«International Law Journal» complies with the ethical standards adopted by the scientific community, in particular, with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ASEP).
1. Journal Editorial Ethics
1.1 The editor-in-chief and editors in their activity are guided by Journal policy. Editor reserves an exceptional right to either accept or reject a manuscript for publication.
1.2 Editor may reject a manuscript prior to peer review thereof on a well-reasoned grounds (e.g. the article is not consistent with the subject matter of the Journal; the article is of a low scientific quality; the article was published earlier by another publishing house; the contents of the article was found contradictory to the ethical basics followed by the Journal).
1.3 Editor-in-Chief accepts an article for publication according to his/her confidence that such article is consistent with the Journal basics. The editor-in-chief can consult with other members of the editorial office, associate editors and also with reviewers in the course of making decision on the publication of article. He promotes respect for the principle of “blind” reviewing of articles.
1.4 Editors shall guarantee that all materials published are consistent with the international scientific standards and basics.
1.5 In the event of conflicting interests between an author and an Editor, such material shall be transferred to another Editor. An Editor transfers all eligible manuscripts for review by peer reviewers having related competences on the subject matter of such manuscripts. The Editors ensure confidentiality and non-disclosure of the names of peer reviewers.
1.6 The Editors guarantee the highest quality and integrity of publications in the Journal, as well as publish updates, explanatory notes and apologies when needed.
1.7 An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
1.8 Full text of all archived files and current issues of the journal are in open access on the website. Electronic version of the journal is a publication of open access for readers. When using materials it is necessary to refer to the journal and the authors of articles (to publication in the journal). Archiving of preprints (before peer-review) and postprint (prepared to publication but not yet published) articles is not allowed. For archiving the authors and other users can only use publishing version of pdf files of articles immediately after the publication of the next issue of the journal, without embargo.
1.9 Allowed free use of the materials for personal use and free use for informational, scientific, educational or cultural purposes in accordance with article 1273 and 1274 Chapter 70 of part IV of the Civil code of the Russian Federation. Other uses are possible only after the conclusion of the relevant written agreements with the rightholder.
2. Peer Review Ethics
2.1 The Peer Review process being the most important part of the scientific information exchange, the Editorial Office requests that the peer reviewers maintain:
- Confidentiality: no provided manuscript information shall be disclosed except to the Editor;
- Neutrality: entire manuscript assessment with no personal approach to criticising the author; any potential conflict of interests between a peer reviewer and a study peer reviewed, including the authors and/or such study financing institution shall be immediately communicated;
- Impartiality: assessing the manuscript intellectual content regardless of the author’s race, sex, sexual orientation, religious commitment, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views of the author;
- Clear and well-grounded opinion; source acknowledgement basics – references to the subject matter in the publications not mentioned in the manuscript; references to essential similarity and/or coincidence with the reviewed manuscript or to any other publication, which may be known to the Editor.
2.2 Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication, and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Publisher shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to publications have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.
2.3 Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible because not having enough time for it should notify the editor of the Journal and excuse himself from the review process.
2.4 Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
2.5 Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
2.6 Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
3. Authorship Ethics
3.1 All rights to articles belong to their authors. The right to use the article the author transfers to the publisher of journals based on a non-exclusive license, retaining exclusive rights (including the right to publish the article in other journals, but only after its first publication in the journal).
3.2 The exclusive right to use materials of the International Scientific Research Journal belongs to the editorial board of the journal.
3.3 The Author refers to all persons (authors) who participated in the research and creation of the manuscript and responsible for its content. The person (the author) presented the manuscript to the editor is responsible for the completeness of a group of authors and agreement with them all the changes made to the text of the manuscript on the results of its review and editing.
3.4 The editorial board expects the authors submitting their articles for publication in the journal to observe the following principles:
– originality of the research;
– providing reliable results of the accomplished work, lack of false statements, correctness of data presentation;
– objective discussion of research significance;
– inadmissibility of personal, critical or disparaging remarks and accusations against other researchers, complete elimination of plagiarism;
– recognition of other people contribution, mandatory availability of bibliographic references to all external sources of information, all publications relevant to the articles (including his own previously published articles and scientific papers) avoiding herewith self-plagiarism (repetetive, duplicate publication).
3.5 The author must inform the editorial board about all his works and the works of his co-authors, on topics intersecting with the submitted article and those that are under consideration in other publications.
3.6 Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.
3.7 The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
3.8 Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
3.9 All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
3.10 When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the editor of the Journal and cooperate with Publisher to retract or correct the paper, If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper.
3.11 Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
3.12 All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
3.13 When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the editor of the Journal and cooperate with Publisher to retract or correct the paper, If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper.
4. Journal Editorial Board Ethics
4.1 Publisher should adopt policies and procedures that support editors, reviewers and authors of the Journal in performing their ethical duties under these ethics guidelines. The publisher should ensure that the potential for advertising or reprint revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.
4.2 Publisher should develop codes of practice and inculcate industry standards for best practice on ethical matters, errors and retractions.
4.3 Publisher should provide specialized legal review and counsel if necessary.