Authorship Issues and Conflicts of Interest

Definition of Authorship

The author is a researcher who has made a significant intellectual contribution to theoretical development, systematic or experimental design, prototype development and/or analysis and interpretation of data related to the work contained in the article; contributed to the development of the article and analyzed its content; approved the final version of the article (including links), ready for publication.

Participants who do not meet all the above criteria cannot be listed as authors. Ignoring the author who contributed to your article or including a person who did not meet all of the above requirements is considered infringements of the publishing ethics.

Authorship of articles with few authors

If you are collaborating with other authors to publish an article, you will need to agree which author will be responsible for the correspondence. The responsible author in charge is the only point of contact between the authors and the publication in which the article is submitted. In addition to all the above criteria for authorship, the responsible author is responsible for:

Co-authorship - whether all persons are relevant and fulfil the requirements;

Agreement between all the co-authors that they are identified as the authors, and approval of the final version of the article accepted for publication; notifying all co-authors of the current status of the article submitted for publication, including providing all co-authors with copies of the reviewers' comments and a copy of the published version if necessary.

Change authors. If changes are to be made between the submission of the manuscript and the publication of the manuscript, the author must contact the editor and state the reason for the change.

Funding for research or overseeing the group's work is not authorship.

As an open-source publisher, Electronic Scientific Professional Journal “Open educational e-environment of modern University” upholds the highest ethical standards and principles in science.  “Open educational e-environment of modern University” promotes the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour in research and peer review.  In each case of a possible conflict of interest, “Open educational e-environment of modern University” editorial board seeks openly to allow readers to judge whether a particular conflict of interest has affected the work of the author, editor or reviewer. The “Open educational e-environment of modern University” Edition takes into account all possible conflicts of interest during the process of writing, reviewing, publishing, and ensuring maximum transparency.

Conflict situations and their solutions

Conflict of interest is a situation where a person's professional judgment may be influenced by various factors such as financial gain, material interest or other personal and professional interests. These are any factors that adversely affect objectivity and impartiality, or may be seen as interfering with the review process, editorial decision making, publication and presentation of the manuscript.

For us, as for a publisher “Open educational e-environment of modern University”, it is important to avoid all possible conflicts of interest. Each participant - author, editor, or reviewer - who suspects that he or she has a conflict of interest is required to declare this in order for the publisher to be aware of the possibility of this impact. Conflicts of interest can be identified at different stages of the publishing process.

Conflicts of interest for authors:

All authors are required to declare any existing or potential conflict of interest, including financial, personal or any other relationship that may affect their scientific work. Authors should declare a conflict of interest before submitting a manuscript, although they may do it at any time during the manuscript review. For jointly prepared manuscripts the responsible author is obliged to declare a conflict of interest of other authors who have contributed to the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest for Editor:

Editors may also have a conflict of interest. Editors are expected to declare the highest standards of behaviour outlined in our recommendations, including the obligation to transparently declare any potential conflicts of interest they may have.

Avoiding conflicts of interest for the editor:

Manuscripts submitted by an editor or a scientist are assigned an appropriate person to process and evaluate the manuscript. The assigned editor ID is not disclosed to the sender to maintain the impartiality and anonymity of the review.

Conflict of interest for reviewer:

All reviewers are required to declare possible conflicts of interest at the beginning of the evaluation process. If the reviewer notes that he or she may have any material, financial or any other conflict of interest with the reviewed manuscript, he or she must declare it, if necessary, to require exclusion from the further evaluation process. Potential conflicts of interest of the reviewer are announced in the summary report and submitted to the editor. It then assesses whether the declared conflicts of interest have a significant effect on the review itself.

Risks of conflict of interest can usually occur at two levels: organizational and personal. The conflict of interest can be divided into the following categories (but not limited to):

Personal Conflict of Interest:

Personal relations (friendship, marriage, mentor, student, family relations) with persons involved in the submission and review of manuscripts (authors, reviewers, editors or editorial board members).

Personal beliefs (political, religious, ideological or otherwise) related to the topic of the manuscript that may interfere with the objective publication process (at the stage of submission, review, editorial decision-making or publication).

Professional Conflict of Interest:

Colleagues who participated in or observed this study.

Membership in organizations that would lobby for the author's interests.

Professional or personal relations with institutions and financial bodies, including non-governmental organizations, research institutions and charitable organizations;

Financial Conflict of Interest:

Research grants (from any sponsoring source).

Patent applications, including those of institutes to which the author relates and from which he or she may profit.

Fees, gifts and rewards of any kind.

Financial contributions received and expected;

Gifts received and expected;

Other direct or indirect sources of financing or material gain.

Procedure:

All persons involved in the manuscript who comment on or evaluate the material (authors, editors, reviewers, and readers) must declare a conflict of interest.

If, because of personal relations with the author, the reviewer is unable to evaluate the manuscript objectively, he or she should refuse to complete the assignment.

If, in the opinion of the editors, there are circumstances that may affect the impartial review, the editorial board does not involve such a reviewer.

The editorial board reserves the right not to publish the manuscript if the declared conflict of interest compromises the objectivity and reliability of the evaluation of the study.

If the editorial board detects a conflict of interest that was not declared at the time of submission, the manuscript may be rejected.

If an undeclared conflict of interest is identified after publication, the article may be corrected or deleted if necessary.

Identification of unethical behaviour

Misconduct and unethical behaviour can be identified and reported to the editor and publisher at any time and by anyone.

Anyone who informs the editor or publisher of such behaviour should provide sufficient information and evidence to enable the investigation to be initiated. All assertions must be taken seriously until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.

Procedure

The initial decision should be made by the editor, who should consult the publisher if necessary.

Evidence must be gathered to avoid any allegations being made, except to those involved in the conflict.

Minor improprieties

Minor improprieties can be resolved without wider consultation. In any case, the author should be able to answer any allegations.

Serious improprieties

Serious improprieties may need to be reported to the defendant's employer. The editor, in consultation with the publisher as appropriate, must decide whether to involve employers, either by examining the evidence available on its own or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.

Results (can be used independently or together)

Informing and talking to the author or reviewer where there is a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.

A more detailed letter to the author or reviewer that covers unethical behavior and acts as a deterrent to future improprieties.

Publication of an official report of misconduct.

Publication of an editorial detailing the violations.

Official withdrawal of a publication from a journal, in conjunction with informing the head of the reviewer's department, indexing services, and the reading audience of the publication.