informed consent cannot be obtained from a direct research participant, this consent must be signed by their legal representative. Particular care should be taken in research involving children.

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” supports COPE’s statement on the publication of research involving vulnerable population groups.

Authors of articles should obtain informed consent for publication and notify the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”.

Handling sensitive data

The right to privacy of individuals or organizations involved in the research is of paramount importance and should not be violated without their informed consent. The authors must take all necessary precautions to protect information about research participants. If necessary, the authors must take measures to minimize any potential physical and psychological harm to research participants.

 

POST-PUBLICATION DISCUSSIONS AND CHANGES TO PUBLISHED ARTICLES

In some cases, it may be necessary to make changes to an article that has already been published. The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” supports the practice of making changes to published materials and, in case of such necessity, acts in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Any necessary changes will be accompanied by a post-publication notification, which will always be linked to the original version of the article so that readers can be informed of any necessary changes. The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” uses Expression of Doubt, Correction or Retraction of an article. The purpose of this practice is to ensure the integrity of scholarly materials.

All Corrections, Expressions of Doubt and Retractions are publicly available.

What should authors do when they find an error in their article?

Authors may discover a technical or semantic error after the article has been published. In such a case, authors should notify the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” as soon as possible, especially in case of errors that may affect the interpretation of the results or cast doubt on the reliability of the information. The author responsible for correspondence is responsible for reaching an agreement in the author's team on further interaction with the Editorial Board.

If you believe a published article needs to be modified, please contact us via email ilina@tsutmb.ru

Algorithm for making modifications to an article

Correction

Corrections are made to an article when it is necessary to correct an error or add missing information that does not affect the integrity and scientific significance of the article.

Corrections can be made, for example, in the figure caption, information on research funding can be added, or information on conflict of interests can be clarified.

If such changes are made, a separate announcement of the correction is published. The general algorithm of actions is as follows:

• the correction is made to the original version of the article;
• a description of the change is entered in the “Abstract” field of the original version of the article;
• a message about the correction is published, which contains information about the original version of the article, authors’ names, description of the essence of the correction, as well as references to it.

Messages about corrections of spelling errors, typos, and other minor changes are not published separately. The site informs that corrections were made to the article (without detailing).

Retraction

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” decides to retract an article in the following cases:

• when there is clear evidence that the results are unreliable for a number of reasons: the data is fabricated, image manipulation has taken place;
• plagiarism has been found in the article;
• the results have already been published earlier in other journals and the author has not justified the necessity of re-publication and has not warned the editor about it;
• the article contains materials and data that have not been authorized for use;
• copyright has been violated or another serious legal issue has occurred (e.g., breach of confidentiality);
• research ethics have been violated;
• the peer review process has been compromised;
• the author failed to disclose a conflict of interests that, in the opinion of the editor, may have influenced the reviewer’s or editor’s decision to publish the article.

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” acts according to the following algorithm when an article needs to be retracted:

• investigate and make sure that retraction is necessary;
• prepare a report on the retraction: include “Retracted Article” in the title along with the title of the article, describe the reason for the retraction, indicate who initiated the retraction, and provide a link to the retracted article;
• publish an announcement about the retraction;
• replace the original version of the retracted article, noting in the pdf-file that the article is retracted;
• report the retraction to the databases;
• transfer information about the article retraction to the Retracted Articles Database.

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” deals with retracted articles according to COPE regulations.

Expression of doubt

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” reports expressions of doubt in the following cases:

• serious concerns have been raised about a published article, but through investigation it has not been possible to prove anything, or for some reason an investigation will not be carried out or cannot be completed for a long time. Readers should be notified as soon as possible when this occurs.

Once the investigation has been completed, the article may be amended or retracted.

Removal of an article

Articles from the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” will be removed only in extreme cases when it is not possible to follow the protocol of correcting, retracting the article or expressing doubts.

An article may be removed in the following cases:

• if the distribution of the article could pose a serious risk;
• if the article contains content that violates a research participant’s right to privacy;
• if the article violates rights;
• if the article is subject to removal by court order.

If an article is removed, all materials are removed from the journal’s website, requests are sent to databases to remove the full text and post a message about the article’s removal.

 

UPDATES AND POST-PUBLICATION DISCUSSIONS OF ARTICLES

Supplements to the published article

The author may need to supplement the article some time after its publication. In this case, the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” can publish a supplement to the article. Supplements to articles are necessarily checked by the editors of the journal and may be sent for peer review.

When the supplement is published, the file with the original version of the article is updated, and the current issue of the journal additionally includes a notice about the supplement to the article, including information about the article, its authors, the essence of the changes made and a link to the article.

Commentary to a published article

Commentaries are short pieces that may express an opinion or observation about a published article. Commentaries are sent to the reviewers and authors of the article so that they have an opportunity to prepare a response to the commentary.

The authors’ comment is also sent to the reviewer. The author of the comment will have an opportunity to reply to the authors again, after which correspondence between the author of the comment and the authors of the article may continue privately.

The decision to publish comments is made by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”. Comments are linked to the original version of the article to which they refer.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE JOURNAL: EDITORIAL BOARD, EDITORS, PUBLISHER, FOUNDER

Principles for forming an Editorial Board

The Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is guided by COPE principles  when forming the Editorial Board.

Potential members of the Editorial Board can be recommended to the Editor-in-Chief by current members of the Editorial Board, reviewers and authors.

Editors who wish to participate in the work with the journal as a member of the editorial board can send an application to the Editor-in-Chief.

All potential Editorial Board members must agree to the following conditions:

• a member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” cannot be an editor who is simultaneously the Editor-in-Chief of another journal;
• a member of the Editorial Board of “Current Issues of the State and Law” cannot be an editor who is simultaneously responsible for making final decisions on the publication of manuscripts in another journal;
• all potential Editorial Board members should be prepared to disclose to the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” all potential and actual conflicts of interests (e.g., any scholarly journal and book publishing activities, membership on editorial boards of other journals, and any conflicts of interests that may arise after their appointment).

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board member:

• publication of one article per year to support the journal;
• peer review of incoming manuscripts according to their specialization and in the absence of external reviewers. Each member of the Editorial Board receives no more than 2 manuscripts per year for review. Peer review should be conducted in accordance with the approved Policy of peer review of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law”.
• selection of reviewers for incoming articles at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, control of the process of peer review of incoming articles.
• making decisions on the possibility of publishing an article after all rounds of peer review. Decisions are passed to the Editor-in-Chief, who makes the final decision on the possibility of publication.
• inviting authors and reviewers to cooperate with the journal.

Editorial Board member may be excluded for the following reasons:

• violation of publication ethics: concealment of conflict of interests or information, use of status for personal purposes;
• non-fulfillment of assigned duties within a year without a valid reason and without agreement with the Editor-in-Chief;
• at the request of a member of the Editorial Board.

Privileges of an Editorial Board Member

• articles by members of the Editorial Board of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” are considered on a priority basis;
• information about a member of the Editorial Board is placed on the website of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” with the necessary links to profiles in databases, affiliations and other necessary data.

The possibility of participation of potential candidates for the role of a member of the Editorial Board is considered at regular meetings of the Editorial Board.

The final decision on the inclusion of a potential candidate in the editorial board is made by the Editor-in-Chief and is fixed by the University’s decree.

Editor’s responsibility

The final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief of “Current Issues of the State and Law”.

The editor of “Current Issues of the State and Law” is guided by the journal’s policies when reviewing an article and deciding whether to publish it. The editor may discuss the article and the reviewer’s comments with other editors and reviewers, provided that these discussions are justified and legitimate, without using the material discussed for personal gain.

The editor of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is obliged to evaluate the content of the manuscript regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, origin, citizenship or political preferences of the authors.

The editor of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” must ensure confidentiality and not disclose information about the manuscript to third parties (except for other editors of the journal, reviewers, publisher and founder).

The editor of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is obliged to inform the Editor-in-Chief about all conflict situations, as well as about the detection of critical errors or accusations of authors or reviewers in violation of publication ethics, received by the journal, in order to take the necessary actions in such cases: making changes, publishing rebuttals, retracting the article, expressing doubts.

The editor of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” takes part in the investigation of any ethical violations concerning manuscripts under review and published articles, and makes every effort to resolve conflicts as soon as possible. If necessary, the editor of “Current Issues of the State and Law” will work with the author’s organization to conduct a more in-depth investigation.

Publisher’s responsibility

The publisher of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is responsible for compliance with all current guidelines and requirements to maintain the integrity of scientific materials published in the journal.

The publisher of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” does not interfere with the editorial processes. However, if necessary and at the request of the editors the publisher can take part in the investigation of violations of publication ethics, as well as send official requests on their behalf to scientific and educational organizations, and other publishers.

The publisher of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is obliged to implement industry standards in the work of the publishing house in order to improve the ethical component of the journal.

The publisher of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” is obliged to provide comprehensive legal support to the Editorial Board of the journal if necessary.

Founder’s responsibility

The founder of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” adheres to the principle of editorial independence: the university rector and staff do not interfere with the editorial process.

The founder of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” can recommend potential members of the Editorial Board, reviewers and authors, but the final decision on the possibility of cooperation with them is made only by the Editor-in-Chief.

The founder of Current Issues of the State and Law supports the need to ensure geographic and gender diversity among Editorial Board members, reviewers and authors.

The founder of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” does not put financial and political gain above the quality of the journal. The editors of “Current Issues of the State and Law” decide on the publication of manuscripts based on their quality and interest to the target audience of the journal.

The founder of the journal “Current Issues of the State and Law” does not interfere in the editorial processes. However, if necessary and at the request of the editors the founder can take part in the investigation of violations of publication ethics, as well as send official requests on its behalf to scientific and educational organizations and other publishers.

 

 

 Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License
 (http://creativecommons.org/l/censes/by/4.0/)