Ethical norms
The editorial board of the publication “Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine” adheres to the standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which can be found on its official website.
Editorial activities are carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) regarding good editorial practice, transparency of editorial processes, independence of editorial decisions, editorial responsibility, and adherence to high standards of scientific publishing in medical journals.
The publication also supports the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which promote the responsible use of research metrics and emphasize that scientific research should be evaluated primarily on the basis of its quality, content, and contribution to the advancement of science, rather than solely on citation indicators or journal impact factors.
Adherence to these principles is aimed at ensuring transparency in editorial processes, improving the quality of scientific publications, supporting academic integrity, and fostering open and responsible scientific communication.
Principles of editor's and publisher's ethics
When making a decision on publication, the editors are guided by the reliability of the submitted data and the scientific significance of the considered work.
The intellectual content of the manuscripts is evaluated regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, origin, citizenship, social status or political views of the authors.
Unpublished data obtained from submitted manuscripts are not used for personal purposes and are not disclosed to third parties without the written consent of the author. Information from submitted manuscripts remains confidential and is not used for personal gain.
The editors will not publish a manuscript if there is reason to believe that it is plagiarized.
The editorial office does not leave unanswered claims related to reviewed manuscripts or published materials, and in the event of a conflict situation, takes all necessary measures to restore violated rights.
Principles of reviewer ethics
A manuscript received for review is treated as a confidential document, which cannot be transferred for review or discussion to third parties who do not have the authority to do so from the editors.
The reviewer gives an objective and well-argued assessment of the presented research results. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable.
Unpublished data obtained from submitted manuscripts are not used by the reviewer for personal purposes.
A reviewer who, in his opinion, does not have sufficient qualifications to evaluate the manuscript, or if he cannot be objective, in particular in the case of a conflict of interest with the author or the organization, should inform the editorial office about this with a request to exclude him from the process of reviewing the given manuscript.
Principles of ethics of the author of a scientific publication
The author(s) of the article must provide reliable results of the conducted research. Knowingly submitting false or falsified data is unacceptable.
The author must guarantee that the research results presented in the submitted manuscript are completely original. Borrowed data must be issued with a mandatory indication of the author and the original source. Plagiarism in any form is unethical and unacceptable. References to works that were relevant to the research should be provided in the article.
Authors should not submit for publication a manuscript that was previously submitted to another publication and is currently being considered, as well as an article already published in another publication.
Co-authors of the article must be indicated by all persons who made a significant contribution to the conduct of the research.
If the author discovers errors or inaccuracies in the article at the stage of its review or after its publication, he must notify the editors as soon as possible.
Proven duplication of the article, plagiarism or falsification of the results is the ground for rejection of the article.
Published articles in which plagiarism was revealed after careful study and approval by the editor-in-chief are removed from the journal's website.
The editorial board of the journal condemn the practice of manipulating citations, and also consider self-citation unacceptable, except when the references add significant value to the scientific content of the manuscript and have scientific value.
Plagiarism policy
The authors are reported by editorial that they bear full personal responsibility for the authenticity of the content of articles. In order to avoid borrowing or incorrect using of the research results of third persons parties, please comply with the authors of Ethics academic citation.
The editors of the publication carry out an internal anonymous review of articles and a check for the presence of plagiarism. Articles in the publication are checked for plagiarism using StrikePlagiarism software from the Polish company Plagiat.pl. In case of revelation of plagiarism during the processing of the article, the article is returned to the author.
Policy on the Use of AI
The Journal’s policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is based on international and national recommendations and regulatory documents, in particular the statements of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the provisions of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), the Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Ukraine, and the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Academic Integrity”.
The Journal recognizes the possibility of using AI tools as auxiliary instruments during the preparation of scientific materials. At the same time, the use of such tools must comply with the principles of academic integrity, transparency, and the author’s responsibility for the content of the scientific work and the reliability of the results presented.
AI tools may be used, in particular, for auxiliary tasks such as language editing, structuring of materials, technical data processing, and similar activities. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and scientific validity of the submitted materials, proper citation of sources, and for the absence of plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification of research results.
The Journal requires authors to openly disclose any use of AI tools during manuscript preparation. AI systems cannot be considered authors or co-authors of scientific articles, as they cannot take responsibility for the content of a publication.
Editors and reviewers must also adhere to principles of confidentiality and must not use AI tools in a way that would disclose unpublished manuscript materials or any other confidential information obtained during the editorial review process.
Violations of the principles for using AI tools may be considered breaches of academic integrity and publication ethics and may result in appropriate editorial actions, including rejection of the manuscript or retraction of a published article.
Conflict of Interest Policy
Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine adheres to ethical standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and upholds the principles of transparency, objectivity, and academic integrity throughout all stages of the editorial and publishing process.
A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, or professional relationships may influence or appear to influence the objectivity of an author, reviewer, or editor. Such conflicts may compromise the impartial evaluation of a manuscript or editorial decision-making, thus undermining trust in scientific communication.
Obligations of Authors:
Authors must disclose any circumstances that could be perceived as a conflict of interest, including:
sources of research funding;
participation in commercial or sponsored projects;
competing interests;
personal or professional affiliations relevant to the submitted work.
All potential conflicts must be disclosed at the time of manuscript submission and updated if new circumstances arise after publication.
Obligations of Reviewers:
Reviewers must declare any factors that may prevent them from providing an unbiased assessment, such as:
previous or ongoing collaboration with the authors;
institutional or financial connections;
personal relationships.
If any such situations exist, the reviewer is expected to decline the review invitation.
Obligations of Editors:
Editors must remain impartial in the handling of manuscripts. In the case of a potential conflict of interest:
the editor must recuse themselves from editorial decisions related to the affected manuscript;
any potential conflicts must be transparently declared.
Editorial Response:
If a conflict of interest is discovered – either during review or after publication – the editorial board reserves the right to:
publish a statement of clarification or correction;
issue a retraction if necessary;
take additional measures to preserve the integrity of the scientific record.
The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic ethics and encourages all participants in the publication process – authors, reviewers, and editors – to disclose potential conflicts of interest honestly and transparently to ensure scientific credibility and public trust.
Funding Policy and Article Processing Charges (APC)
Publication in Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine is subject to an article processing charge (APC). However, payment is requested only after the editorial board has formally accepted the article for publication.
Article Processing Charges:
Standard fee: 1300 UAH (covers up to 12 pages). Additional pages: 50 UAH per page beyond the standard length.
This APC covers:
editorial and peer-review management;
linguistic and technical editing;
typesetting and layout;
online hosting with open access.
The journal does not charge any submission fees.
Funding Transparency:
Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine does not receive external sponsorship. Its publishing activities are fully funded through APCs, which help maintain rigorous peer review, editorial quality, and long-term digital preservation.
Article Retraction Policy
Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine adheres to the standards and principles outlined in the Code of Ethics for Scientific Publications developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and recognizes the importance of maintaining academic integrity and scientific reputation.
Article retraction is an extreme measure that the editorial board may apply when, after publication, it is found that the article violates ethical principles or contains significant scientific errors that could affect the reputation of the journal and/or the scientific community as a whole.
Grounds for article retraction may include:
Plagiarism – using sources without proper citation or completely copying others' work.
Data falsification or manipulation – presenting falsified, non-existent, or misleading data.
Conflict of interest – concealing or inadequately disclosing financial, personal, or professional interests that may affect the scientific integrity of the work.
Failure to adhere to research ethics standards – violations of ethical norms in conducting research, such as improper treatment of study participants or unethical treatment of animals.
Serious scientific errors – when an article contains fundamental errors that cannot be corrected through amendments or clarifications within the publication.
Duplicate publication – when an article has been previously published in another journal without proper disclosure of this fact.
Retraction procedure:
If the editorial board receives a substantiated complaint or identifies serious violations that may warrant article retraction, an investigation is initiated.
The author is given the opportunity to respond to the claims and provide explanations regarding the identified violations.
If the investigation confirms the presence of serious violations, the editorial board makes the decision to retract the article.
The retraction is made by publishing an official retraction notice on the journal’s website. If necessary, the reasons for the retraction are stated in the notice.
All retraction decisions are documented, and the relevant information about the article remains available to journal users to ensure transparency of the process.
If the article was retracted due to ethical violations, the editorial board may also report this information to the relevant institutions that regulate publication activities.
Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine guarantees that all retraction decisions will be made based on principles of integrity, transparency, and compliance with ethical standards. All parties involved in the publication process must adhere to high standards of academic ethics and work together to uphold scientific integrity and trust in the academic community.
Research Ethics Policy
Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine adheres to high ethical standards in scientific publishing and requires that authors comply with international ethical guidelines for biomedical research involving humans, animals, and biological materials.
1. Research Involving Humans
For publications based on research involving human subjects (patients, volunteers), authors must:
Provide a copy of the approval from a local ethics committee;
Confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (WMA);
State in the manuscript that written informed consent was obtained from all participants (or their legal representatives) regarding their participation and/or publication of any personal medical data or images.
2. Research Involving Animals
Authors publishing results of experiments involving animals must:
Follow ethical principles for humane treatment of laboratory animals;
Provide information about approval of the research protocol by an institutional ethics committee;
Describe the housing conditions, methods of anesthesia, and euthanasia (if applicable), in accordance with national and international regulations.
3. Confidentiality and Personal Data Protection
Authors are required to:
Avoid publishing identifying patient information (names, photos, medical records) without written consent;
Comply with applicable laws on confidentiality and personal data protection, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable.
4. Plagiarism and Data Manipulation
The editorial board strictly prohibits:
Plagiarism and self-plagiarism (submitting previously published material without proper citation);
Data falsification or fabrication;
Violation of copyright or intellectual property rights.
If such violations are detected, the manuscript will be rejected, or a published article will be retracted.
5. Author Responsibility
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:
The research was conducted ethically;
All co-authors are aware of and agree with the content of the manuscript;
Any potential conflicts of interest are disclosed in the appropriate section of the paper.
Privacy Statement
Names and email addresses provided through this website are used solely for purposes related to the publication in Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University. Series: Medicine and will not be shared with third parties or used for other purposes.
Data collected from registered and unregistered users are used for the editorial process of the journal, including communication with authors, reviewers, and editors.
The editorial team of the journal is committed to not selling or transferring this data and will use it only to improve the journal's operations and the publication process.
