Academic integrity and publication ethics policy

The scientific journal "Education: Modern Discourses" bases its activity on editorial policy and publication ethics that correspond to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) recommendations. The main principles ensuring effective cooperation between authors, the editorial board, and reviewers are academic integrity, objective evaluation of submitted materials, and ensuring the high quality of scientific research.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

Only original, previously unpublished materials are accepted for publication in the journal. The author is responsible for ensuring and providing a report on the plagiarism check of the work. To guarantee academic integrity and avoid plagiarism when citing, a number of rules must be observed: word-for-word borrowed words should be placed in quotation marks, and changing parts of the quote within the context of the sentence is not permitted. If another quote is present within a quote, separate marks are used to distinguish them. Omissions in the quoted text are indicated by three dots (with a space), and any of the author's own added words within the quote are placed in brackets. In general, it is recommended to limit the use of direct quotes, preferring paraphrasing and analysis.

Authors bear full responsibility for obtaining all necessary copyright permissions to reproduce any illustrations, tables, and figures borrowed from other sources. Submission of an article to the editorial board is the author's guarantee that their work does not violate the existing copyright of third parties.

Manuscripts in which plagiarism or the use of text from other sources without proper reference to the original source is detected will be rejected by the editorial board. In such cases, the author is given the opportunity to revise the material. This may include rewriting borrowed parts of the text or adding all necessary and correct references.

Authors are obliged, when submitting a manuscript, to clearly declare any reuse of their own text, data, or illustrations from previously published or submitted works. Self-plagiarism is considered an unethical practice as it creates an illusion of novelty and distorts scientific achievement. If the author uses their own previous materials, they must reference the original source. Verbatim copying of significant fragments must be minimised. If the editorial board detects significant self-plagiarism that casts doubt on the original contribution of the new article, the manuscript will be rejected. In the event of a violation being detected after publication, actions ranging from the publication of a correction to the retraction of the article may be applied, depending on the degree of the violation.

Copyright Provisions

Authors of materials published in the journal retain full copyright to their works from the moment of publication, transferring only the right of first publication to the journal. All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC-BY) licence, which ensures open access. This means that articles can be freely read, downloaded, copied, distributed, printed, and cited, and their full texts can be used for search or referencing. The only mandatory condition is that it is always necessary to indicate the original authors and distribute derivative materials under the same licence terms. Copyright comes into force from the date of publication of the corresponding issue of the journal.

Authorship Policy

Each person listed as an author makes a significant contribution to the work, which includes: participation in the development of the concept, study design, collection, analysis, and/or interpretation of data; active participation in writing or critically revising the article to ensure important intellectual content; and final approval of the version of the manuscript submitted for publication.

All listed authors bear joint responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of all elements of the work. In addition, a corresponding author must be appointed to handle communication with the journal's editorial board.

Authorship Change Procedure

The order and composition of authors must be finally determined during the initial submission of the manuscript, as the editorial board generally does not make changes later.

All authors and their contact details must be clearly indicated both in the manuscript itself and in the submission system. Any addition, deletion, or change in the sequence of authors requires the mandatory approval of the journal editor. The responsible corresponding author must submit a request for the change, providing the written consent of all involved persons (including those being added or removed), as well as a clear justification for the reason for this change. After the article has already been accepted for publication, changes in authorship are considered only in exceptional cases, and such consideration may suspend the publication process. Please note that unauthorised changes in authorship may result in the rejection of the article or its retraction (if it has already been published).

Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could lead to bias or improperly influence their research work. Such conflicts include both financial interests (e.g., employment, consulting, stock ownership, honoraria, grants, patent applications, or other funding) and personal connections (including cooperation with this journal as an editor or advisory board member). Declaring these connections is necessary to ensure the transparency and objectivity of the publication.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies in Scientific Works

These rules regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools exclusively at the stage of preparation and formation of the scientific article's text. They do not apply to the use of AI for other purposes, such as data processing, obtaining scientific results based on research data, or for basic tasks such as checking spelling, grammar, or formatting references. The editorial board advises authors to follow the Elsevier policy regarding the use of AI in scientific publications.

No Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool or similar technology can be listed as an author or co-author of a publication, as authorship requires legal responsibility and the performance of tasks inherent only to humans. It is permitted to use AI technologies exclusively to improve stylistics, linguistic literacy, and the general clarity of the text. At the same time, any use of AI tools must occur under constant human control and supervision. Authors bear ultimate and full responsibility for the entire content of their work; they are obliged to thoroughly check, correct, and verify material generated by AI, as it may contain factual inaccuracies, omissions, or biases.

Authors are obliged to clearly disclose information about the use of artificial intelligence and related technologies in the process of creating their manuscript. Such disclosure is mandatory if AI was used for: generating text, data, or graphic materials; making decisions that directly influenced the research results; or for analysing text, data, or graphics that goes beyond ordinary statistical tools.

If Artificial Intelligence (AI) was used during the creation of the manuscript at a level meeting the criteria of significant application, authors are obliged to include a special statement about this. This statement should be formatted as a separate section placed at the end of the main text of the article, immediately before the list of references ("References"). In the absence of significant use of AI, it is not necessary to add such a statement.

Section Title: "Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process".

Example of statement format: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME AND VERSION OF TOOL/SERVICE] in order to [CLEARLY STATE THE REASON]. After using this tool, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

Privacy Provisions

The journal guarantees full confidentiality of all data provided by authors. Names and email addresses collected through this site are used exclusively for the internal technical needs of the publication process. The journal strictly undertakes never to transfer or distribute this personal information to third parties.

Grounds for Article Retraction

Retraction of an article is applied in response to serious violations of professional ethical standards and manifestations of research misconduct. These violations include, in particular, multiple or duplicate publications, fake authorship, plagiarism, falsification or fraudulent use of data, as well as the misuse of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools based on large language models. Retraction may also be necessary if unethical research or other significant misconduct is detected. Additionally, an article may be retracted to correct substantial errors affecting conclusions reported by the authors themselves.

Procedure for Handling Violations

The procedure for handling complaints regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics fully corresponds to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) recommendations. This process covers necessary actions carried out both during the review of materials and after their publication in the issue.

  1. Detection of violations at the submission stage
    • Initial screening: The author is obliged to add a report on the plagiarism check. The editorial office conducts preliminary control and has the right to reject the article without review if it does not meet the ethical or technical requirements of the journal.
    • Reaction to plagiarism/self-plagiarism:
      • Plagiarism: Manuscripts containing improper borrowing of text or ideas without proper citation will be rejected.
      • Self-plagiarism: If the author's use of their own previously published text is detected in a volume that casts doubt on the originality of the new contribution, the manuscript is also rejected.
      • Opportunity for correction: In some cases, the author may be offered to revise the material – rewrite borrowed parts or add necessary references to eliminate the violation.
    • Authorship violations: Any unauthorised changes to the list of authors or improper inclusion/exclusion of persons may result in the rejection of the article.
      • Ethical role of the reviewer: Reviewers must immediately notify the editor of any suspicions regarding plagiarism, copying, use of the manuscript's ideas for their own purposes, or other violations of ethical standards.
  1. Rejection decisions and resubmission
  • Formal rejection and justification: If a manuscript is rejected due to the detection of significant violations (e.g., violation of the parallel submission rule), the author receives an official email with a detailed justification of the reasons for rejection.
  • Conditions for reconsideration: The author has the right to resubmit the manuscript for review, but only after the complete elimination of all shortcomings indicated in the rejection.
  1. Actions regarding correction and retraction of a published article
  • Notification of error: If a significant error or inaccuracy is detected in a published article, the author is obliged to immediately notify the editorial office.
  • Grounds for retraction: Publication retraction is applied if a violation of professional ethics and misconduct in research is established. Grounds include: duplication of publications, plagiarism, fake authorship, manipulation or falsification of data, misuse of generative AI, detection of unethical practices, or other significant misconduct. An author's error that critically affects conclusions may also be a reason.
  • Retraction procedure: The editorial office is obliged to publish an official retraction notice, in which the reasons for this decision are clearly disclosed and the initiator of the process is indicated. In the electronic version, there must be a direct link to both the retracted article and the retraction notice itself. The original text of the article remains accessible, however, every page of the PDF version is marked with the watermark "Retracted".