Ethics Policy

Publication in a peer-reviewed journal is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of authors, their institutions and editors of the journal. Therefore it is important that all the parties involved in the publishing process – authors, members of the Editorial Board, peer reviewers and editors – collaborate on the basis of goodwill, responsibility and impartiality. In view of this, our journal, Vestnik of Northern (Arctic) Federal University. Series "Humanitarian and Social Sciences", ensures that all the parties conform to a certain policy of ethics.

1. Authors

The journal allows authors to retain the copyright of their papers. Authors grant the publisher the right of first publication and other non-exclusive publishing rights according to the license agreement.

Authors submitting their manuscripts for publication in Vestnik of Northern (Arctic) Federal University.  Series "Humanitarian and Social Sciences" should ensure that their work

  •  is original (has not been previously published elsewhere in its current form or with similar content);
  •  is not submitted to any other Editorial Office and that all conflicts of interest, if any, in terms of copyright and publication of this paper have been settled;
  •  does not violate any existing copyright;
  •  does not contain any scientific or technical data linked to state, official or trade secret.

The following is considered as breach of publication ethics by the author:

1. Plagiarism and copyright infringement

  • duplication of the works of others without crediting the authors, citing the source or using quotation marks;
  • incorrect paraphrasing of the works of others, changing more than one sentence in a paragraph or section of text or arranging sentences in a different order without proper reference to the source;
  • using parts of the works of others (such as figures, tables or text paragraphs) without crediting the author, citing the source or using quotation marks;

2. Self-plagiarism, including duplicate publication (publication of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published): the authors should specify that their work is published for the first time; if parts of the manuscript have previously been published in another article, including any article in our journal, the authors should refer to the previous work and indicate the fundamental difference of the new manuscript from that earlier one, and at the same time reveal its relationship with the findings and conclusions presented in the previous work. Duplication and paraphrasing of one’s own works are unacceptable.

- To determine the share of original text in the manuscript, we use the Russian screening system "Antiplagiat.vuz".  

3. Compilation of a manuscript not as a result of research conducted by the author but by putting together fragments of other investigators’ works.

4. Fabrication: inventing data or results.

5. Falsification: manipulating (changing, omitting) research data, equipment, or processes with the intention of giving a false impression.

6.  Misrepresentation of involvement:

  • honorary authorship (granting authorship to those who played no significant role in the work but have a high status or rank in the organization conducting the research); 
  • gift authorship (stating someone’s authorship in the absence of involvement as a gift, often in response to a favour); 
  • ghost authorship (failing to list someone who has made a major contribution as an author, e.g. a junior researcher);
  • other cases of misrepresentation.

Dealing with misconduct

If authors’ misconduct is revealed, editors are obliged to investigate the circumstances and take appropriate measures, up to retraction of the article.

Procedure

1. Editors seek a response from those suspected of misconduct. If no response is received, editors may turn to the authors’ employer or relevant institution.   

2. If authors prove that misconduct was caused through no fault of their own, editors and authors act together in order to eliminate the problem and offer apologies to those affected.

3. If the fault is insignificant (e.g. self-plagiarism in a minimal degree), editors issue a warning to the authors, who must ensure that the article is in compliance with the journal’s requirements.

4. In case of significant breach of publication ethics by the authors, the article can be retracted.

5. Editors inform the authors, as well as all relevant databases, about the retraction with an explanation as to the reason for retraction.

6. Retracted paper will get a red diagonal Retracted mark in the relevant journal issue.

Authors must notify the Editorial Office about any existing conflict of interest related to their research or the publication itself.

2. Members of the Editorial Board

  • are responsible for everything that is published in the journal;
  • should make fair and unbiased decisions independent from commercial consideration and ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process;
  • should guard the integrity of the published record, make corrections when needed and issue grounded rejections to the authors whose manuscripts fail to meet the requirements or research and publication ethics;
  • handle editorial conflicts of interest.

3. Peer reviewers

  • should assess the manuscripts in a timely manner and respect the confidentiality of peer review;
  • should be objective and unbiased in their reviews, proving their opinion by giving reference to the source, if necessary;
  • should trace and stop any potential conflict of interest. 
  •  

  • should check the papers for plagiarism using anti-plagiarism tools.

4. Editors

  • should adhere to the ethics policy and make efforts to prevent its violation;
  • should help the authors improve the submitted manuscripts by editing them;
  • should not disclose the content of a negative review to anyone other than the author;
  • should prevent any disclosure of confidential information obtained in the course of correspondence with the author;
  • reserve the right to reject the manuscript in case of violation of the above rules.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Conflict of interest in publishing exists when authors, peer reviewers or Editorial Board members may have conflicting interests that can influence the interpretation and perception of the manuscript or the decision whether to publish it. Such conflicts can be personal, political, academic / scientific, religious or financial. Financial conflicts, in their turn, can be direct (e.g., when the financial benefit from publication is received directly by the author) or indirect (e.g., when the financial benefit from publication is received by the organization where the author works). All participants in the publishing process are required to disclose any existing conflict of interest.

Authorship

Journal Vestnik of Northern (Arctic) Federal University adheres to the following authorship criteria:

– Substantial contribution to the conception and design of the study, as well as acquisition or analysis and interpretation of data;

– Preparation of the manuscript and its final revision in terms of significant intellectual content;

– Willingness to take responsibility for the research;

– Willingness to take responsibility for the final version of the article.

Principles of assigning authorship:

–  It is the researchers’ responsibility, not the editors’, to assign the authors and acknowledge those who have made a significant contribution to the study.

–  Information about those who have made a significant contribution to the study and preparation of the manuscript, but whose participation was insufficient for attributing authorship, should be included in the “Acknowledgments” section.

–  All persons claiming authorship or mentioning in the “Acknowledgments” section should be included in the “Acknowledgments” section; and, vice versa, the authors and persons mentioned in the “Acknowledgments” section should be willing to be acknowledged in these roles.

–  Persons listed as authors are responsible for the final version of the manuscript published in the journal.

–  Authors and persons mentioned in the “Acknowledgments” section should determine their specific contributions to the work and make this information available to readers.

–  The key principle of assigning authorship is assigning responsibility for the work.