Ethical Principles

In order to ensure compliance with the principles of good research practice, the Editorial Board of Tematy i Konteksty adopted the provided below ethic guidelines related to the publishing of research works in the journal.
      These guidelines have been formulated on the basis of ethical rules specified by the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org) and in accordance with The Code of Ethics for Scientists (Kodeks Etyki Pracownika Naukowego  and (Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Edition (Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors)_

The standards listed below are ethical guidelines binding for Authors, Editors, Reviewers, and the Scientific Council at each stage of text publication in our journal.

Principles for Editorial Board Members:

  1. When making decisions regarding the publication of submitted works, the Editorial Board of “Tematy i Konteksty” is guided by the works scientific nature, the thematic profile of the journal, the principles of scientific integrity, transparency, scientific value, and usefulness. Factors such as the author's gender, race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs must not influence the evaluation of articles (the fair play principle).
  2. The Editorial Board members monitor adherence to ethical standards and principles during the publication process of scientific texts and take action against practices that violate the accepted norms.
  3. The Editorial Board decides whether to accept or reject submitted articles. The main priorities in accepting texts for publication are: alignment with the journal's profile, with the current issue's topic, originality of the approach and scientific relevance of the article, adherence to substantive and ethical requirements, and to the recommendations provided by the reviewers during the review process. The editorial secretary is obliged to inform the author of the text evaluation result.
  4. The Editorial Board selects the submitted materials in accordance with the principles of preventing ghost-writing and guest authorship. Appropriate procedures are in place to ensure this.
  5. The Editorial Board requires a declaration (Annex 1) regarding the author's contribution to the creation of the submitted text.
  6. The Editorial Board requires information about the sources of publication funding (financial disclosure) and institutional support for the published research results.
  7. Cases of scientific misconduct and unethical actions will be exposed by the Editorial Board, including informing the institutions employing authors who have committed scientific dishonesty.
  8. n the cases of suspected misconduct, or when justified complaints regarding violations of the above-mentioned scientific publishing ethics are directed to the Editorial Board of "Tematy i Konteksty," the Editorial Board informs the author(s) in writing about the accusations and requests a response. If scientific misconduct is confirmed (or if the author(s) fail to respond), the Editorial Board will withdraw the article from publication and inform the institution employing the author(s). If misconduct is confirmed after the article has been published, the article will be supplemented with a relevant comment (in the electronic version available on the journal's website), and the institution employing the author(s) will be informed
  9. The Editorial Board members are required to maintain confidentiality until publication, meaning they must not disclose information about the submitted works or the submitting author's details to unauthorized persons (apart from the authors, reviewers, scientific council members, publisher, technical editors, proofreaders, and computer typesetting operators).
  1. Unpublished original articles submitted to the editorial office may not be used by the Editorial Board members or others involved in the publishing process without the explicit consent of the author (conflict of interest prevention principle).
  2. The Editorial Board is responsible for selecting reviewers based on their research interests and academic achievements in the field or discipline relevant to the article. When appointing a reviewer, the Editorial Board must observe the conflict of interest prevention principle (e.g., professional, familial, financial, or legal ties of academic rivalry).

 

  Responsibilities of the Authors:

  1. “Tematy i Konteksty” publishes only original articles that have not been previously published in other journals or scientific monographs.
  2. Authors should present the results of their research, including the procedures used, in a reliable, transparent, and accurate manner, allowing for verification by other researchers.
  3. Authors must provide a full and accurate list of sources and cited works, including the works of researchers whose contributions made writing the submitted text possible.
  4. Authors must not submit works containing false data or distort the expressions of other authors.
  5. In the case of multi-author publications, the order of presentation of the authors' names should be agreed upon by all co-authors before submission.
  6. Presenting false claims, falsifying research results, or manipulating data is considered scientific misconduct and unethical behaviour.
  7. Ghost-writing (when someone has made a significant contribution to the publication but is not acknowledged as an author or listed in the acknowledgments) and guest authorship (when a person is listed as an author despite having minimal or no contribution) are considered scientific misconduct and unethical behaviour. Each author must give separate consent for the publication of the article in “Tematy i Konteksty”.
  8. Scientific plagiarism is considered a form of scientific misconduct and unethical behaviour.
  1. Simultaneously submitting the same article to multiple journals is considered unethical behaviour.
  2. The author must submit declarations (PDF attachment), including the percentage of their own contribution and the type and extent (in percentage) of artificial intelligence (AI) involvement (e.g., AI Smodin) in the creation of the text.
  3. If the article successfully passes the review process, is accepted, and published, the author retains the rights to the material while granting third parties the right to use it under the license (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

Responsibilities of Reviewers:

  1. Each article submitted for publication in "Tematy i Konteksty" is reviewed by two independent reviewers. Reviewers sign a declaration of no conflict of interest regarding the authors of the reviewed publications (Annex 2).
  2. The selection of reviewers is made by the editorial board. If the author is a member of the Editorial Board, the selection of a reviewer is transferred to another member of the Editorial Board, and that person is excluded from the review process and decision-making related to the article.
  3. The review process for scientific publications in “Tematy i Konteksty” is conducted in a double-blind format and is detailed on the journal’s website. During the review process, the reviewer should consider: the originality of the topic, the article’s cognitive value, correctness of the content, compositional clarity, and stylistic accuracy.
  4. Reviewers should not undertake the evaluation of scientific works if they fall outside their area of expertise, if there is a conflict of interest, or if they are unable to complete the review within the deadline set by the editorial board. When evaluating the text, the reviewer should be guided by the principles of impartiality, objectivity, and fair play.
  5. The text submitted for publication is treated as confidential material. Reviewers must keep their opinions confidential until the reviewed publication is printed. Reviewers are not allowed to use the concepts or research results contained in the reviewed scientific work without the author's (authors') consent.
  6. Reviews should be thorough, reliable, and justified.
  7. The criteria for evaluation are provided in the review form (Annex 3).
  8. The reviewer informs the Editorial Board of “Tematy i Konteksty” about any suspicion of scientific misconduct (including plagiarism) by the person submitting the text for publication, pointing out the relevant sections of the text or providing specific evidence..

Responsibilities of the Scientific Council Members:

  1. Members of the Scientific Council are recognized experts in the field consistent with the profile and thematic scope of the journal “Tematy i Konteksty”.
  2. They supervise adherence to ethical standards applicable to editors, authors, and reviewers of articles published in “Tematy i Konteksty”.
  3. They participate in the work related to the journal's mission and objectives, provide mentoring, define the journal’s development policy.
  4. They promote the journal.
  5. They encourage authors and reviewers to collaborate with the journal
  6. They collaborate with other members of the Scientific Council and the Editorial Board.
  7. They support the Editorial Board in solving problems and addressing violations.