Reviewing – Diplomatic Ukraine

EDITORIAL POLICY

Reviewing policy

All submissions to the editorial team of the Diplomatic Ukraine scientific yearbook undergo a double-blind review process: authors do not know the reviewers’ identities, and reviewers do not know the authors’ identities.

The main objectives of the reviewing process include determining the originality of research, assessing the relevance and significance of the subject matter, verifying the methodological substantiation of the research, assessing the logic of the presentation and the soundness of the findings, and confirming the article’s compliance with the requirements of academic integrity.

Submissions are reviewed by members of the editorial board or by independent academics who possess the relevant expertise in the field of research corresponding to the article’s subject matter and who have been appointed by the editorial board.

In the event of a conflict of interest (where the appointed reviewer is unsure whether their academic qualifications match the level of the research presented in the manuscript; or where the topic of the article is too closely related to the reviewer’s own research), the reviewer is obliged to inform the editorial team and decline to review the manuscript, and the editorial board will appoint a new reviewer.

Publication ethics and academic integrity policy

The editorial team and editorial board of the Diplomatic Ukraine scientific yearbook comply with the international standards of publication ethics as defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the principles of academic integrity in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Education’ and the Law of Ukraine ‘On Copyright and Related Rights’.

The yearbook’s editorial policy is designed to ensure the high quality of scholarly publications, the transparency of editorial procedures, and the prevention of violations of academic ethics.

The editorial board is responsible for deciding whether to publish articles based on their scientific merit, relevance, and alignment with the periodical’s scope.

The editorial team undertakes:

to ensure that manuscripts are reviewed objectively and impartially;
adhere to the principle of double-blind peer review;
to ensure that there is no discrimination on the grounds of nationality, gender, religion, political views or institutional affiliation of the author(s);
to ensure the confidentiality of information regarding submitted manuscripts;
To refrain from using unpublished material in its own research without the written consent of the author(s);
to take immediate action in response to reports of violations of academic integrity.

The editorial team reserves the right to refuse to publish a submission if it does not meet academic standards or violates the principles of academic integrity.

Authors must undertake:

to submit original research papers that have not been previously published;
to cite all sources used correctly;
to not engage in plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data;
ensure the reliability of the research findings;
to declare any conflict of interest that may influence the findings of the study;
to refrain from simultaneously submitting the same manuscript to several publishers;
to notify the editorial team of any errors found in previously published articles.

Where an article is submitted by several authors, all co-authors assume joint responsibility for the content of the submission.

Reviewers must undertake:

to assess the submissions objectively and impartially;
to assess manuscripts in accordance with academic criteria;
to respect the confidentiality of information;
to refrain from using material from the manuscript in their own research until it has been published;
to notify the editorial team of any potential conflict of interest;
to bring any suspected cases of plagiarism or violations of academic integrity to the attention of the editorial team.

Upon detection of plagiarism (absence or lack of references to sources of information used in the production of the material; breach of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Copyright and Related Rights’), self-plagiarism (publication of one’s own previously published research findings presented as new research findings) or other signs of violation of academic integrity (fabrication, falsification, provision of false information regarding research findings or methods, etc.), the editorial team will return the manuscript to the author and will not accept it again.

The editorial team does not accept submissions that constitute any form of discrimination and/or are intended to incite religious, racial, or ethnic hostility. Such submissions will be returned to the authors without the right to resubmission.

Reports review procedure

The editorial team accepts reports of potential violations of academic integrity, copyright, editorial policy, and publication ethics.

You can send an email to the editorial team with a link to the publication or material in question, along with a detailed description of the infringement and references to supporting evidence, at ukraina.dyplomatychna@gmail.com.

Upon receipt of a report, the editorial team conducts a preliminary review within 14 days, consulting members of the editorial board or independent experts as needed, and informs the reporting party of the review findings.

If violations are confirmed, the editorial team may refuse to publish the article, withdraw an article that has already been published, demand that the data be corrected or clarified, ban the submission of materials for a specified period, or notify the author’s (authors’) institution of the violation.

The decision is subject to appeal within 10 days.

Article withdrawal procedure

The editorial board of the Diplomatic Ukraine scientific yearbook upholds the principles of academic integrity and international standards of publication ethics, in particular the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and applies a withdrawal procedure should significant breaches of academic or publication ethics be identified.

The purpose of the withdrawal procedure is to ensure the reliability of scientific knowledge, to maintain confidence in the results of scientific research, and to inform the scientific community of any identified violations.

The editorial team may decide to withdraw a published article if one or more of the following facts are established:

detection of plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
fabrication or falsification of research results;
significant errors in the data or findings that render the study results unreliable;
copyright infringement;
duplication of material (simultaneous or repeated publication of material in other print media without appropriate notification of the editorial team);
a covert conflict of interest that affected the objectivity of the study;
other infringements of academic integrity or publication ethics.

The withdrawal procedure may be initiated by the editorial board, the author(s) of the article, a reviewer, a reader, a representative of the academic community, or the institution where the author is employed. Potential violations may be reported to the editorial team’s email address: ukraina.dyplomatychna@gmail.com. Upon receiving information regarding a possible violation, the editorial team conducts a preliminary review of the information received; where necessary, it requests a statement from the author(s) of the article; it may consult members of the editorial board or independent experts to carry out further assessment; it evaluates the materials provided and decides on the next steps.

The report is examined in accordance with the principles of objectivity, confidentiality and impartiality.

Based on the review findings, the editorial board may take one of the following decisions:

keep the article as it is;
publish corrections or clarifications;
publish an editorial disclaimer;
withdraw the article.

The editor-in-chief takes the final decision on the withdrawal of an article upon approval by the editorial board.

In the event of a withdrawal, the editorial team shall publish an official notice of withdrawal on the periodical’s website, stating the reason for the withdrawal, retaining the text of the article in the periodical’s archive with the corresponding note ‘Article Withdrawn’, and ensuring that information regarding the withdrawal is correctly reflected in academic databases.

Authors may contact the editorial team directly to request the withdrawal of an article upon discovery of significant errors in the research, inaccuracies in the data, or other circumstances that may affect the reliability of the results.

Should a violation of academic integrity be confirmed, the editorial team reserves the right to refuse to consider any further manuscripts submitted by the author(s) for a specified period.

Artificial intelligence policy

The editorial team does not accept manuscripts generated entirely or to a significant extent by artificial intelligence (AI) systems or large language models (LLMs) without the author’s proper input into the preparation and scholarly processing of the material. Research articles must represent the authors’ own independent research.

Upon discovery that a manuscript has been created or largely generated using artificial intelligence, the editorial team reserves the right to decline publication or to withdraw published material.

Open access policy

The yearbook operates on an open-access basis in accordance with the provisions of the Budapest Open Access Initiative. All users have the right to freely view, copy, save, print, or reference materials published in the periodical without first requesting permission from the author or publisher, whilst undertaking to preserve the integrity of the work and the author’s (authors’) right to proper acknowledgement and citation.