Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy

Ethics guidelines of the editorial board are based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics, as well as the DORA and WAME principles.

 

Ethical Obligations of Journal Editors

The editor should review all manuscripts submitted for publication without prejudice, evaluating each manuscript properly, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or the position or place of work of the author (s).

Information is not allowed to be published if there is sufficient reason to believe that it is plagiarism.

All materials submitted for publication are carefully selected and reviewed. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject the article or to return it for further revision. The author is obliged to revise the article according to the comments of the reviewers or editorial board.

The decision of the editor to accept the article for publication is based on such characteristics of the article as the importance of results, originality, quality of presentation of the material and the correspondence of the journal's profile. Manuscripts may be rejected without review if the editor believes that they do not fit the journal's profile. In making such decisions, the editor may consult with members of the editorial board or reviewers.

 

Ethical obligations of authors

Authors should ensure that they have written completely original articles, and that if the authors have used the work or words of others, then it has been properly framed in quotation marks or quotes.

Submitting an identical article in more than one journal is considered unethical and unacceptable.

The article should be structured, contain enough links and be designed as required.

Unfair or deliberately inaccurate statements in the article constitute unethical conduct and are inadmissible.

The author who corresponds with the editorial board must ensure that all co-authors have read and approved the final version of the article and have agreed to its publication.

The authors of the articles bear full responsibility for the content of the articles and for the fact of their publication. The editorial board does not bear any responsibility to the authors for the possible damage caused by the publication of the article. The editorial board has the right to remove an article if it is found out that in the course of publication the article violated someone's rights or generally accepted norms of scientific ethics. The editorial board informs the author of the fact of removal of the article.

 

Ethical obligations of reviewers

The editorial staff adheres to double-blind peer review to ensure that the manuscripts are evaluated objectively

Since the review of manuscripts is an essential step in the process of publication and, therefore, in the implementation of the scientific method as such, each scientist is obliged to do some work on the review.

If the selected reviewer is not sure that his or her qualification is in line with the level of research presented in the manuscript, he must immediately return the manuscript.

The reviewer must objectively evaluate the quality of the manuscript, the experimental and theoretical work presented, its interpretation and presentation, and the extent to which the work meets high scientific and literary standards. The reviewer should respect the intellectual independence of the authors.

Reviewers should adequately explain and reason their opinions so that editors and authors can understand why their comments are based. Any statement that an observation, conclusion, or argument has already been published must be accompanied by a reference.

The reviewer should draw the editor's attention to any significant similarity between this manuscript and any published article or any manuscript submitted to another journal at the same time.

Reviewers should not use or disclose unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations contained in this manuscript unless the author agrees.

 

Peer Review Process

Scientific articles submitted to the editorial office of Visnyk of Lviv University. Series: Philosophical and Political Studies undergo mandatory peer review to ensure high academic quality and compliance with the journal’s scope.

All manuscripts are reviewed by members of the editorial board under a double-blind peer review system (neither the author nor the reviewer knows the other’s identity). If necessary, manuscripts are sent for external review to leading experts in the relevant field.

The reviewer evaluates the manuscript for the reliability of the results, their relevance and novelty, as well as their practical value, and provides recommendations regarding publication.

The editorial board informs authors of receipt of the manuscript within 5 days of registration. Review timelines are determined individually but generally do not exceed one month. If necessary, a manuscript may be sent for additional or repeated review, including to a third independent reviewer in the event of significant discrepancies between reviewers’ conclusions.

A positive review does not guarantee publication. The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript is made by the editorial board. In the case of rejection, the author is sent a reasoned notification. A manuscript not recommended for publication may be resubmitted after substantial revision.

Based on the review results, the author may receive one of the following decisions:

a) the manuscript is accepted for publication;
b) the manuscript is recommended for revision;
c) the manuscript is rejected.

Reviews are prepared in accordance with established requirements and are kept on file by the editorial office. All correspondence with authors is conducted exclusively by email.

Authors have the right to appeal an editorial decision by providing reasoned explanations or additional materials.

 

Open Access Policy, Copyright and Licensing

Visnyk of Lviv University. Series: Philosophical and Political Studies adheres to an Open Access policy. All articles are made available free of charge and without time limits immediately after the issue is published. Full-text real-time access to scholarly articles is provided on the journal’s official website in the Archives section.

This complies with the BOAI definition of Open Access. The journal’s licensing policy is compatible with the vast majority of Open Access and archiving policies.

All materials published in the journal are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY) license.

Authors retain copyright to their works published in the journal in accordance with the terms of the CC BY license.

The license allows users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, cite, or link to the full texts of articles free of charge, provided that proper attribution is given in accordance with the license requirements.

Use of the materials for any commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted, provided that proper attribution is given and the content of the articles is not altered, unless otherwise specified.

When using materials published in the journal, users are required to provide correct attribution to the authors and the source of publication, indicating accurate authorship and publication details, and not to alter the content of the articles.

The license does not restrict authors from publishing their works in other venues or using their materials under other terms, provided this does not conflict with the requirements of the CC BY license.

Authors also have the right to deposit the final published version of the article or the accepted manuscript in any institutional or subject repository without restrictions.

Archiving and Long-Term Open Access Preservation Policy

Visnyk of Lviv University. Series: Philosophical and Political Studies ensures reliable long-term preservation, accessibility, and continuity of access to all published materials in open access in accordance with international digital archiving standards.

To preserve scholarly content:

all issues of the journal are archived in the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine;

articles are deposited in the institutional repositories of universities affiliated with the authors;

the editorial office ensures the preservation of materials in the event of changes to the domain name or website structure.

Each published article:

is permanently available on the journal’s website without time limitations;

is assigned a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier), ensuring the stability and longevity of the link.

All publications are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY) license, which allows free preservation, distribution, and reuse of the materials with proper attribution.

 

Procedure for Handling Complaints on Violations of Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics

The editorial board of the scholarly journal Visnyk of Lviv University. Series: Philosophical and Political Studies adheres to the principles of academic integrity, objectivity, impartiality, and transparency in its publishing activities. All complaints regarding possible violations of academic integrity and publication ethics are considered in accordance with this Procedure.

1. Grounds for Filing a Complaint

Complaints may be submitted in cases of suspected:

plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification of data;

copyright infringement;

violations of ethical authorship practices (e.g., ghost authorship, guest authorship, etc.);

conflicts of interest not disclosed by authors, reviewers, or editors;

unethical conduct during peer review or editorial assessment;

other violations of standards of academic integrity and publication ethics.

2. Submission of a Complaint

A complaint must be submitted to the editorial office in written form (by email or through the official communication channels indicated on the journal’s website) and must include:

a clear description of the alleged violation;

references to the relevant publication or materials;

justification of the complaint with supporting evidence (if available);

contact information of the complainant.

3. Investigation and Expert Assessment

If there are sufficient grounds to consider the complaint:

the editorial office initiates an internal investigation;

members of the editorial board, independent experts, or reviewers may be involved;

authors (and/or other concerned parties) are given the opportunity to provide written explanations.

The investigation is conducted in accordance with the principles of confidentiality and impartiality.

4. Decision-Making

Based on the results of the review, the editorial office issues a reasoned decision, which may include:

confirmation that no violation occurred;

a requirement for the author to correct the violations;

rejection of the manuscript;

retraction of a published article;

notification of the author’s affiliated institution in cases of serious violations.

5. Notification of the Parties

The complainant and the concerned parties are informed of the outcome of the complaint review within the timeframe established by the editorial office. Details of the investigation may be limited for reasons of confidentiality.

 

Retraction Policy

The editorial board of Visnyk of Lviv University. Series: Philosophical and Political Studies adheres to ethical publishing principles and ensures appropriate responses to cases of academic misconduct. In the event of serious violations, the editorial office may retract an already published article.

Grounds for retraction include confirmed cases of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or data falsification/fabrication; submission of a manuscript without the consent of all co-authors or disputes over authorship; duplicate submission or redundant publication in another journal; significant errors in the content that affect the reliability of the conclusions; violations of research ethics (e.g., lack of ethics committee approval, use of unethical research methods); and violations of third-party rights, including copyright or confidentiality breaches.

A decision to initiate a retraction review may be triggered by the editorial office, the author(s), reviewers, readers, or any interested party through an official notification to the editorial office.

The editorial office conducts an internal investigation, involving, if necessary, experts, authors, and institutional representatives.

If the violations are confirmed, the editorial board adopts a decision to retract the publication.

An official retraction notice is published in the journal, clearly explaining the reasons and circumstances for the retraction. It is linked to the original article in the electronic archive.

All electronic versions of the article (PDF, HTML) remain accessible but are clearly marked “RETRACTED” on each page.

Retraction is not a punishment but a mechanism to maintain academic integrity.

Authors have the right to submit explanations or an appeal, which will be considered by the editorial board.

The editorial office follows the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) when handling such matters. 

 

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Supported Technologies

The editorial office acknowledges the growing role of artificial intelligence and AI-supported tools in academic writing, research, and publishing. The use of such technologies must comply with the principles of academic integrity, transparency, responsibility, and adherence to ethical standards.

AI may be used solely as a supportive tool and not as an author or co-author of scholarly work.

Authors bear full responsibility for the content of the submitted manuscript, regardless of the use of AI.

All statements, interpretations, and conclusions must be based on verified scholarly data and sources.

Authors may use AI-supported tools for:

language and stylistic editing of the text;

improving the structure of the manuscript;

translation;

searching for general information or ideas to formulate research questions.

The following is not permitted:

using AI to generate the main scholarly content, research results, conclusions, or interpretations;

submitting AI-generated text as original authorial work without proper verification and editing;

using AI to fabricate, falsify, or manipulate data;

listing AI as an author or co-author.

Authors are required to:

declare the use of AI-supported tools in the relevant section of the manuscript or in the cover letter;

specify the purpose and stage at which AI was used during manuscript preparation.

The editorial office may use AI for technical checks of manuscripts (e.g., plagiarism detection or language errors) without interfering with the scholarly content.

Violations of this policy are considered breaches of academic integrity and publication ethics and may result in:

rejection of the manuscript;

retraction of a published article;

notification of the author’s affiliated institution.

The editorial office reserves the right to update this policy in accordance with technological developments and international standards in scholarly publishing.

 

Privacy Statement and Personal Data Processing Policy

The editorial office respects users’ right to privacy and ensures the protection of personal data in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and international standards in the field of personal data processing.

Collection and Use of Personal Data

Names, email addresses, and other personal data provided by authors, reviewers, and website users are used exclusively for the purposes of:

ensuring the editorial and publishing process;

communication regarding the submission, review, and publication of manuscripts;

maintaining the functioning of the journal’s website.

These data are not transferred to third parties and are not used for commercial purposes without the user’s explicit consent, except in cases предусмотрених законом.

Protection of Personal Data

The journal applies technical and organizational security measures to prevent unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or disclosure of personal data.

Users have the right to:

access their personal data;

correct inaccurate or outdated data;

restrict or object to the processing of personal data;

request the deletion of personal data (“the right to be forgotten”) in cases предусмотрених by law;

withdraw consent to the processing of personal data at any time.

Personal data are stored only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes of processing or as required by law.

For matters related to personal data processing, the exercise of user rights, or the submission of privacy-related inquiries, please contact the editorial office through the official contact details provided on the journal’s website.

 

Open Data Policy

“Visnyk of the Lviv University. Series Philosophical Political Studies” encourages authors to provide all data supporting the results of the study in open repositories (institutional, national, or international) adhering to FAIR principles. DOI or another persistent identifier for the data should be included in the article metadata and/or in the Data Availability section.