Publication ethics

PUBLICATION ETHICS

The Editorial Board of the “Foreign Languages in Tertiary Education” journal adheres to the legislation of the Russian Federation pertaining to author right and plagiarism, as well as to the principles of publication ethics adopted by the international academic community and formulated by the Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE) and the Association Science Editors and Publishers (ASEP).

 

The Editorial Board of the academic journal “Foreign Languages in Tertiary Education follows the principles of academic validity, objectivity, professionalism, and impartiality. The Editorial Board ensures confidentiality of authors’ personal data and the scholarly results obtained while their papers are reviewed and published.

 

The manuscript submitted must address a specific problem, describe original research—including methods and analysis—and present scientifically grounded conclusions, while reporting results in a reliable and significant manner. The review section of the study must provide an objective systematization of concepts directly relevant to the research problem, and be supported by sources.

The editorial board reserves the right to reject an article at the pre-review stage if it does not align with the journal’s scope, fails to meet formatting or ethical standards, or involves violations incompatible with academic ethics.

 

 

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN EDITORIAL PRACTICE

 

The Editor bears responsibility for the publication of authors’ works, which necessitates adherence to the following fundamental principles:

When making a decision regarding publication, the editor of a scholarly journal is guided by the accuracy of the data presented and the significance of the author’s contribution.

 

The Editor estimates the academic value of the paper irrespective of the author’s race, gender, religious beliefs, background, citizenship, social position or political preferences.

The Editor is free to consult the members of the Editorial Council and the Editorial Board, as well as external peer reviewers when making a decision about publishing a paper

The Editor shall not endorse the publication of a paper if there are grounds to suspect plagiarism or use of artificial intelligence in generating the text.

Plagiarism is the intentional appropriation of authorship regarding another person’s work of science or art, or another person’s ideas or inventions. Plagiarism may constitute a violation of copyright and patent laws and, as such, may entail legal liability.

Self-plagiarism. If an author uses excerpts from his/her previous publications (whether word-for-word or paraphrased), references must be made. Reproducing parts of one’s earlier publications can only be used, sparingly and laconically, as a preliminary to making new conclusions.

 

The following are unacceptable:

— paraphrasing another person’s work without citing the source;

— quoting or paraphrasing another person’s work (even with a citation) if the borrowed text distorts the meaning of the original;

— using components of another person’s work without attribution—for example, a paragraph, figure, or table—without citing the source or using quotation marks.

 

JOURNAL POLICY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The editorial board accepts for consideration articles prepared with the use of generative artificial intelligence, provided there is full transparency regarding the disclosure of AI usage within the text of the article. Authors may do this in the “Methods” section (if AI was used for data collection) or describe in the Introduction the work performed with the assistance of AI, specifying the name, version, and developer of the AI tools employed (e.g., ChatGPT, version dated ……., based on GPT-4, developed by OpenAI) as well as the prompt templates used.

Artificial intelligence cannot be listed as an author or co-author of an article. Artificial intelligence tools cannot be included in the list of individuals who contributed to the research and the preparation of the article.

 

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR REVIEWERS

 

Research articles submitted to the journal “Foreign Languages in Tertiary Education” undergo mandatory peer reviewing by members of the editorial board and/or external independent experts.

When submitting a manuscript for review, the editor selects reviewers from among recognized experts in the relevant research field who have no conflicts of interest. The editorial board ensures the anonymity of the reviewers. Artificial intelligence shall not be used in the preparation of the review.

The review constitutes an original work and does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of other parties (including copyright, trademark, and/or proprietary rights).

The review must not contain any form of plagiarism or extensive excerpts from other works; if it is necessary to reference specific information, it is recommended to provide a citation. Criticism must be constructive, relevant to the subject matter, and based on scientifically grounded information (supported by citations), while also offering recommendations for improving the work and for future research.

The review must not contain advertisements for commercial offers or the provision of any type of service.

The review must not contain unlawful information—specifically, words or expressions that could be deemed illegal, defamatory, or containing racial or gender-based insults.

The reviewer shall not base conclusions regarding the article on subjective attitudes toward the author(s), their gender, age, religious beliefs, or other personal characteristics.

 

The reviewer conducts a scholarly assessment of submitted materials; consequently, their actions must be impartial and adhere to the following principles:

— refrain from reviewing papers for which the reviewer does not possess sufficient expertise and which can be reviewed in a timely manner;

— respect the confidentiality of the review process and refrain from disclosing any details of the manuscript or the review—either during or after the process—to anyone other than those authorized by the journal;

—use no part of the information obtained during the review process for personal gain or the benefit of other individuals or organizations, nor to harm or discredit others;

— write the review objectively and constructively, refraining from overly emotional language as well as hostile or derogatory comments;

— provide an objective and constructive review that can help the authors improve their manuscript;

— notify the journal if circumstances arise that prevent the timely preparation of the review, or if errors in the work or significant similarity between the manuscript and another document are detected;

— avoid delaying the review process by holding back the submission of the review;

— refrain from contacting authors directly without the journal’s prior permission;

— in no way suggest, whether directly or indirectly, that the author should make a reference to the reviewer’s (or their colleagues’) work in the publication solely to increase citation counts or the perceived significance of that work;

— ensure that the assessment contained in the review is impartial, based on the merits of the work, and free from the influence of personal, financial, or other considerations, as well as intellectual bias;

— if there are concerns that the article or parts thereof were generated using artificial intelligence, this may be noted in the expert review as a factor affecting the accuracy of the research results and/or suitability for publication.

 

 

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR AUTHORS (CO-AUTHORS)

 

An author (or co-author) is an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the writing of the work, the development of its conceptual framework, the collection of material, and the analysis and interpretation of data. Researchers must ensure that only those individuals who meet the criteria for authorship (i.e., have made a significant contribution to the work) are listed as authors and that researchers deserving of authorship are not excluded from the author list. Any changes to the author list must be approved by all authors, including those being removed from the list.

Authors (co-authors) bear collective responsibility for their work and the content of the publication. Authors (co-authors) must acknowledge their responsibility for the novelty and validity of the research results, ensure such novelty and validity, and avoid making falsified claims.

 

The use of artificial intelligence tools to generate manuscript text shall not be permitted. If the manuscript contains text fragments suspected of being AI-generated, the editorial board reserves the right to reject the manuscript without the possibility of further revision.

 

Excessive self-citation, “friendly” citation (by mutual agreement) and irrelevant references intended to artificially inflate bibliometric indicators of publication activity shall not be permitted. Publications should cite relevant prior work— whether the author’s or that of other researchers —accurately and correctly. Whenever possible, the original source must be cited. Direct quotations from the works of other researchers must be enclosed in quotation marks and accompanied by an appropriate reference.

Authors (and co-authors) must carefully verify all calculations and data presented, and ensure that all methods and results are described accurately. Citations and references to other works must be accurate and correctly formatted.

Authors (and co-authors) must promptly notify the editor if they discover an error in the paper submitted for publication, accepted, or already published.

Authors (co-authors) shall cooperate with editors if the work requires revision or abridgment.

Authors (co-authors) are required to comply with publishers’ stipulations that the work must not be submitted simultaneously to more than one publication.

 

Authors (co-authors) shall notify the editor if they decline to have their work reviewed or choose not to respond to reviewer comments after receiving conditional acceptance for publication.

Authors (co-authors) must respond to the reviewer’s questions professionally and promptly.

Authors (co-authors) of the manuscript shall disclose any financial or professional conflicts of interest that could have influenced the results obtained during the study. Situations constituting a conflict of interest include receiving financial support for conducting the study (or a stage thereof) or financial remuneration for participation in the work, as well as receiving fees from organizations with an interest in the study. Information regarding conflicts of interest provided by the authors is not disclosed to reviewers but is published as part of the full text of the article. A potential conflict of interest also arises when financial, personal, or professional circumstances exist that could influence the scholarly judgment of a reviewer or editor and, consequently, the editorial board’s decision regarding the publication of an article.

Authors (and co-authors) shall disclose the sources of financial support for the project (grants, state programs, projects, etc.); such information must be included in the manuscript.