Ethical principles & publication policy

Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, as a publisher of peer-reviewed scientific monographs and professional journals (link to the university's website of scientific journals: https://czasopisma.ujd.edu.pl/), is obliged to take action to comply with ethics in author's materials, publish high-quality articles and counteract unethical phenomena in science. The publisher strives to publish scientific monographs, monographs under scientific editing and other forms of publishing, i.e. scientific journals or exhibition catalogues, of the highest possible substantive level. In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), each publication is subject to objective peer review before a decision is made to publish it.

Compliance with the principles of ethics is expected equally from all participants in the publication process: authors, editors, reviewers and publisher.

I Guidelines for the publisher

Criteria and responsibility for the publication of articles

The decision to publish is made by the relevant Vice-Rector after reviewing the opinion of the Faculty Committee for Publications. When accepting texts for publication, the opinions of the reviewers regarding the scientific value of the work, the originality of the approach to the problem, the clarity of the argument, and the opinion of the faculty committees for publishing are taken into account. The programme editor, in consultation with the editor-in-chief, may decide to refuse to accept a work if previous publications by the same author were not of interest due to the low scientific level, repetitiveness of the research presented, reproduction of ideas, etc. The decision of the publishing house to accept the author's proposal is also influenced by the risks of possible defamation of third parties, infringement of copyright and other intellectual property rights, plagiarism or self-plagiarism, as well as doubts as to the authorship or co-authorship of the article, referred to as ghostwriting and guest authorship, as well as the quality of the presented research results, which determines a significant contribution to the development of the discipline.

Ethical standards control

Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa constantly watches over compliance with the applicable publishing standards and the principles of publishing ethics and prevents practices that are inconsistent with the accepted standards. In a situation where there is a suspicion of unreliability in a published or submitted work, in particular regarding the phenomenon of plagiarism, ghostwriting or guest authorship. The publisher takes steps to clarify the matter, asking the author to respond first. In the case of confirmed unreliability that significantly violates the principles of ethics, the publisher decides not to accept the text for publication. All manifestations of scientific misconduct are documented by the editorial board. If necessary, the publisher declares its readiness to publish corrections, clarifications, apologies and retractions.

Fair play publishing

Articles submitted to journals published by Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa are evaluated in accordance with substantive criteria and ethical principles. The rating is not influenced by personal factors, in particular race, gender, religion, origin, citizenship or political beliefs of the authors. The rules for the qualification of texts and for reviewing are established by the editorial boards of the journals. The websites of periodicals published by Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa are available at: https://czasopisma.ujd.edu.pl/.

Confidentiality

The publisher does not disclose any information about the works submitted for publication to unauthorised persons. The persons authorised to possess this information are: the author, designated reviewers, editors and other persons participating in the publishing process.

In the case of journals, reviews are anonymous, which means that authors do not know the identity of the reviewers of their articles, and reviewers should not know the identity of the authors. It is unacceptable for reviewers to disclose to persons outside the editorial board information about receiving specific articles for review.

Counteracting conflicts of interest

Materials sent to the Publishing House may not be used by the Publishing House's staff or any other persons participating in the publishing process for purposes other than publication without the written consent of the authors. In the event of a conflict of interest, reviewers are obliged to immediately inform the Editorial Board.

Publication retraction

The publisher has the right to withdraw a publication after its publication if there is evidence of unreliability of research results and/or falsification of data, as well as in the case of unintentional errors (e.g. methodological errors, errors in calculations) and when the work bears signs of plagiarism or violates the principles of publishing ethics.

II Guidelines for the reviewer

The reviewer undertakes a critical evaluation of the presented work (monograph, article).

Punctuality

The reviewer is obliged to deliver the review within the agreed deadline. If, for some reason (substantive, lack of time, etc.), they are unable to meet the deadline or undertake a review, they should immediately inform the publisher about it.

Confidentiality

All reviewed papers and their reviews are confidential. Disclosure of works to third parties is not permitted (except for persons who are involved in the publishing process). Peer reviews of articles in scientific journals are anonymous, which means that authors do not know the identity of the reviewers of their articles, and reviewers should not know the identity of the authors. It is unacceptable for reviewers to disclose to persons outside the editorial board information about receiving specific articles for review.

Objectivity

The review should be objective. Personal criticism of the author of the work is unacceptable and is considered a violation of ethical principles. All the reviewer's comments should be properly substantiated.

Reliability of sources

The reviewer, if necessary, should indicate relevant works related to the subject of the text not cited by the author. The reviewer should indicate and report to the publisher any significant similarities between the reviewed text and other works that bear the hallmarks of plagiarism or self-plagiarism.

Counteracting the conflict of interest 

The reviewer may not use the reviewed work for their own personal needs and benefits. They should also not evaluate the text if there may be a conflict of interest with the author. In conclusion, the review should end with a clause with an appropriate statement on the subject.

III Guidelines for the author

Authorship

All persons listed as authors or co-authors should have a significant contribution to the creation of the article, significantly contributing to the creation of the article, from the idea, through the concept and execution, to the formulation of conclusions. Authors submitting multi-author texts for publication are obliged to disclose the contribution of individual authors to its creation (including the authors' affiliations and information on who is the author of the concept, assumptions, methods, protocol, etc. used in the creation of the text), specifying the percentage of their contribution to the creation of the work. Other people who may have influenced certain significant aspects of the article may be listed as contributors, but not co-authors. The phenomena of ghostwriting and guest authorship are a manifestation of scientific misconduct, they are unethical and unacceptable. Detected manifestations of such dishonesty will be publicly disclosed by the Editorial Board and communicated to relevant entities, in particular the home institutions of the authors and alleged authors. It is also the responsibility of the author submitting the article to be sure that the final version of the article will be accepted by all persons listed as co-authors.

Originality of the work

The author may submit only their own, original texts for publication. Research and/or information from other scientists used in the publication should be marked in such a way as to indicate that it is a citation. Plagiarism or falsification of data are unacceptable. The author should notify the Editorial Board of any significant errors in their publication and cooperate with the publisher in order to correct or rectify them.

Research integrity

The author is obliged to provide a reliable description of the research work carried out and to objectively interpret the results. Papers should include information enabling the identification of data sources, as well as the repetition of the research. Deliberately inaccurate or unreliable presentation, commenting and interpretation of data and research results is unethical and not allowed and may result in the withdrawal of the text from the publishing process.

When asked to present the raw research results used in the text, the author is obliged to provide access to this data, also after the publication of the paper. In the paper, the authors disclose all sources of funding for the project, the contribution of institutions, organisations and other entities, as well as other indications of a conflict of interest that may have influenced the interpretation or conclusions resulting from the article.

The author takes part in the peer review process and undertakes to respond to the reviewer's comments, correct errors, and make necessary additions.

Reliability of sources

The author is obliged to list in the appendix bibliography the publications that were used by them in the creation of the text. A deliberate omission of a reference used in the text may be classified as an attempt at fraud and classified as a manifestation of scientific misconduct, resulting in the withdrawal of the text from the publishing process.

IV Guidelines for the scientific editor (in the case of collective publications)

Criteria for accepting texts for publication

The scientific editor decides which materials will be published. When accepting texts for collective publication, the following factors are taken into account: consistency with the main topic of the collective work, scientific value of the work, originality of the approach to the problem, clarity of the argument.

Research integrity

The scientific editor takes care of the scientific reliability of the published papers. In order to preserve it, appropriate changes and corrections may be made. In the case of suspicion of unfair practices (plagiarism, falsification of research results), the editor is obliged to withdraw the text from collective publication. 

Authorship

The scientific editor is obliged to make sure that the persons contributing to the creation of the publication accept its shape after scientific editing, it is the responsibility of the scientific editor who submits the publication to the publisher. At the same time, the editor is obliged to collect relevant declarations of the authors of articles in a collective monograph on the transfer of copyrights to the university.