Publication ethics

Ethics & Editorial Policies

Editors’ Roles and Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair, transparent, and ethical editorial process. Manuscripts are evaluated exclusively on the basis of scientific quality, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with legal and ethical standards, without discrimination of any kind.

Editors oversee the double-blind peer-review process, select qualified reviewers, and ensure that all submissions receive an objective and unbiased evaluation. Final publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief, based on the reviewers’ recommendations and editorial assessment.

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and the identities of authors and reviewers. Information obtained during the editorial process must not be used for personal or professional advantage.

Editors are required to prevent, detect, and address ethical misconduct, including plagiarism, data manipulation, and other forms of publication malpractice. When necessary, appropriate institutional authorities may be notified.

Editors must disclose any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

The perspective of the article does not represent the official position of the journal or its editorial staff.

Authors’ Duties and Responsibilities

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original, accurate, and comply with the journal’s aims, scope, and submission guidelines. All sources must be properly cited, and any form of plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or unethical research practices is strictly prohibited.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the research and manuscript preparation. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously and must avoid redundant or duplicate publication.

All authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and all sources of research funding.

Authors may be requested to provide access to underlying research data and are expected to ensure data availability and retention in accordance with ethical and legal standards.

If significant errors are identified after publication, authors are obliged to promptly notify the editorial office and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.

Authors retain copyright of their published work and grant the journal the right to publish the article under the applicable Creative Commons licence.

Authors who use AI-assisted technologies as components of their research study or as aids in the writing or presentation of the manuscript should note this in the acknowledgments section of their manuscript.

Reviewers’ Duties and Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to conduct peer review in a professional, objective, and timely manner, in accordance with ethical publishing standards.

Reviewers should accept review invitations only if they have appropriate expertise and can complete the evaluation within the agreed-upon timeframe. Reviews must be constructive, respectful, and focused on improving the scientific quality of the manuscript.

All manuscripts and related materials must be treated as confidential and must not be shared or discussed with unauthorised parties. Information obtained during the peer-review process must not be used for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and withdraw from the review process when such conflicts exist.

Reviewers are required to report to the editorial office any suspected ethical misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, or other forms of unethical behaviour. They should also draw attention to relevant published work that has not been properly cited.

The peer-review process supports editorial decision-making and helps maintain the integrity and quality of the journal.

Plagiarism Prevention Policy

The editorial team applies strict procedures to prevent, detect, and address plagiarism and other forms of publication misconduct.

All submitted manuscripts are screened using specialised plagiarism detection software. The resulting similarity reports are carefully reviewed and assessed by the Editor-in-Chief and/or assigned editors.

Manuscripts identified as potentially unethical or containing unacceptable levels of similarity are subject to immediate editorial action, which may include rejection. In cases where ethical violations are confirmed, the journal reserves the right to notify the institutions the authors are affiliated with and to report the misconduct to the relevant academic and scientific bodies.

University and Society Journal

(U&SJ) is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity and publishing ethics, in accordance with international best practices.

Privacy Statement

The names and e-mail addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Copyright

Authors retain responsibility for the originality and legal integrity of their submitted work. Upon acceptance for publication, authors are required to complete and sign a copyright agreement granting the journal the right to publish and distribute the article in electronic formats, in accordance with applicable copyright laws.

The editorial office takes appropriate measures to protect authors’ rights and to ensure compliance with national and international copyright regulations.

Authors are solely responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any copyrighted material (including figures, tables, images, and other third-party content) included in their manuscripts and for properly acknowledging such sources.

By submitting the copyright agreement, authors confirm the scientific integrity of the manuscript and the lawful transfer of the necessary publication rights to the journal.