Norms and Standards
The editorial board of the journal, in its work, is guided by the modern legal requirements of the Russian Federation legislation regarding copyright, plagiarism, and ethical principles supported by the community of leading publishers of scientific periodicals, the norms approved at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity (Singapore, July 22–24, 2010), as well as other regulatory documents governing the ethics of publishing scientific results.
The scientific and ethical standards adopted by the editorial board cannot be changed in favor of commercial or business interests.
Principles of Scientific Publication
Compliance with ethical norms and rules is mandatory for all participants in the process of publishing scientific materials. All participants in the publication process are guided by:
- the principle of scientific objectivity and independence in the selection of research materials:
- rejection of articles is carried out solely based on the relevance, scientific significance, originality of the submitted materials, as well as their compliance with the stated requirements and subject area of the publication. The decision to publish or reject an article cannot be influenced by the author’s race, ethnicity, citizenship, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or political views;
- the principle of integrity and competence of scientific review and preparation of materials for publication:
All materials submitted for publication undergo a plagiarism and improper borrowing check and a double-blind peer review procedure. Articles containing personal criticism are rejected without review;
- the principle of confidentiality:
Information contained in the materials submitted for publication cannot be used by editorial staff, reviewers, or members of the editorial board in their own research or transferred to third parties without the written permission of the author. Confidential information obtained during the review process cannot be disclosed or used for personal gain;
- the principles of collegiality and openness:
All members of the editorial board participate in shaping the content of the scientific publication and bear equal responsibility for the quality of the published materials. When making a decision on the publication of materials, the editorial board strives to prevent conflicts of academic and personal interests. If conflict situations are detected, the editorial board takes all necessary measures to restore violated copyrights.
Editor’s Responsibility
The Editor-in-Chief of the journal is responsible for:
- administering the review process and communication with authors and members of the editorial board to ensure the publication of the journal once a quarter;
- the final decision on the publication of the submitted material, which is made taking into account the opinions of reviewers and members of the editorial board;
- providing materials for the preparation of the article for publication, which are stored for at least five years from the date of receipt by the editorial office upon request from the publisher, founder, or other third parties (including representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation).
Reviewers’ Responsibility
Reviewers are responsible for:
- scientific correctness, objectivity, and independence of the conducted review; personal criticism of the author is unacceptable;
- reviewing taking into account the current state of religious studies research, as well as the diversity of existing points of view on the issues discussed in the article;
- materials submitted for review cannot be used by the reviewer for personal purposes or transferred to third parties. The reviewer has the right to refuse the review and notify the Editor-in-Chief if a conflict of interest arises.
Authors’ Responsibility
Authors submitting materials to the journal for publication are responsible for:
- scientific reliability, novelty, theoretical argumentation, and ethical correctness of the results of the conducted research. Articles and materials offered for publication must be original, i.e., previously unpublished anywhere;
- ensuring that all borrowed statements of other persons are formatted in accordance with copyright and citation requirements;
- ensuring that articles written in co-authorship reflect the contribution of all persons who participated in the research and influenced its course, and also provide references to works that were significant in conducting the research. Persons who provided only technical, advisory, organizational, moral, or material support cannot be co-authors of publications.
Ethics Violation. Retraction
The editorial board and publisher have the right to reject any materials that violate the above principles. If facts of violations of ethical norms in scientific publications (plagiarism, improper borrowing, concealment of conflicts of interest, data falsification, etc.) are established in a published article, the editorial board and publisher have the right to retract the article, notifying the author within 10 days of the decision. The editorial board carries out the retraction of an article based on an official request from the author or authors of the article, who provide a reasoned explanation for their decision, based on its own expertise, or based on information received by the editorial office.