The ethics statement for the journal Shagi / Steps is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct guidelines available at https://publicationethics.org/. It is essential that all parties involved in the process of publication for the journal Shagi / Steps — that is, authors, reviewers, members of the Editorial Team and the Editorial Board — adhere to these standards of expected ethical behavior.
Personal information provided to the journal by authors, including e-mail addresses, will be used exclusively for the scholarly mission of the journal. The Editors pledge that personal information will not be shared with any third parties.
Publisher’s responsibilities
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
At all stages of the editorial and publishing process members of the Editorial Team responsible for the sections of the journal, arrange for:
The Editor-in-Chief coordinates all the work of the Editorial Team and makes decisions on key issues; he or she also authorizes the printing of each issue.
The Editor-in-Chief guarantees full compliance with all the ethical standards set forth in this document.
The Editor-in-Chief, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and the members of the Editorial Team responsible for the sections of the journal have sole responsibility for acceptance or rejection of a manuscript. They may reject it for cause without initiating the review process (its subject matter is inappropriate for the journal, it is clearly of poor scholarly quality, it was previously published elsewhere, etc.).
The Editors should ensure that all the materials they publish conform to international standards in scholarly and publishing ethics.
The Editors must be careful not to abuse their official position and must maintain their impartiality and objectivity toward all participants in the editorial and publishing process irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political opinion.
The Editor should recuse himself or herself from handling a manuscript in which he or she has a conflict of interest.
The Editorial Team should require that all those involved in the publishing process disclose relevant conflicts of interest. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as publication of a retraction or an expression of concern.
Members of the Editorial Team must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to unauthorized persons.
The international Editorial Board is the supreme consulting collegial body of the journal Shagi / Steps. Thanks to its academic authority, geographical coverage, and the principle of collegiality, the international Editorial Board guarantees that the published content of the journal meets international standards of scholarly and publishing ethics.
Misconduct and unethical behavior by the author or the reviewer may be brought to the attention of the Editorial Team at any time, by anyone. Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct, should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated.
After having been informed about unethical behavior, the Editor-in-Chief initiates an investigation, with gathering appropriate evidence. The author or the reviewer should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.
By results of the investigation, the Editorial Team can apply the following outcomes.
Informing the author or the reviewer about his/her unethical behavior.
Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
Publication of an editorial notice about the revealed misconduct on the web-site of the journal.
Retraction of a paper, in accordance with the Declaration of the Russian Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ASEP) “Ethical Principles of Scientific Publications” (In Russian) and Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The notice about retraction of a paper is published on the journal’s web-site, with informing the indexing databases.
Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from the author of reviewer for three years.
- preliminary consideration of authors’ submissions;
- selection of reviewers with appropriate research interests;
- maintaining confidentiality during the review process;
- deciding on acceptance, rejection, or submission to additional peer review, depending on the reviewers’ reports.
The Editor-in-Chief coordinates all the work of the Editorial Team and makes decisions on key issues; he or she also authorizes the printing of each issue.
The Editor-in-Chief guarantees full compliance with all the ethical standards set forth in this document.
The Editor-in-Chief, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and the members of the Editorial Team responsible for the sections of the journal have sole responsibility for acceptance or rejection of a manuscript. They may reject it for cause without initiating the review process (its subject matter is inappropriate for the journal, it is clearly of poor scholarly quality, it was previously published elsewhere, etc.).
The Editors should ensure that all the materials they publish conform to international standards in scholarly and publishing ethics.
The Editors must be careful not to abuse their official position and must maintain their impartiality and objectivity toward all participants in the editorial and publishing process irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political opinion.
The Editor should recuse himself or herself from handling a manuscript in which he or she has a conflict of interest.
The Editorial Team should require that all those involved in the publishing process disclose relevant conflicts of interest. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as publication of a retraction or an expression of concern.
Members of the Editorial Team must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to unauthorized persons.
The international Editorial Board is the supreme consulting collegial body of the journal Shagi / Steps. Thanks to its academic authority, geographical coverage, and the principle of collegiality, the international Editorial Board guarantees that the published content of the journal meets international standards of scholarly and publishing ethics.
Misconduct and unethical behavior by the author or the reviewer may be brought to the attention of the Editorial Team at any time, by anyone. Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct, should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated.
After having been informed about unethical behavior, the Editor-in-Chief initiates an investigation, with gathering appropriate evidence. The author or the reviewer should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.
By results of the investigation, the Editorial Team can apply the following outcomes.
Informing the author or the reviewer about his/her unethical behavior.
Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
Publication of an editorial notice about the revealed misconduct on the web-site of the journal.
Retraction of a paper, in accordance with the Declaration of the Russian Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ASEP) “Ethical Principles of Scientific Publications” (In Russian) and Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The notice about retraction of a paper is published on the journal’s web-site, with informing the indexing databases.
Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from the author of reviewer for three years.
Responsibilities of reviewers
All submitted papers are evaluated on the principle of single-blind peer review.
Reviewers should evaluate each manuscript for its intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views of the author or authors.
Prior to reaching a final decision regarding a submitted manuscript, the Editors may not disclose any information about it to anyone other than the author or authors, the consultants and experts contacted by the Editorial Team, and the publisher.
A reviewer must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to the manuscript under review, its author or authors, and/or the organization funding the research. Where a conflict of interest arises, the reviewer must notify the Editorial Team and recuse himself.
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inadmissible. Reviewers should present their conclusions clearly and should provide supporting arguments. A Reviewer should also call to the Editors’ attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which he/she has personal knowledge.
Reviewers should evaluate each manuscript for its intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views of the author or authors.
Prior to reaching a final decision regarding a submitted manuscript, the Editors may not disclose any information about it to anyone other than the author or authors, the consultants and experts contacted by the Editorial Team, and the publisher.
A reviewer must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to the manuscript under review, its author or authors, and/or the organization funding the research. Where a conflict of interest arises, the reviewer must notify the Editorial Team and recuse himself.
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inadmissible. Reviewers should present their conclusions clearly and should provide supporting arguments. A Reviewer should also call to the Editors’ attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which he/she has personal knowledge.
Authors’ responsibilities
AUTHORSHIP AND TRANSPARENCY
By submitting an article to the Editors, its authors confirm the fact of their authorship and their agreement with the contents of the article. The Journal does not require all the authors of a manuscript to sign the letter of submission.
The author of a submission must guarantee that all those who took part in writing the article are listed as coauthors. Each coauthor is responsible for the contents of the article.
In the article, authors must name and acknowledge the funding sources for their research. They must also fully acknowledge colleagues and other researchers who made a substantive contribution to the article submitted for publication.
Authors must guarantee that their quotations from publications by other researchers are appropriate and precise. Any form of plagiarism is unacceptable; should evidence of plagiarism be discovered in an article submitted for publication, the journal will no longer collaborate with the article’s author in any way. Self-plagiarism, i.e., an attempt to republish one’s own previously published work without making significant changes to it is sufficient cause to reject a submission without involving reviewers.
Any changes added by the Author to a text that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication can be made only with the consent of the Editorial Team.
An author should not withdraw an accepted manuscript after it has been sent out for editing. It is unacceptable for an author to place into the public domain any materials that have been accepted for publication and sent for editing but which have not yet been published. If these rules are violated, the Editorial Team is entitled to decline publication.
FIRST PUBLICATION AND COPYRIGHT
The Editorial Team only considers for publication original texts not submitted for consideration elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript to the journal’s editorial office, an author assumes the obligation not to publish it completely or partially in any other media without a reference to the original publication in the journal Shagi / Steps.
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
Authors of manuscripts submitted to the journal are responsible for the accuracy of all the information contained in their work.
If, in the process of editing, an author discovers mistakes or inaccuracies, he or she must notify the Editorial Team as soon as possible and either withdraw the publication (in the case of significant errors requiring a complete revision of the text) or make the necessary corrections. If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the Editorial Team. The Editorial Team guarantees publication of an appropriate statement regarding the error.
Authors must avoid personal attacks, disparaging remarks, or accusations against other scholars. Defamation is not allowed in the journal.
The copyright to published texts is owned by the journal and the author. The publisher is entitled to use any means of communication for distribution of published materials, to arrange for translation of the texts, and to transfer reprint rights (to sign sublicensing agreements).
The author retains the rights to the fair use (e.g., teaching and nonprofit uses) of the published material.
If an article reproduces someone else’s research material, tables, or images, the author of the article must fully acknowledge the author and/or copyright owner of that material.
Authors are not charged any fees for publication.
By submitting an article to the Editors, its authors confirm the fact of their authorship and their agreement with the contents of the article. The Journal does not require all the authors of a manuscript to sign the letter of submission.
The author of a submission must guarantee that all those who took part in writing the article are listed as coauthors. Each coauthor is responsible for the contents of the article.
In the article, authors must name and acknowledge the funding sources for their research. They must also fully acknowledge colleagues and other researchers who made a substantive contribution to the article submitted for publication.
Authors must guarantee that their quotations from publications by other researchers are appropriate and precise. Any form of plagiarism is unacceptable; should evidence of plagiarism be discovered in an article submitted for publication, the journal will no longer collaborate with the article’s author in any way. Self-plagiarism, i.e., an attempt to republish one’s own previously published work without making significant changes to it is sufficient cause to reject a submission without involving reviewers.
Any changes added by the Author to a text that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication can be made only with the consent of the Editorial Team.
An author should not withdraw an accepted manuscript after it has been sent out for editing. It is unacceptable for an author to place into the public domain any materials that have been accepted for publication and sent for editing but which have not yet been published. If these rules are violated, the Editorial Team is entitled to decline publication.
FIRST PUBLICATION AND COPYRIGHT
The Editorial Team only considers for publication original texts not submitted for consideration elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript to the journal’s editorial office, an author assumes the obligation not to publish it completely or partially in any other media without a reference to the original publication in the journal Shagi / Steps.
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
Authors of manuscripts submitted to the journal are responsible for the accuracy of all the information contained in their work.
If, in the process of editing, an author discovers mistakes or inaccuracies, he or she must notify the Editorial Team as soon as possible and either withdraw the publication (in the case of significant errors requiring a complete revision of the text) or make the necessary corrections. If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the Editorial Team. The Editorial Team guarantees publication of an appropriate statement regarding the error.
Authors must avoid personal attacks, disparaging remarks, or accusations against other scholars. Defamation is not allowed in the journal.
The copyright to published texts is owned by the journal and the author. The publisher is entitled to use any means of communication for distribution of published materials, to arrange for translation of the texts, and to transfer reprint rights (to sign sublicensing agreements).
The author retains the rights to the fair use (e.g., teaching and nonprofit uses) of the published material.
If an article reproduces someone else’s research material, tables, or images, the author of the article must fully acknowledge the author and/or copyright owner of that material.
Authors are not charged any fees for publication.
Conflicting interests policy
Conflicts of interest arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that are not fully apparent and that may influence their judgments on what is published. They have been described as those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived.
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Also, if there is a conflict of interests, upon submission of a manuscript, authors may suggest to exclude any specific editors or peer reviewers from the review of their article.
A reviewer must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to the manuscript under review, its author or authors, and/or the organization funding the research. Where a conflict of interest arises, the reviewer must notify the Editorial Team and recuse himself.
The Editor should recuse himself or herself from handling a manuscript in which he or she has a conflict of interest.
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Also, if there is a conflict of interests, upon submission of a manuscript, authors may suggest to exclude any specific editors or peer reviewers from the review of their article.
A reviewer must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to the manuscript under review, its author or authors, and/or the organization funding the research. Where a conflict of interest arises, the reviewer must notify the Editorial Team and recuse himself.
The Editor should recuse himself or herself from handling a manuscript in which he or she has a conflict of interest.