Publication ethics, principles, peer review

Publication ethics

e-Journal “Kavkazologiya” and its publisher “Kabardino-Balkarian State University after Ch. M. Berbekov” adhere to the standards of editorial ethics, make conditions and take necessary actions to comply with it. The Editorial Board observes international community’s Code of Conduct, the main practices and principles of publication ethics, declared in the recommendations of the Committee on the Publications Ethics.  It also adheres to the principles of publication ethics adopted by the Association of Science Editors and Publishers and set out in “Ethical Principles of Science Publications”.

The Editorial Board of the Journal observes editorial ethics and does not allow any negligent and dishonest papers’ handling.  It assumes the obligations specified below and pays close attention to their rigorous implementation. All disputable questions in regard of accepted obligations are considered by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal (Deputy Editor-in-Chief) or the publisher.

Editorial Board and authors

The Journal provides a clear and transparent processing of the submitted papers. The editors are guided by the principles of high scholarly competence, objectivity and professionalism.

The authors, in their turn, are accountable for the novelty, results reliability, data and information accuracy of the submitted manuscript. Plagiarism, authors’ substitution are unacceptable practices. The consent of all authors for publication is mandatory. The Journal does not publish papers without authors consent, nor they can change the authors in any way.

Authors, editors, reviewers and publishers are accountable for any failure to comply with ethical standards in the processing of the submitted manuscripts.

The interaction with the authors is guided by the principles of justice, politeness, objectivity, honesty and openness.

The Journal provides a clear and transparent procedure of the submitted manuscripts processing. It ensures mechanisms to handle the authors’ claims and provide their unbiased consideration and discussion.

To avoid publication ethics violation, the conflict of interests of all parties involved in the process of publication is discouraged. The Editorial Board undertakes to preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards of publishing activities.

Transparent and free publishing

Free and open access to Journal’s publications is ensured. Full texts of articles are available on e-library platform. No payment for papers’ publication is charged.

The Journal’s policy, publication and review ethics, instructions on submitting manuscripts, author guidelines, ISSN, and publisher’s address are readily available.

The editorial board assures full implementation of the commitments it undertakes.

The Initial editorial read, peer review process, decision on publication

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial read undergo a single blind review. The reviewers are given a non-identified paper; the authors do not know the experts’ names either. The authors are informed of the reviewers’ decision by the Editorial team.

Submitted papers are reviewed by the members of the Editorial Board, also, suitably qualified experts from Russia and abroad are invited. The Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor-in-Chief nominate the reviewers. Article reviewing is to be completed within 2 – 4 weeks.

In processing the submitted manuscripts the editors and reviewers are guided by the following criteria:

1. Scientific problem statement, relevance of the article topic, correspondence to the Journal’s thematic profile.

2. Originality in interpreting the subject of the study, independence of the research.

3. Adequacy of methodology and research methods.

4. Data reliability and validity

5. The quality of language editing, the accuracy of language usage, compliance with editorial requirements.

Based on the feedback from the reviewers and the Editors’ judgment, a decision on the manuscript acceptance or its rejection is taken. The accepted article can be   published without any changes, or it may require improvement. In the case of revision, the manuscript may be sent out for further peer review after consideration by the editors.

If the manuscript requires improvement and revision, the author is notified with the reviewer’s recommendations and requested to implement them within 1 month from the receipt of the notification. In the case the author disagrees with the reviewer’s recommendations, he is free to challenge them offering well-grounded arguments. The revised article is subjected to peer review again.

If the author does not return the revised version after 1.5 from the receipt of the review’s decision, the article is removed from the register list without any notification.

If the author and reviewers have any insoluble contradictions regarding the article’s content, the Editorial Board may send the manuscript for further peer review.

Positive review is not sufficient for the article publication. The final decision on the publication is made by the editorial Board. The Editor’s-in-Chief opinion and decision is of crucial importance.

Reviews are kept in publishing house and editorial office within 5 years.

Violation of ethical principles

The Editorial Board assumes that the authors and reviewers are familiar with the algorithm of work and the requirements imposed on them. However, the Editorial Board informs all interested parties of the principles it is guided by in its activities. The editors commit to discouraging any misconduct on behalf of the editorial staff, the authors and the reviewers. All reasonable attempts are made to detect and prevent any cases of ethic violation.