The editorial board of the Journal of “Academic Studies. Series “Pedagogy”” maintains a high level of requirements for the selection and acceptance of articles submitted for editorial purposes. These norms are determined by the scientific direction of the journal and the standards of quality of scientific works and their presentation, accepted in the scientific community.

The editorial calls for adherence to the principles of the Code of Ethics for Scientific Publications developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics, 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 properly, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or the position or place of work of the author (s).

Information is not allowed to be published if there is sufficient reason to believe that it is plagiarism.

All materials submitted for publication are carefully selected and reviewed. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject the article or to return it for further revision. The author is obliged to revise the article according to 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 the importance of results, originality, quality of presentation of the material and the correspondence of the journal's profile. Manuscripts may be rejected without review if the editor believes that they do not fit the journal's profile. In making such decisions, the editor may consult with members of the editorial board 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, then it has been properly framed in quotation marks or quotes.

Submitting an identical article in more than one journal is considered unethical and unacceptable.

The article should be structured, contain enough links and be designed as required.

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

The author who corresponds 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 bear full responsibility for the content of the articles and for the fact of their publication. The editorial board does not bear any responsibility to the authors for the possible damage caused by the publication of the article. The editorial board has the right to remove an article if it is found out that in the course of publication the article violated someone's rights or generally accepted norms of scientific ethics. The editorial board informs the author of the fact of removal of the article.

Ethical obligations of reviewers

The editorial staff adheres to double-blind peer review to ensure that the manuscripts are evaluated objectively

Since the review of manuscripts is an essential step in the process of publication and, therefore, in the implementation of the scientific method as such, each scientist is obliged to do some work on the review.

If the selected reviewer is not sure that his or her qualification is in line with the level of research presented in the manuscript, he must immediately return the manuscript.

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

Reviewers should adequately explain and reason their opinions so that editors and authors can understand why their comments are based. 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.

Reviewers should not use or disclose unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations contained in this manuscript unless the author agrees.

Commitment to DORA Principles in Editorial Policy

The editorial board supports and implements the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), aimed at ensuring fair, transparent, and responsible research assessment.

In its activities, the journal adheres to the following principles:

• research outputs are evaluated based on their scientific quality, originality, and relevance, rather than journal-based metrics or citation indicators;
• the Journal Impact Factor is not used as a primary measure of the quality of individual research articles or researchers;
• a broad range of research assessment criteria is encouraged, including both qualitative and quantitative indicators;
• openness, transparency, and accessibility of research data and results are actively supported;
• the contributions of all participants in the research and publication process - authors, reviewers, and editors - are duly recognized.

The editorial board encourages authors, reviewers, and the wider academic community to follow DORA principles in their professional activities to promote integrity, fairness, and quality in scholarly publishing.

Ethical Requirements for Conducting Research

The editorial board adheres to high standards of research ethics and requires authors to strictly comply with international and national regulations when conducting scientific studies.

All submitted manuscripts must follow the principles of integrity, responsibility, and respect for human rights and animal welfare. Research must be conducted in accordance with recognized ethical standards, including the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (for research involving human subjects) and other relevant international guidelines.

In studies involving human participants, authors must confirm:

• that informed consent was obtained from all participants;
• that confidentiality and privacy of personal data were ensured;
• that the study was approved by an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board.

Research involving animals must comply with principles of humane treatment and internationally accepted standards, including the ARRIVE guidelines. Authors must confirm that all procedures were approved by the relevant ethical bodies.

When using data (including personal, medical, or sensitive data), authors must ensure that such data were obtained, processed, and used lawfully and in accordance with applicable regulations and ethical standards.

The editorial board reserves the right to reject a manuscript if ethical violations are identified or if compliance with ethical requirements is insufficiently justified.

Procedure for Handling Complaints on Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics Violations

The editorial board ensures that all complaints regarding potential violations of academic integrity and publication ethics are handled in accordance with international standards, in particular the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Complaints may relate to issues such as plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, violations of research ethics, or unethical editorial practices.

Complaints should be submitted to the editorial office in written form and must include a clear description of the alleged violation, supporting evidence (if available), and the complainant’s contact information. All complaints are treated confidentially.

Upon receiving a complaint, the editorial board:

• conducts a preliminary assessment of its validity;
• may involve members of the editorial board or independent experts if necessary;
• requests explanations from the authors or other parties involved;
• makes a decision based on the collected information and applicable ethical standards.

During the investigation, the editorial board may suspend the review or publication process of the manuscript concerned.

Depending on the outcome, actions may include rejection of the manuscript, retraction of a published article, publication of a correction or notice of concern, notification of the authors’ affiliated institutions, and other measures in line with COPE recommendations.

The editorial board is committed to ensuring a fair, objective, and timely consideration of all complaints, while upholding the principles of transparency, integrity, and academic ethics.

Retraction Policy for Published Articles

The editorial board follows a clear and transparent procedure for retracting published articles in accordance with international standards of publication ethics, in particular the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Retraction of an article may be initiated in cases of serious violations, including:

• plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
• data fabrication or falsification;
• significant errors affecting the reliability of the results;
• authorship disputes or undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• failure to comply with ethical requirements for conducting research.

The decision to retract an article is made by the editorial board after a thorough investigation of the case, which may include consultation with independent experts and obtaining explanations from the authors.

In the event of retraction:

• the article is not removed from the journal archive but is clearly marked as retracted;
• an official retraction notice is published, stating the reasons for the retraction;
• transparency and accessibility of information for the academic community are ensured.

In cases of less serious issues or errors, the editorial board may decide to publish a correction (corrigendum) or an expression of concern instead of a retraction.

The editorial board ensures an impartial, objective, and timely handling of all cases and is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity and trust in scholarly publishing.

Artificial Intelligence Use Policy

The editorial board recognizes the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in scientific research and scholarly publishing, while emphasizing the need for their responsible, ethical, and transparent use.

The use of artificial intelligence tools (including systems for text generation, data analysis, translation, or language editing) is permitted under the following conditions:

• authors must clearly disclose the use of AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript;
• artificial intelligence cannot be listed as an author or co-author of a scholarly work;
• authors bear full responsibility for the content of the article, the accuracy of the data, the validity of conclusions, and compliance with ethical standards;
• the use of AI must not result in violations of academic integrity, including plagiarism or data fabrication;
• authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy, validity, and scientific appropriateness of AI-generated outputs.

The editorial board may use AI tools for auxiliary purposes (e.g., similarity checking, language editing, or technical processing); however, all decisions regarding peer review, acceptance, and publication are made exclusively by human editors and reviewers.

The journal follows internationally recognized standards of publication ethics, including the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and aims to ensure a balanced approach between technological innovation and academic integrity.

Open Data Policy

The journal supports the principles of open science and encourages authors to deposit all research data that support the findings of their studies in open repositories (institutional, national, or international) that comply with the FAIR data principles.

Where applicable, authors should provide a DOI or another persistent identifier for the dataset in the article metadata and/or in the Data Availability section.

The journal promotes transparency and reproducibility of research and encourages authors to ensure the highest possible level of openness regarding the data underlying published results.