The standards of ethical behaviour are ensured in the process of publishing manuscripts in the journal Contemporary Issues. The purpose of this document is to support the editorial board in the implementation of good editorial practice in the scientific journal. The document is compiled according to the guidelines and codes of ethics of international editorial organisations.

Duties of the journal's editorial board:

  • The editor in chief and other members of the editorial board consider the manuscripts for publication based on their importance and appropriateness for the thematic focus of the journal, regardless of the author's race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, creed, political orientation, etc.
  • The editorial board reaches the final decision of accepting or rejecting the publication of a manuscript taking into account the opinion of the reviewer.
  • The editorial board must ensure impartial double-blind peer review of all published articles.
  • The editorial board must foster responsible behaviour.
  • The editorial board mustn't communicate data on the submitted manuscript, except to the author, reviewers, potential reviewers, deputy editors in chief, etc.
  • The editorial board must secure data confidentiality regarding the submitted manuscripts and prevent any misuse of the information contained in the manuscripts.
  • In case of review process or ethical complaints the editorial board provides the authors with an opportunity to appeal. All complaints should be investigated and documented.
  • The editorial board is responsible for investigation of any allegations of unethical practice. If the editors or reviewers identify misconduct, all interested parties should be contacted.
  • Before the review process commences all manuscripts are checked using PlagScan, a plagiarism detection tool.
  • If a breach of academic integrity or ethical misconduct is discovered before publishing, the manuscript is rejected.

Duties of the reviewer:

  • Reviewers should conduct their reviews objectively.
  • Reviewers should present their arguments in a clear way.
  • Reviewers should maintain the confidentiality of the review process treating the document as confidential and protecting the author's integrity.
  • Reviewers should be aware of any real or potential conflict of interest and decline to review the particular manuscript.
  • Reviewers should warn about the omission of source citation in the manuscript, redundant publication or plagiarism.
  • In case of opposing opinions in double-blind peer reviews the editor in chief can seek the third reviewer's opinion.

Obligations of the author:

  • Authors are obliged to format their manuscripts in accordance with the instructions for authors.
  • Authors should present their research results, scientific contribution and all other data accurately and objectively.
  • Authors guarantee the originality of their work and should correctly cite references.
  • When crediting sources authors should follow citation guidelines.
  • Upon manuscript submission to the journal the author accepts all required verification processes to establish the manuscript originality.
  • The journal Contemporary Issues supports open access to scientific papers, therefore all articles can be accessed in full to be read and printed, at no charge, provided all intellectual property rights, including copyright, are observed.
  • In case of breaching ethical principles, i.e. plagiarism or any other ethical misconduct the publisher and the editorial board will carry out investigation and sanction academic integrity violations.