Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The publication of an article in the peer-reviewed journal Folia biologica et geologica represents an important contribution to the development of the knowledge network and directly reflects the quality of the work of the editorial teams, authors, and the institution. It is therefore essential that all parties involved in the publication process (authors, editors and editorial boards, reviewers, and the publisher) adhere to standards of expected ethical conduct. These standards are based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and on the core principles described in COPE'S Core Practices. The purpose of these principles is to promote complete integrity, transparency, accountability, and respect for others.

 

Duties of authors 

Reporting standards: Authors must present an accurate account of their work in original scientific papers and objectively assess its significance. The data used and presented in the article must be accurate and precisely described. The manuscript must contain sufficient detail and references to allow other researchers to build upon the work. Incorrect or deliberately inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable.

Date access and retention: During the review process, the editor may request access to the sources and data used in the article. Authors must be prepared to provide public access to the data where possible and to retain this data for at least 10 years after publication.

Originality and plagiarism: Authors guarantee that they have written an original work and have appropriately cited the work of others. Plagiarism includes presenting another author’s article as one’s own, copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another author’s work without proper attribution, and appropriating the results of research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms is unethical and unacceptable.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication: In general, authors should not publish the same research findings in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal or publisher simultaneously is considered unethical and unacceptable. Authors must also not submit for publication a text that has already been published elsewhere. Multiple publications describing different aspects of results derived from a single set of research experiments or observations may be justified, provided there are explicit statements explaining how the contents of these contributions differ from one another.

Acknowledgement of sources: Authors are obliged to appropriately acknowledge the work of others and to cite all publications that have influenced their work. Information obtained privately (through conversation or correspondence with third parties) may not be used without explicit permission. Likewise, information obtained during confidential activities, such as manuscript reviewing or applying for grants, may not be used without the written permission of the authors of the sources used.

Authorship of the paper: Authors of an article are collaborators who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study discussed. All those who have made a significant contribution should be listed as co-authors, while those who contributed only to specific aspects of the research project should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section. The submitting author must ensure that all appropriate authors are listed, that no inappropriate authors are included, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its publication.

Hazards and human subjects: If the work involves research with or on human subjects, the author must submit a statement upon manuscript submission confirming that all procedures were conducted in accordance with applicable laws and institutional guidelines and approved by the relevant authorities. The manuscript must also include a statement that all necessary permissions and informed consents for research involving humans were obtained. The right to privacy must be respected and personal data protection ensured.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other significant conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their research. All sources of financial support for the project must be clearly stated, and potential conflicts of interest disclosed as soon as they become known. Conflicts of interest may relate to employment, consultancy, ownership, honoraria, paid expert reviews, patent applications/registrations, scholarships, or other forms of support.

Fundamental errors in published works: If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, they are obliged to notify the editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article. If the editor or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, the author must promptly retract or correct the work or provide the editor with evidence of the correctness of the original article.

 

Duties of the editors and editorial boards

Publication decisions: The editor of the journal is responsible for selecting submitted articles for publication. The primary criterion in publication decisions is the significance of the article for researchers and readers, while also taking into account the assessments of the editorial board and reviewers. The editor follows the editorial board’s policy guidelines and is constrained by laws and regulations governing defamation, infringement of copyright, and violations of personal rights. The editor may consult the editorial board or reviewers when making decisions and may use various tools to detect plagiarism.

Fair play: Editors evaluate submissions solely on the basis of their scientific contribution or intellectual content and without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or ideological or political orientation.

Confidentiality: The editor and members of the editorial board ensure the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and must not disclose any information about a submitted article to anyone other than the author, reviewers, and others directly involved in the publication process.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: The editor must not use unpublished materials from a submitted manuscript for their own research without the explicit consent of the author. Editors should refrain from handling manuscripts in which they have a clear conflict of interest. Such conflicts may arise from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscript. In such cases, the decision-making process should be delegated to another member of the editorial board. If conflicts of interest are revealed after publication, the editor will require all involved parties to disclose them and, if necessary, take appropriate measures such as article retraction or issuing an expression of concern.

Complaints and appeals: If ethical or other complaints or claims arise in connection with a submitted or published manuscript, the editorial office, together with the publisher and issuing body, must respond within 30 days. Prior to this, it should assess the validity of the complaint or claim and contact the author of the manuscript/article and, if necessary, relevant institutions and research bodies. The editorial office may require the retraction of an article if it is determined that the author has violated third-party copyrights or breached publishing and professional ethical standards, such as duplicate publication, false authorship claims, plagiarism, fraudulent data use, or any other serious violation of established standards.

 

Duties of reviewers

Contribution to editorial decisions: The reviewer’s expert assessment assists the editor in making editorial decisions and helps the author improve the manuscript.

Promptness: A reviewer who feels unqualified to review a submitted manuscript or knows they will not be able to complete the review within the specified time must inform the editor and decline the review.

Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat manuscripts received for review as confidential documents. They must not disclose them in any way or discuss them with others.

Standards of objectivity: Manuscripts must be reviewed objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with reasoned arguments.

Acknowledgment of sources: Any statement that an observation, conclusion, or argument has been previously reported must be supported by appropriate citations. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They should also alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the submitted manuscript and any other work known to them.

Disclosure and conflict of interest: Reviewers must keep confidential any privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review and must not use them for personal advantage or for their own research without the author’s explicit permission. Reviewers should refrain from reviewing manuscripts where this could lead to a conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with the author, organization, or institution associated with the manuscript.