Publication Ethics
Content
1. General Provisions
2. The Journal's Policy on Authorship and Co-authorship
3. Policy on Intellectual Property Protection, Originality and Plagiarism
4. Review Policy
5. Complaints and Appeals Policy
6. The Journal's Policy on Ethical Oversight
7. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests
8. Policy on the Accuracy of Scientific Information
9. Research Data Sharing Policy
10. Policy Regarding Research Subjects and Their Risks
11. Policy on Post-Publication Discussion and Correction of the Article
12. Policy on Article Design and Subject Matter
1. General Provisions
1.1. The Journal adheres to the high standards of publication ethics recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and makes every effort to ensure them. These standards are mandatory for the members of the editorial board, editorial team, authors of articles and scientific reviewers.
1.2. Violation of any of these standards by the author results in the rejection of the submitted article.
2. The Journal's Policy on Authorship and Co-authorship
2.1. The authors of a publication can only be those persons who have made a significant contribution to the formation of the concept of the work, the development, execution and/or interpretation of the results of the presented study, as well as to the process of writing the manuscript itself (including those who carried out scientific and stylistic editing and formatting in accordance with the requirements of the journal).
2.2. First Author. The first Author in the list of co-authors should be the head of the Authors' Group of the manuscript, who took the greatest part in the process of preparing the text and is familiar with the entire process of conducting scientific work. The Head of the Authors' Group must also be the "Corresponding Author" - for communication with the editors of the journal and readers (after the publication of the article).
2.3. Co-authors may be those who made a significant contribution to the preparation of the text of the manuscript and the conducted research. In cases where study participants made a significant contribution in a particular direction in the research project, they should be listed as persons who made a significant contribution to the study.
2.4. The first author must ensure that:
- all participants who made a significant contribution to the study are listed as Co-authors;
- those who did not participate in the study are not listed as Co-authors;
- all Co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the work and agreed to its submission for publication.
2.5. Other persons who participated in the work on the article may be thanked.
2.6. All articles submitted to the journal for consideration are licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The authors retain copyright without limitation and grant the Journal the right of first publication. The authors guarantee that they have sufficient rights necessary to conclude an agreement with the Journal.
3. Policy on Intellectual Property Protection, Originality and Plagiarism
3.1. Plagiarism exists in many forms – from presenting someone else’s work as the Author’s, to copying or paraphrasing significant parts of someone else’s work (without indicating Authorship), to claiming one’s own rights to the results of someone else’s research. Plagiarism in all forms is unethical and unacceptable.
An article submitted for publication in the Journal must be original. Plagiarism of text, plagiarism of ideas and plagiarism of data is not allowed.
3.2. References to the results of other Authors’ work must be accompanied by references to the relevant primary sources (which must be included in the list of references). Citation of text previously published elsewhere must be formatted as direct speech with mandatory indication of the primary source. The author guarantees that both the submitted article and its publication will not violate the copyright or other rights of third parties.
3.3. Inclusion of large fragments of borrowed text in the manuscript is unacceptable.
3.4. The author must indicate that the work is being published for the first time and guarantee that it has not been previously published in other publications in its current or similar form, and is not under consideration by the editors of other publications. Submission of one manuscript to several journals at the same time is unacceptable.
3.5. Self-plagiarism, verbatim copying by the author of their own previously published works, as well as their paraphrasing while preserving the general meaning, is not allowed. If elements of the article have been previously published, the author is obliged to provide an exact reference to the earlier work in the text. Inclusion of large fragments of text borrowed from a study previously published by the author of the article in the manuscript is unacceptable. In exceptional cases, the editors have the right to accept for publication articles in which the author has significantly (at least by 50%) rethought previously published materials.
3.6. Borrowings are identified during scientific review, using the Antiplagiat system, and after publication upon readers' request. If a significant amount of borrowed text, graphic and tabular elements are identified that are not justified by the goals and essence of the manuscript, as well as a low originality coefficient of the text, the editors have the right to demand that the Authors correct the manuscript, refuse to further consider the manuscript, refuse to publish a manuscript previously accepted for publication (retract the manuscript), and retract an already published article. Plagiarism of ideas and plagiarism of data is identified during scientific review, as well as after publication of manuscripts - upon readers' request. If the fact of unauthorised borrowing of data (results of scientific work) or an idea is established, the manuscript (article) will be retracted and rejected from publication, even if it has already been published.
4. Review Policy
4.1. The editors support the anonymity of scientific peer review.
4.2. The editors must take a balanced position when performing their duties and making decisions on publishing or rejecting an article.
4.3. The decision to accept an article for publication must be made based on an assessment of the originality, novelty, and reliability of the article's conclusions.
4.4. Discrimination against authors based on their age, gender, religious or political views, or national or ethnic background is not permitted.
4.5. The objectives of peer review include assisting authors in improving the quality of their work.
4.6. Reviewers are required to evaluate articles objectively and reasonably, in clear language, and within the timeframes specified by the editors. They must promptly notify the editors of any reasons that prevent reviewing.
4.7. Reviewers have no right to inform third parties about the materials being reviewed or discuss them with third parties except as directed by the editors.
4.8. Reviewers are required to immediately notify the editors of any potential conflicts of interest with the authors.
4.9. Reviewers must inform the editors of any sources and literature on the topic of the article being reviewed that were not used by the authors.
4.10. Reviewers should also draw the editors' attention to any significant similarity or partial overlap between the texts being reviewed and any other published works known to the reviewer.
4.11. During the review process, any author may be asked about the sources on which the article is based.
5. Complaints and Appeals Policy
5.1. If the Author disagrees with the reviewer's comments, he or she may request a repeat review or retract the article, having first notified the editors of his or her decision in writing.
5.2. In case of complaints about the editorial board's decision regarding the publication of the manuscript, the Author may file an appeal in free form by sending a letter to the journal's editorial e-mail address - lawjournal@hse.ru. The appeal will be reviewed by the editors and the Author will be notified in writing of further actions.
5.3. In case of disputes, disagreements, complaints, including regarding the actions of the editorial board, reviewers, publisher, journal staff, the Author may file an appeal in free form by sending a letter to the journal's editorial e-mail address - lawjournal@hse.ru. The appeal will be reviewed by the editors and the Author will be notified in writing of further actions.
5.4. All possible disputes and disagreements, including copyright issues, are resolved, if possible, by correspondence by e-mail lawjournal@hse.ru based on the ethical standards and procedures of COPE.
6. The Journal's Policy on Ethical Oversight
6.1. Publishers and Editors take reasonable steps to detect and prevent publication of articles in which research misconduct has occurred, including but not limited to plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification / fabrication. Editors do not encourage or knowingly tolerate such misconduct. In the event that a Publisher or a Journal Editor becomes aware of any allegation of research misconduct in connection with an article published in their journal, the Publisher or Editor will follow the COPE guidelines for dealing with allegations. An Editor who receives convincing evidence that the allegations or conclusions presented in a published article are erroneous should notify the Publisher so that a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other appropriate statement can be published promptly.
7. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests
7.1. All Authors must disclose (declare in the appropriate section of the manuscript) any financial or other actual or potential conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or conclusions presented in the work. Actual and potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed as early as possible. Information about conflicts of interest received from Authors of manuscripts is published as part of the full text of the article.
7.2. Unpublished data disclosed in submitted manuscripts must not be used in personal research without the written consent of the Author. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality regarding information or ideas acquired through reviewing manuscripts and must not use them for personal gain.
7.3. Reviewers must not participate in the consideration of manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the Authors, companies, or other organisations connected with the submitted work.
7.4. Unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts must not be used by the Editor or reviewer in their own research without the explicit written consent of the Author. The Editor or reviewer must maintain the confidentiality of information or ideas disclosed to them in the course of reviewing manuscripts and must not use them for personal advantage.
7.5. Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts (i.e., ask a Co-Editor, Associate Editor, or other Editorial Board member to review the work in lieu of reviewing and making a decision themselves) in case of conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with Authors, companies, or organisations related to the manuscript.
8. Policy on the Accuracy of Scientific Information.
8.1. Publication of inaccurate information is not allowed.
8.2. If the author discovers errors or inaccuracies in an already published article, the author must promptly notify the editor about them.
8.3. Any person may submit to the Editors reasonable information about errors or typos discovered in the Journal's publications. This information must be carefully studied, and the Editors are obliged to notify the author of the decision taken. Where necessary, the relevant information must be published in the Journal.
9. Research Data Sharing Policy
9.1. The Editors reserve the right to request the Authors to provide the original (raw) research data, including for provision to reviewers and Editors. Authors should be ready to provide such information to the Editorial staff. Authors are encouraged to deposit large data sets and additional materials in appropriate open access repositories. The Editorial Board encourages the provision of data confirming the results presented in published articles. A data availability statement is sent to the Editors of the Journal together with the manuscript in free form. The statement should contain information on where to find the data confirming the results presented in the published article, including hyperlinks to publicly available archival datasets analysed or generated during the study. Publicly available datasets mentioned in the data availability statement may also be indicated in the reference. This is especially recommended when the datasets have digital object identifiers (DOIs).
9.2. The editors of the journal support the principles of correct exchange of research data. Authors are encouraged (however, not obliged) to provide readers with access to the data obtained in the course of their research. Authors' consent to provide access to research data does not in any way influence the decision to publish. Authors are encouraged to organise the process of exchanging research data through repositories.
9.3. The journal supports the dissemination of research data that may be needed to confirm the reliability of the research results presented in articles published in the journal. The editors of the journal classify research data as information obtained directly by the Authors (primary data), as well as data from other sources analysed by the Authors in the course of their research (secondary data). Research data include any factual materials recorded on any medium used in the process of obtaining the research results, in digital or non-digital form. These include tabular data, code, images, audio and video files, documents, maps, processed and / or raw data.
9.4. The journal's policy does not apply to research data that are not required to support the results presented in published articles.
9.5. Sharing of qualitative and quantitative data that can identify study participants is optional under this policy and will only be done with the consent of the study participants. Sharing of other sensitive information, such as habitat information for endangered species, is also optional under this policy.
9.6. The journal editors encourage citation of any publicly available research data in reference lists. Dataset references (data citations) should include a persistent identifier (e.g. DOI). Dataset references in reference lists should contain the minimum information (standard citation data set: author, publication year, dataset name, publisher (repository), identifier; extended citation data set: author, publication year, dataset name, version, publisher (repository), resource type, identifier) and should be consistent with the journal style.
9.7. Letters with questions about compliance with the journal policies are accepted by e-mail at lawjournal@hse.ru.
10. Policy Regarding Research Subjects and Their Risks.
10.1. If the research subjects were living people or animals, the authors must reflect in the manuscript that all stages of the study were carried out in accordance with the legislation and regulatory documents. The authors must also provide information that the research protocol was reviewed by the ethics committee, with the obligatory indication of the name of the committee (or the organisation under which the committee was created), the date and number of the minutes of the meeting at which the study was approved. The editors have the right to request certified copies of the relevant protocols from the Author. The manuscript must clearly reflect that voluntary informed consent was obtained from all people who became the subjects of the study.
10.2. The authors are personally responsible for the fact that the manuscript does not in any way reveal the identity of the study participants and that the confidentiality of all confidential data used for the study is maintained. Authors should ensure that the data presented in the manuscript cannot be used to identify the objects of study.
11. Policy on Post-Publication Discussion and Correction of the Article
11.1. The journal welcomes discussion of published articles by email to the editor at lawjournal@hse.ru.
11.2. If necessary, based on the results of the discussion, after notifying the author and co-authors, corrections may be made to previously published articles, or the article may be retracted. Retraction of the article occurs in accordance with the recommendations of the retraction guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – COPE Retraction Guidelines.
12. Policy on Article Design and Subject Matter
12.1. The article must be written in clear language.
12.2. The content of the article must correspond to the profile of the journal.
12.3. The submitted article must be properly formatted, including an abstract, references, and a bibliography. Articles that are not formatted according to the Journal's requirements will not be accepted for consideration.
12.4. The position of the editors does not necessarily coincide with the opinion of the authors.
12.5. The editors ensure that all requirements for publications are available.
13. The editors reserve the right to reject an article submitted for consideration if the author of the article has not fulfilled at least one of the above conditions.
