Publishing Ethics guidelines for E-Journal Pedagogical Forum

The Publishing Ethics Guidelines (PEG) of e-journal Pedagogical Forum include requirements for authors, reviews, editors and the journal publisher. It is in accordance with the international and national publishing ethics standards. The PEG apply to all participants in the publishing process (authors, reviewers and editors). It guarantees objectiveness, transparency and complete equality in the publishing. If ethical issues arise they will be decided upon by the journal’s Committee on Public Ethics (CPE).

Authors’ obligations:
By submitting their work authors ensure that:

• their work has not been published anywhere else;
  
• the article (being submitted) has not been submitted for review to any other journals along with being submitted to e-journal Pedagogical Forum;
  
• their submitted work is original and belongs to them;
  
• any sources (if applicable) are properly cited in order to prevent plagiarism. Any form of plagiarism is not acceptable and unethical;
  
• they clearly state the authorship and co-authorship in the submitted work;
  
• they will participate actively in the peer-review process by answering questions and/or comments that might come from the reviewers and editors;
  
• they will inform the editors about errors and unclear points in their work and if it is becomes impossible to correct the information the authors have the right to withdraw their materials;
  
• keep all initial data and provide it when/if necessary for public discussion;
  
• when conducting research involving humans or animals:
  
  • it has to conform with the international, national, regional and local legislation pertaining the matter and general human rights and norms are followed;
    
  • respects the subjects’ sovereignty and dignity;
    
  • whenever applicable written approval has been obtained from the subjects for their volunteer participation.

Reviewers’ obligations:
By accepting the article for peer-review, the reviewer ensures that:

• they will review the work objectively, in an unbiased manner while keeping and protecting confidentiality;
  
• they will evaluate wheatear the work is a scientific contribution and significance for the journal;
  
• they will not attempt to revile the author’s name and identity;
  
• in the cases when the article reviles partially or completely the author’s identity they will inform the chief editor immediately;
  
• they will provide clear and objective recommendations for corrections, when applicable;
  
• they will not allow any personal and professional criticism toward the author in their feedback and evaluation;
  
• they will not use any data or information from the article they review for their personal publications or benefits including in the cases when the article has been rejected by the e-journal;
  
• they will aim toward an objective feedback and review of all articles.

Editors’ obligations:
By receiving an article for review, the editors ensure that:

• the articles will be reviewed in confidentiality;
  
• all articles will be reviewed without discrimination on the base of ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political views and other difference;
  
• if an argument regarding an article occurs, regardless of it being published or is in review process, will follow the recommendations of the CPE;
  
• they will keep communication with the author in the peer-review process for the completion of all necessary changes/corrections;
  
• they will cooperate and provide support to the authors during the peer-review process;
  
• they will distribute each article to two independent experts- peer-reviewers ;
  
• they will monitor for any unethical conduct and StrikePlagiarism and will implement the needed action at the time of discovering the misconduct;
  
• They will use StrikePlagiarism to check for StrikePlagiarism;
  
• that the final decision for publishing will be made on the basis of the originality, the clarity and the significance of the article and the peer-review feedback of the independent expert.

Publisher’s obligations:
By receiving the article the publisher assures that:

• they will disseminate the PEG to all parties involved (authors, reviewers, editors);
  
• they will monitors the application of PEG;
  
• they will take into consideration all necessary actions when PEG is violated;
  
• they will keep records of and process the archive of articles in accordance with the existing lawful requirements;
  
• they will not allow intentional violation of PEG;
  
• they keep the right to change publication requirements for articles if necessary.
  

Obligation of the Committee on Public Ethics (CPE):
The CPE monitors the objective implementation of PEG.

• The CPE could be called upon by any side participating in the peer-review process, a third interested party or to call upon itself, including regarding cases regarding already published materials;
  
• All signals to CPE have to be sent in written form and cannot be anonymous;
  
• All interested parties can be present during CPE’s meeting;
  
• When necessary CPE could call for an independent review on any given case;
  
• CPE’s decisions are final and are made following an open ballot vote and require a majority.