Publication and Editorial Ethics

The editorial board of Folia Philologica maintains a certain level of requirements to selection and acceptance of articles submitted to the editorial staff. These rules are determined by the research area of the journal and standards of quality of scholarly papers and their presentation accepted in academic community.

The editorial board calls for adherence to the principles of the Code of Ethics for Scientific Publications developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as the principles of DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment).

Ethical Obligations of Journal Editors

The editor should review all manuscripts submitted for publication without prejudice evaluating each manuscript in a due manner regardless of authors' race, religion, nationality, as well as status or affiliation.

Should a submitted paper contain plagiarism it shall not be accepted for publication.

All materials submitted for publication are carefully selected and reviewed. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject a paper publication or return it for further revision. The author should revise the article proceeding from the comments of the reviewers or Editorial Board.

The decision of the editor to accept the article for publication is based on such characteristics of the article as importance of research findings, originality, quality of presentation, and relevance to the journal profile. Manuscripts may be rejected without review should the editor believe that they do not suit the journal's profile. In making such decisions, the editor may consult with the Editorial Board members or reviewers.

 Ethical Obligations of Authors

Authors should ensure that they have written completely original articles and that if the authors have used the work or words of others, this should be appropriately cited or quoted.

Submitting the same article to more than one journal is considered unethical and unacceptable.

The article should be well-structured, contain sufficient references and adhere to all formal requirements of the journal.

Unfair or deliberately inaccurate statements constitute unethical conduct and are inadmissible.

The author who is in contact with the Editorial Board must ensure that all co-authors have read and approved the final version of the article and have agreed to its publication.

The authors of the articles shall be fully liable for the content of the articles and the very fact of their publication. The Editorial Board shall not in any way be liable to the authors for the possible damage caused by the publication of the article. The Editorial Board is entitled to remove the article should someone's rights or generally accepted norms of scholarly ethics be violated within the publication process. The Editorial Board shall notify the author of the fact of the article removal.

Ethical Obligations of Reviewers

In case the selected reviewer is not sure whether their qualification is relevant to the level of research presented in the manuscript, they must return the manuscript immediately.

The reviewer should objectively evaluate the quality of the manuscript, experimental and theoretical work presented, its interpretation and presentation, as well as the extent to which the paper meets high academic and literary standards. The reviewer should respect the authors' intellectual independence.

Reviewers should adequately explain and substantiate their opinions so that editors and authors could understand what their comments are based on. Any statement that an observation, conclusion, or argument has already been published must be accompanied by a reference.

The reviewer should draw the editor's attention to any significant similarity between this manuscript and any published article or any manuscript submitted to another journal at the same time.

 

In accordance with the principles of DORA, the Journal:

  • evaluates manuscripts solely on the basis of their scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, and contribution to the advancement of knowledge;

  • does not use journal-based metrics (including the Impact Factor) as a criterion for assessing individual articles or the scientific quality of an author;

  • does not encourage artificial inflation of citation metrics;

  • supports the responsible use of scientometric indicators.

 

Ethical Requirements for Research Involving Humans, Animals, Biomaterials, and Personal Data

The editorial board of the scientific journal Folia Philologica adheres to the principles of research ethics and academic integrity in the review and publication of research results.

In cases where submitted manuscripts present the results of research involving human participants, animals, biological materials, personal or confidential data, authors must confirm that such research was conducted in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine, internationally recognized ethical standards, and the regulations of the institutions where the research was carried out.

If the research involved human participants (including athletes, pupils, students, coaches, or other individuals), the authors must indicate in the manuscript that:

the study was approved by the relevant institutional ethics committee or research ethics board of the educational or scientific institution;

all participants were properly informed about the purpose and conditions of the research;

voluntary informed consent was obtained from the participants for their participation in the study and for the use of the collected data for scientific purposes.

When personal or confidential data are used, authors must ensure that their processing complies with the legislation on personal data protection and must guarantee the anonymity and confidentiality of research participants.

If the research involved animals, the authors must confirm that all procedures were carried out in accordance with ethical standards for the treatment of laboratory and other animals and in compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

The editorial office may request that authors provide a copy of the ethics committee approval or other documentary evidence confirming compliance with ethical standards for conducting the research.

 

Plagiarism Policy

The journal considers only original manuscripts that have not been previously published (in whole or in part) and are not under consideration elsewhere.

Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. All submissions are screened using StrikePlagiarism.com software provided by Plagiat.pl.

 

Conflict of Interest Policy

A conflict of interest refers to any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that may influence or appear to influence editorial decisions or manuscript content.

Disclosure is mandatory for:

authors (financial and non-financial relationships);

reviewers (potential competing interests);

editors (when handling manuscripts involving their institution or colleagues).

If a potential conflict is identified:

the editor or reviewer must recuse themselves;

an independent handling editor is appointed;

independent reviewers are assigned;

decisions and justifications are documented.

Submissions by Editors or Editorial Board Members

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief or editorial board members:

are handled by an independent editor;

undergo standard double-blind peer review;

exclude author involvement in editorial decisions;

include a published COI disclosure statement.

 

Retraction Policy

The Editorial Board adheres to the principles of academic integrity, publication ethics, and international standards of scholarly communication, in particular the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Retraction of an article is considered an exceptional measure applied to ensure the reliability of the scholarly record and to inform readers about substantial violations that affect the results or conclusions of the research.

Grounds for retraction may include confirmed cases of plagiarism or self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, significant errors that render the findings unreliable, duplicate publication, copyright infringement, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other serious violations of the journal’s editorial policies and ethical standards. The procedure may be initiated by authors, members of the editorial board, reviewers, readers, or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Upon receiving such information, the Editorial Board conducts a preliminary assessment and, where necessary, carries out an internal investigation involving members of the editorial board or independent experts. The authors of the article are informed of the concerns raised and are given the opportunity to provide explanations. Following the review, the Editorial Board may decide that no action is required, issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, or retract the article.

If a decision to retract is made, the journal publishes an official retraction notice indicating the reasons for the retraction and the date of the decision. The retracted article is not removed from the journal’s electronic archive; however, it is clearly marked as retracted to ensure transparency and preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. All decisions are made in accordance with the principles of fairness, confidentiality, and respect for the rights of all parties involved in the publication process.

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy in Scientific Publications

The editorial board of the journal supports the use of modern digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and Large Language Models (LLMs), as auxiliary instruments in scientific work. At the same time, the use of such technologies must comply with the principles of academic integrity, scientific responsibility, and full transparency within the publication process.

AI tools may be used by authors to assist in the technical preparation of manuscripts, including improving writing style, translating text, checking grammar and language accuracy, and processing or organizing large datasets. However, the use of AI must not replace independent scientific analysis, interpretation of results, or the formulation of scientific conclusions.

Artificial intelligence cannot be recognized as the author of a scientific work, as it does not meet the criteria for authorship and cannot take responsibility for the content of a publication, adherence to ethical standards, or approval of the final version of a manuscript. Full responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, and originality of the materials, as well as compliance with academic integrity standards, lies with the author or the group of authors.

When AI tools are used in the preparation of a manuscript, authors must verify the accuracy of all facts, data, and references generated with the assistance of AI, as language models may produce inaccurate or fabricated information. Particular attention should be paid to verifying statistical results, numerical data, and bibliographic sources obtained through AI tools.

Artificial intelligence cannot be cited as a source or listed as a co-author of a study. An exception may occur when the AI tool itself, its algorithm, or its outputs constitute the object of the research. In such cases, detailed information about the use of the tool must be clearly described in the methodology section of the manuscript.

Authors are required to disclose the use of AI tools during the preparation of their manuscripts. This information should be provided in a separate section such as “Declaration on the Use of Artificial Intelligence” or in the “Acknowledgements” section. The disclosure should include the name of the tool, its version, the developer, and the specific purpose for which it was used.

In order to ensure confidentiality and objectivity in the peer review process, reviewers, editors, and members of the editorial board are not permitted to use AI tools to analyze submitted manuscripts, prepare review reports, or evaluate submitted materials.

Undisclosed or improper use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of a manuscript will be considered a violation of publication ethics. In such cases, the editorial board reserves the right to reject the manuscript or retract a published article in accordance with the ethical standards of academic publishing.