Publishing ethics

The editorial board of the Bulletin of the National Technical University "KhPI". Series: System analysis, control and information technology is responsible for publishing of author papers. Therefore it adheres to the international standards of publication ethics and recommendations of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on the principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing (COPE / DOAJ / OASPA / WAME / Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors) in order to minimize the risk of malpractices associated with the publication of scientific articles.

The edition follows the principles of responsible evaluation of scientific results set forth in the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). Manuscripts are assessed exclusively by the content of the research, its scientific novelty, methodological validity, and contribution to the development of the scientific areas in which the edition operates.

All parties involved in the publication process (authors, editorial board members, reviewers, and publisher) must adhere to the expected standards of ethical behavior.

The publication does not cooperate with individuals and legal entities that are residents of aggressor or occupying states, are under international sanctions, or have had confirmed facts of scientific and technical cooperation after February 24, 2022.

Duties of the editorial board

The editorial board is obliged to: consider all manuscripts objectively and in a timely manner; ensure the confidentiality of the review process; respond to identified violations of publication ethics; prevent the influence of any interests on editorial decisions.

Fair play. The editorial board evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality. The Editor-in-Chief and any Editorial Board member of the Bulletin of National Technical University "KhPI". Series: System Analysis, Control and Information Technologies must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. The editorial board ensures the confidentiality of all information about submitted manuscripts. Any use of unpublished data by reviewers or the editorial board, as well as the transfer of manuscripts to third parties, the use of AI tools that may violate the confidentiality of the manuscript, is prohibited.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest. Unpublished materials contained in the submitted manuscript may not be used in their own research by any persons involved in the editorial process without the prior written consent of the author(s).

Publication decisions. The Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin of National Technical University "KhPI". Series: System Analysis, Control and Information Technologies organizes the decision-making process regarding the publication of articles and approves it taking into account the results of the review and recommendations of the editorial board members. The Editor-in-Chief is guided by the journal's policy, established by the editorial board, and is limited by applicable legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism (the StrikePlagiarism service is used to check the submitted materials). The Editor-in-Chief interacts with the members of the editorial board, the executive secretary, and reviewers to ensure collegial and informed decision-making.

Duties of reviewers

All manuscripts undergo a double-blind review procedure. Reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality and objectivity, and to evaluate the work without personal bias.

Contribution to editorial decisions. Peer review assists the Editor-in-Chief in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial communication with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.

Promptness. Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

Confidentiality. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief.

Standards of objectivity. Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inacceptable. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the Editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published data of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflict of interest. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of authors

By submitting a manuscript, the authors confirm that:

• The manuscript is original; all borrowed fragments are formatted with proper citations.
• The article has not been published previously and is not currently under consideration by another publication.
• All individuals who made a significant scientific contribution are listed as authors.
• All sources of research funding have been declared.

Reporting standards. Authors who report the results of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism. The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited and/or quoted. The publication adheres to a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. All manuscripts are checked for borrowings using specialized software. Detection of plagiarism, citation manipulation, or duplication of publications is grounds for immediate rejection of the manuscript. The StrikePlagiarism service is used to check the submitted materials.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Parallel submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of sources. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be provided. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the paper.

Authorship of a manuscript. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be named in an Acknowledgement section. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list of the manuscript, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and human or animal subjects. If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If research involves humans, animals, their biological materials, or personal and confidential data, authors are required to confirm in the manuscript that the study complies with the current legislation of Ukraine, principles of bioethics, and institutional ethical standards; that it received the necessary conclusion or approval from the authorized institution (if required); and that voluntary informed consent was obtained from human participants, ensuring the right to privacy and protection of personal data.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Accordingly, if the manuscript should contain information about conflicts of interest or sources of financial support, the authors should add the relevant section at the end of the manuscript (after the conclusions, before the list of references).

Fundamental errors in published works. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s Editor-in-Chief or publisher and cooperate with them to retract (COPE Retraction Guidelines) the paper or to correct the paper.

Duties of the publisher

Handling of unethical publishing behavior. In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute", in close collaboration with the editorial board, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work (COPE Retraction Guidelines). The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.

Access to journal content. The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive.

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

An author who disagrees with the editorial board's decision has the right to file a reasoned appeal within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the decision.

The editorial board reviews reports of potential violations of academic integrity or publication ethics in accordance with COPE recommendations and the principles of impartiality, confidentiality, and proper fact-checking.

A complaint is accepted for consideration provided that it is submitted in an official form to the email address (mykola.bezmenov@khpi.edu.ua) and contains sufficient arguments or evidence of a possible violation. Reports that appear to be groundless accusations or do not contain verifiable facts may be dismissed without further consideration. Anonymous complaints without proper scientific justification will not be considered. The editorial board guarantees the confidentiality of the complainant.

In the presence of justified grounds, the editorial board conducts a verification of the stated facts, requests explanations from the authors if necessary, and may involve independent experts. Based on the results of the review, the editorial board makes a decision regarding further actions in accordance with the journal's policies and international standards of publication ethics (Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors).

If a violation is confirmed and concerns a published work, the editorial board applies appropriate measures, including the publication of corrections, editorial notes, or initiates the article retraction procedure.

The editorial board ensures compliance with ethical principles (Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors) and maintains transparency in resolving such issues.

Procedure for retraction and correction of published articles

The Editorial Board applies procedures for the retraction of publications in cases where, after the article is published, there are reasonable grounds to believe that its content violates the ethical norms of scientific research or publishing activities (COPE Retraction Guidelines). Decisions are made taking into account the recommendations of international scientific ethics practices and the principles of transparency, objectivity, and proper fact-checking.

Initiating a review. A review may be initiated by the editorial board on its own initiative or based on notification from readers, reviewers, authors, or other interested parties regarding possible violations in the publication.

Editorial investigation. The editorial office analyzes the received materials, requests explanations from the authors if necessary, and may involve independent experts. The goal is to establish the factual circumstances and assess their compliance with ethical standards and journal policies.

Grounds for retraction. A publication may be retracted if significant violations of scientific or publishing ethics are established, including data falsification or fabrication, plagiarism, manipulation during peer review, material errors that render the results unreliable, as well as violations of third-party rights or legal requirements.

The editorial board may decide to retract a published article in the following cases:

• Plagiarism or duplicate publication is detected.
• Falsification or fabrication of scientific data or results is proven.
• Unethical authorship is confirmed (ghost authorship / gift authorship / honorary authorship).
• An undeclared conflict of interest is identified.
• Undeclared or prohibited use of AI tools is proven.
• It is established that the peer review or manuscript submission process was compromised.

Publication of a retraction notice. If a decision to retract is made, the editorial office publishes an official notice containing the reasons for such a decision and information that allows for the unambiguous identification of the relevant article. The notice remains accessible along with the bibliographic data of the publication.

Corrections or clarifications. If identified inaccuracies do not affect the overall results of the study, the editorial board may publish a correction, clarification, or an updated version of the article. All changes are recorded publicly and are accompanied by a corresponding explanation from the editorial board.

Typical reasons: minor technical errors in formulas, tables or figures; change in the composition of authors with justification; undeclared conflict of interest that does not affect the results.

However, the discovery of substantial errors that lead to the unreliability or invalidity of the results obtained may serve as grounds for the retraction of the relevant article.

Main stages of the procedure:

• Any detected error or violation is reported to the authors within 5 working days.
• Authors are given the opportunity to provide explanations and/or objections within 30 calendar days.
• The editorial board makes a final decision (to retain / correct / retract / remove).
• Retracted articles remain in the archive with a clear marking of "RETRACTED," along with the date and reason for the retraction.
• A retraction notice is published via open access; metadata is updated in CrossRef and other databases where the journal is indexed.
• The authors' disagreement with the editorial board's decision cannot stop or delay the retraction process.

Article deletion. In exceptional cases (the article violates the privacy of a person, is the subject of a court decision, poses a security threat), the full text of the article may be deleted. The metadata (title, abstract, author information, list of sources) and the deletion notification remain published.

All decisions regarding the retraction (or deletion in exceptional cases) or correction of publications are made by the Editorial Board in compliance with the principles of academic integrity, transparency, and responsibility to the scientific community (Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors).

Policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools