Publication Ethics

The journal TSARKA SCIENCE strictly adheres to international standards of publication ethics accepted in the academic community. Its publication ethics policy is based on the principles of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), as well as the best practices of leading scientific journals. The policy aims to ensure honesty, transparency, and respect for intellectual property at all stages of the publication process — from manuscript submission to publication.

Ethical standards apply to all participants in the publication process: authors, reviewers, editorial board members, the editor-in-chief, and the publisher. Each participant is expected to follow established guidelines that ensure scientific integrity, independence of peer review, and transparency of editorial decisions.

Editor-in-Chief Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief provides overall leadership for the editorial and publishing activities of the journal and ensures compliance with ethical standards at all stages of the publication process.

The responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief include:

making final decisions on the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts;
ensuring transparency and impartiality of the peer review and editorial process;
maintaining confidentiality of information regarding submitted manuscripts;
taking action in cases of complaints about unethical behavior, including initiating internal investigations.

Publisher Responsibilities

Within the scope of its authority, the publisher undertakes to:

Ensure compliance with ethical standards in the publication of scientific materials, including adherence to formatting requirements, absence of plagiarism, and positive evaluations from reviewers.
Maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts and submitted materials until official publication, excluding their disclosure to third parties without editorial consent.
Facilitate communication with authors when corrections, technical edits, or revisions are required due to formatting issues or content inconsistencies.
Make editorial revisions in collaboration with the authors, ensuring that all changes are made with their approval and do not distort the scientific content of the work.
Provide open access to published materials on the journal platform while respecting licensing and copyright terms, which remain with the authors.
Maintain the regularity of issue releases and avoid delays in the publication schedule, except in technically justified cases.
Assist in resolving ethical disputes, including interaction with other scientific journals, institutions, and authors when handling complaints and claims.
Take responsibility for the publication of materials that exhibit signs of unethical behavior, such as dishonest borrowing, excessive self-citation, falsification or fabrication of data, or conflicts of interest.

In cases where publication ethics violations are confirmed, the editorial board, together with the publisher, reserves the right to initiate the retraction procedure for a published article. Grounds for retraction may include:

obtaining reliable evidence of data unreliability or falsification of submitted results;
duplicate publication (previous publication of the same work in another journal);
plagiarism, including unauthorized use of tables, figures, graphs, or other elements;
significant errors in the work that may affect the interpretation of results by other researchers;
third-party claims related to copyright infringement;
content that violates ethical, scientific, or legal standards.

The editorial board and publisher of TSARKA SCIENCE are committed to thoroughly and impartially reviewing all substantiated concerns submitted by readers, authors, or reviewers regarding violations of scientific or publication ethics. The journal encourages authors and readers to promptly inform the editorial board of any errors or inconsistencies identified before or after publication.

Author / Co-Author Responsibilities

By submitting manuscripts to the journal TSARKA SCIENCE, authors accept full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and scientific validity of the submitted material. This implies adherence to a number of professional and ethical standards set by the journal's editorial policy and international publication practice guidelines.

Main responsibilities of authors:

Originality. The work must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by other journals.
Citation. All borrowed content must be properly cited. The use of unverified sources is not permitted.
Relevance. The manuscript must align with the scientific scope of the journal and must not contain signs of falsification or plagiarism.
Data Verification. Authors must provide supporting data upon editorial request.
Formatting Quality. The manuscript must be properly edited and formatted in accordance with the journal's requirements.
No Duplicate Submissions. Resubmission of previously published materials or simultaneous submission to another journal is prohibited.

Authorship and Collaboration Responsibilities

The person who made the most significant contribution to the preparation of the article is listed first and/or designated as the corresponding author.
Each article must have a designated corresponding author who is responsible for communication with the editorial office and coordination among all co-authors.
All co-authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the research and manuscript preparation, reviewed the final version, and provided written consent for publication.
Any changes in authorship (additions, deletions, or reordering) after submission require written consent from all co-authors and mandatory notification of the editorial office. Final decisions are made by the publisher.

Other Author Responsibilities

Authors must ensure that the article does not contain any data that could pose a threat to national security, including political, economic, or informational aspects.
All sources of financial, technical, or other support for the research must be disclosed in the manuscript, including sponsor roles.
If any errors, inaccuracies, or major flaws are discovered in the submitted or published article, authors must promptly inform the editorial office and collaborate in correcting or retracting the publication.
Authors agree to possible editorial revisions, provided the scientific meaning and core content of the article are preserved.
The maximum number of co-authors should generally not exceed five, unless otherwise justified and approved by the editorial board.
Authors are expected to interact with the editorial board and reviewers respectfully and ethically. Violation of these principles may result in rejection or withdrawal of the manuscript.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers ensure the quality of scientific publications by participating in the independent evaluation of submitted materials. Their work must be objective, well-reasoned, and confidential.

Reviewer duties include:

Treating the manuscript as a confidential document. Information obtained during the review process must not be disclosed or used for personal purposes.
Providing a balanced and justified evaluation by assessing the relevance of the topic, scientific novelty, methodological accuracy, logic of conclusions, style, and structure of the article.
Avoiding bias. Personal criticism of authors, as well as influence based on nationality, gender, religion, or personal views, is unacceptable.
Submitting the review on time (within 30 days). If unable to complete the review, the reviewer must promptly notify the editorial office.
Refusing to review if there is insufficient expertise or a conflict of interest.
Informing the editorial board of any signs of plagiarism, falsification, unreliable data, or other ethical violations.

Conflict of Interest Policy

A conflict of interest is any situation in which personal, professional, or financial factors may affect the objectivity and impartiality of an author, reviewer, editor, or any other participant in the publication process.

The editorial policy includes the following provisions:

All participants in the publication process must disclose any potential conflicts of interest in advance. This includes academic competition, co-authorship, affiliations, grant dependencies, financial obligations, and personal relationships.
Authors must disclose full information about research funding, sponsors, and other factors that may have influenced the course or interpretation of the results.
Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they cannot guarantee the independence of their judgment.
Editors must refrain from considering a manuscript if they have reason to believe their involvement may affect the objectivity of the editorial decision.
Materials and ideas obtained during the review process must not be used for personal purposes without written consent from the authors.
If a conflict of interest is discovered after publication, the editorial board reserves the right to initiate an investigation and, if necessary, publish a retraction, correction, or statement of concern.

Actions in Case of Publication Ethics Violations

If there is a suspicion that a reviewer has appropriated an author's ideas or data, the action algorithm is based on the COPE flowchart “What to do if you suspect a reviewer has appropriated an author’s idea or data” .

If there is a suspicion of ethical issues with a submitted manuscript, the action algorithm follows the COPE flowchart “What to do if you suspect an ethical problem” .