About the Journal

Editorial Policies and Ethical Standards

The editorial board of "the International Relations of Ukraine: Scientific Searches and Findings" complies with the current laws and regulations of Ukraine, international ethical guidelines for research publications, observes and respects the principles of openness, objectivity and participatory decisionmaking, the rules of decency, confidentiality, control of publications, preventing conflict of interest and is guided by the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The editorial board comprises scholars who are also participating in the editing and reviewing prestigious foreign journals and, accordingly, mastering and applying the experience of leading international scientific publications.

The editorial board of the yearbook supports the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). Scientific evaluation of an article should be based primarily on the quality of its content, rather than on bibliometric indicators.

Procedure for considering complaints regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics

A report on violations of academic integrity and publication ethics may be submitted to the editor-in-chief of the yearbook "The International Relations of Ukraine: Scientific Searches and Findings" by an individual or legal entity. The complaint must include the surname, first name, and patronymic of the individual or the name of the legal entity submitting the complaint, their contact details, clearly stated reliable facts of academic integrity violations with reference to relevant evidence. The document must be signed by the complainant (individual or head of the legal entity) with the date indicated. The procedure for considering reports of violations of academic integrity and publication ethics is based on the current legislation of Ukraine. In order to consider the complaint (no later than 10 working days after its receipt), a commission consisting of members of the editorial board and external experts shall be formed. A person against whom an investigation into academic integrity and publication ethics has been initiated has the right to review the investigation materials and provide relevant comments. Based on the results of the commission's examination, a written conclusion shall be prepared. If the information contained in the complaint is not confirmed by the expert opinion, the materials of the investigation may be used to protect the honour, dignity and professional reputation of the person against whom the investigation into academic integrity and publication ethics was initiated. In the event of a violation of academic integrity and publication ethics, academic liability is imposed in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine.

Policy on the use of artificial intelligence and AI-supported technologies

The use of AI and AI-supported technologies by authors, editorial board members, and reviewers must be based on respect for human rights (including copyright), academic integrity, and applicable Ukrainian law (in particular regarding the storage and processing of personal data).

It is mandatory to declare and clearly indicate AI tools, their purpose and scope of application, and the level of author control. Results obtained through the use of AI and AI-supported technologies must be analysed by competent specialists.

It is unacceptable to:

• use AI tools to create (modify) images, as well as manuscripts of articles or reviews based on automatic text generation or paraphrasing;
• use AI tools to fabricate data or references;
• indicating or citing AI as an author (co-author);
• violating the principle of confidentiality in the process of uploading manuscripts of articles (and other materials submitted by authors to the editorial office) to AI-based services;
• using AI tools to make decisions on recommending manuscripts of articles for publication.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

- Collegial leadership of scientific-coordination and cultural-educational activities of the yearbook, definition of important perspectives, strategy for its development.

- Organising a qualitative internal and external reviewing process including plagiarism check. Carrying out careful selection, objective analysis, reasoned assessment of relevance, scientific novelty, originality and reliability of the provisions and conclusions of the manuscripts that are sent to yearbook staff, a clear formulation of critical remarks aimed at improving the quality of research papers during printing preparation. If the manuscript is rejected, the editorial board must give reasons for denying the publication.  

- Preventing conflicts of interest in activities of the yearbook, informing editors and reviewers of the need for a decision to recuse himself or herself in the event of conflicts between their personal interests and objectivity and impartiality in discharging their responsibility. Counteracting the abuse of power.

- Respect for human rights and freedom of thought, creation equal starting opportunities for all authors irrespective of any consideration of race, nationality or religion, the adoption of universal values of gender equality.

- Improving scientific communication, coordinating research and creating joint projects of scholars from different regions of Ukraine by, inter alia, extending the geographical reach of the author's team, editorial board and reviewers.

- Support for talented and gifted young scholars by providing scientific advice, promoting their researches approbation on a competitive basis, creating the favorable grounds for their continuing professional development and raising of qualification.

- Prevention of authors' and readers' isolation by the development of international cooperation of the yearbook: invitation of the most authoritative foreign researchers to participate in the editorial board, team of external reviewers and authors, providing a forum to publish proceedings of international scientific conferences and "round tables", experts reviews, main news of intellectual and scientific activities, work of bilateral commissions of historians and so on.

- Responsibility to provide the confidentiality of contents of the manuscripts, sent to the editors, imposing on the members of the editorial board and reviewers an obligation not to disclose without the prior consent of the authors the results of their research before publication, and not to take advantage of them. At the same time, the editorial board has an obligation to respond adequately and to inform the competent authorities and the public, in case of distortion or falsification of historic facts, violation of the current legislation of Ukraine and international principles of copyright protection.

- To ensure effective responses, including retraction, to breaches of science ethics, errors and unreliable research results  if such cases are identified after the publication of the paper.

Obligations of Authors

- Responsibility for the content and quality of submitted manuscripts, reliability of results, accuracy of facts, quotes, dates, names and so on.

- Respect of intellectual property rights, intolerance to plagiarism in all forms, as well as to unreliable information that could damage the reputation and academic career of other people.

- Correct attribution, compulsory mentioning of all, whose contribution to the study was essential and who are accountable for research results. Use of names of co-authors, scientific advisors, reviewers only with their permission and agreement on the final version of manuscripts. Prevent inclusion in the list of co-authors of persons who are not real participants of relevant research.

- Providing reliable information about the authors: degree and academic title, work position and workplace, contact information.

- Submitting manuscripts that have not been published elsewhere and have not been submitted to the editorial offices of other journals (or provide an explanation).

- Timely disclosing information on potential conflicts of interest that might influence the provisions and conclusions of the scientific research.

- Providing information on research funding.

- Refraining from an inadequate and inappropriate self-citation.

- Manuscripts preparation in accordance with the rules approved by the editorial board of the yearbook.

- Providing information on breach of science ethics, errors and  inaccuracy of research findings if such cases are identified after the publication of the paper.

Review Policy, Reviewing Procedure and Functions of Reviewers

All submitted manuscripts, corresponding to the theme and most important criteria of the yearbook, are subjects to a compulsory scientific review. The appointment of reviewers shall take place in meetings of the editorial board a view to creating conditions conducive to the making collegial decisions on the improvement of manuscripts and suitability of their publication.

The reviewing must be phased by editorial board members (at the first stage) and by external independent experts (at the second stage), who have an in-depth knowledge and scientific advancements of their functional areas.

The editorial board determines in each case an optimal expertise configuration (and terms) including the double-blind review, as well as number of reviewers and scientific counsellors, which may increase if there are significant diverging views. The reviewer is given at least four weeks to review a manuscript.

The reviewing procedure must be held in an atmosphere of confidentiality, observance of intellectual property rights and no conflict of interest.

The reviewers are obliged to ensure an objective and complete assessment of a submitted paper before being published, primarily of its relevance, scientific novelty, originality and reliability of the provisions and conclusions, compliance with the newest scientific achievements in the area of History. They must exercise integrity and rigour, express their views, criticisms and suggestions in an ethical manner, respect the author's freedom of submitting convincing arguments to refute their observations and bear in mind the opportunity for a conducting additional independent examinations.

In response to the criticism all submitted manuscripts are passed to the authors for final work (the form for documenting reviewers' conclusions is provided below). The final manuscripts are recommended for publication by yearbook's editorial board.

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the editorial board do not participate in the organisation of the external peer review process for manuscripts of which they are authors or co-authors, nor in the decision-making process regarding these manuscripts.

Сorrections and retractions

If necessary, the yearbook will issue corrections and addendums, statements of retraction, editorial statements of concern regarding published papers.

Retraction of a published paper is foreseen if the author is found to have violated scientific ethics. For example, reasons for retraction include plagiarism, concealment of conflicts of interest, incorrect attribution, as well as errors and misleading research results that call into question their scientific value. The editorial board is obliged to publicise the reasons for the retraction of a paper, the date on which the expert commission adopted the relevant decision and inform the staff of the Ukrainian and international databases in which the yearbook is indexed. In the archives, this article must be marked as retracted.