Ethical Standards Violations Complaints Handling Procedure

To ensure transparent and fair handling of complaints concerning breaches of ethical standards in publications of Polish Studies of Kyiv, the editorial board adheres to the Ethical Standards Violations Complaints Handling Policy (hereinafter – the Policy).

The Policy regulates cases of plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, incorrect authorship, conflicts of interest, and other ethical violations.

The Editor-in-Chief or the responsible editor must follow the recommendations of COPE, EASE, and recognized publication ethics standards.

 

Scope of the Policy

The Policy applies to:

·       authors, co-authors, and reviewers;

·       the editorial board of the journal;

·       any materials submitted to or published in the journal.

 

Submitting a Complaint

Complaints may be submitted by readers, authors, reviewers, or other interested parties.

A complaint must include a clear description of the alleged breach, supporting evidence, or references to the materials in question.

Complaints and inquiries regarding ethical issues should be sent to: daryna_slipchuk@knu.ua (Executive Secretary).

 

Procedure for Handling Complaints

1.     Preliminary Check

The editorial board verifies whether there are sufficient grounds to consider the complaint. If no sufficient grounds exist, the complaint may be dismissed, and the complainant will be notified.

2.     Investigation

An ethics committee or the responsible editor is appointed. The process includes analysis of the materials, consultations with authors and reviewers, and plagiarism checks if necessary. The investigation is conducted confidentially.

3.     Decision-Making

Based on the results of the investigation, the editorial board may decide to:

o   leave the article unchanged;

o   correct errors or publish a correction notice;

o   retract the article in cases of serious violations.

Decisions are communicated to the complainant and all interested parties.

The results of the investigation will be taken into account by relevant stakeholders to improve editorial and publishing processes.

Conflict of Interest Prevention

Editors and members of the complaint review committee must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and refrain from participating in the consideration of the relevant case.