Publication Ethics

The editorial board of the scientific journal "Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Transport" is guided in its work by the international ethical rules of scientific publications, including the rules of decency, confidentiality, publication supervision, consideration of possible conflicts of interest, etc. In its activities, the editorial board follows the recommendations of the Committee on the Ethics of Scientific Publications and, in particular, the "Publishing Ethics Resource Kit"of Elsevier.

The editorial board of the journal adheres to the following rules for maintaining publication ethics:

  • adherence to the basic principles of the publication: scientificity, objectivity, professionalism, information support for the most significant innovative research;
  • unconditional loyalty to all subjects of the creative process involved in the creation of the journal;
  • application of double-blind peer review, involvement of objective competent reviewers;
  • ongoing consultative work with authors aimed at meeting the requirements of international databases for the design and content of materials submitted for publication. 

Decision-making on publications
The Editor makes decisions on the publication of submitted articles. He/she is guided by the journal's policy based solely on the academic value and conclusions of the reviewers. The editor adheres to the rules regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
The editor should not use unpublished information in his/her own research without the written consent of the author. Editors should make appropriate decisions on ethical complaints regarding the submitted manuscript.
The editor of the journal evaluates the intellectual content of manuscripts regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, origin, citizenship or political preferences of the authors.

Confidentiality
The editor and the editorial board do not disclose information about the submitted manuscripts (authors, topics, texts, etc.). Any manuscript received for review is treated as a confidential document. The Editor and the Editorial Board undertake not to disclose information about accepted manuscripts unless necessary, except to authors, reviewers, other scientific advisers and the publisher.

Resolution of conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials should not be used in any research by the editor, reviewers or other persons without the written consent of the authors.
Editors, reviewers, and scientific advisors are obliged to recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts in case of conflicts of interest due to competitive, joint, or other interactions and relationships with authors, companies, or other organisations related to the manuscript.
The Editorial Board undertakes to take appropriate measures in the event of conflicts and claims related to manuscripts or published materials.
The editorial board of the journal "Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Transport" may resolve claims or doubts regarding misconduct relating to research or publications raised by readers, reviewers or other persons. In addition, the publisher reserves the right to inform readers about the resolution of conflict situations.

Ethics

Research Involving Human Subjects

All research involving human subjects must be approved by the relevant ethics committees associated with the institution(s) in which it is conducted. A manuscript presenting the results of surveys or interviews should contain confirmation that the authors have ensured the voluntary participation of respondents, obtained their written informed consent (including consent to the publication of the results), and guaranteed confidentiality, anonymity and the prevention of any form of discrimination or pressure. The ethics of the research should be duly justified and, if possible, supported by references to international professional standards and codes, including:  American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics (1997), ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market, Opinion and Social Research and Data Analytics (2016), Guidance Note of the European Commission on Ethics and Data Protection (2021).

When reporting on research involving human subjects, authors should state that the research was conducted in accordance with the following standards. An approval from the local institutional review board (IRB) or other appropriate ethics committee must be obtained before undertaking the research to confirm the study meets national and international guidelines. All participants must be fully informed if the anonymity is assured, why the research is being conducted, how their data will be used and if there are any risks associated. Ethical approval from an appropriate ethics committee must be obtained prior to conducting the study. If ethical approval is not required, authors must either provide an exemption from the ethics committee or are encouraged to cite the local or national legislation that indicates ethics approval is not required for this type of study.

DUTIES OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD:

  • observe a respectful and correct attitude towards the author and his or her scientific orientation, keep editorial secrets, and prevent bad faith during processing;
  • not to correct the author's text on their own, to agree with the authors the final version of the text after making an editorial revision;
  • do not allow materials to be published if they do not have scientific value, do not correspond to the subject of the journal, contradict its editorial policy, contain plagiarism or were previously published in other publications;
  • ensure the involvement of objective and competent reviewers, apply the practice of double (blind) review.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS:

  • to consider all manuscripts submitted for publication without prejudice, evaluating each properly, regardless of race, religion, nationality, as well as the status or place of work of the author;
  • to observe the period of reviewing established by the editorial board;
  • treat the manuscript received for review as a confidential document, not to provide it to others for review; written reviews must be confidential;
  • not to use data from the manuscript;
  • to provide an objective, reasoned, and correct assessment of the stated research results.

Reviewers must notify the editorial board immediately if they detect any conflict of interest related to the author's identity. If a reviewed paper is not within the reviewer's area of expertise, they must inform the editorial board promptly.  

The reviewers are obligated to inform the editorial board of any suspected scientific misconduct, as well as any other violation of ethical principles of publication referenced in these guidelines.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE AUTHORS OF ARTICLES:

  • to ensure the novelty, reliability, and originality of the research results;
  • to draw up all materials of other authors with an exact indication of the primary sources;
  • to avoid excessive borrowing and plagiarism in any form; to prevent auto-plagiarism;
  • to ensure that the article is exclusive material and has not been previously published or proposed to another publication.

By submitting materials for publication in the journal "Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Transport", the authors agree that, if the materials are accepted for publication, the latter may be placed in electronic databases with the obligatory indication of authorship and copyright in full.
Sources of external information should be presented in the text of the paper itself - in the form of lists of references (including the authors' personal previously published works). Authors are obliged to properly cite borrowings in the form of quotations or references.
If the author discovers significant errors or inaccuracies in the publication, the author must notify the editor of the journal and cooperate with him/her to correct them as soon as possible.
If the editor receives information from a third party that the publication contains material errors, the author is obliged to withdraw the work or correct the errors as soon as possible.

AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT

The editorial board of the journal "Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Transport" assumes that all authors agree with the content of the article, have given their explicit consent to its publication and have received the consent of the responsible persons in the institute/organisation where the work was performed before the article was submitted for consideration.

All authors whose names are listed in the application declare that 
- made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; or to the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; 
- prepared the research material or critically revised it for important intellectual content 
- approved the version for publication; 
- agree to be responsible for all aspects of the work, ensuring that issues related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved. 

The editorial board of the journal encourages collaboration with colleagues in the field of research and expects them to be included as co-authors if they meet all the criteria for authorship described above. Co-authors who do not meet all the criteria for authorship should be indicated in the Acknowledgements section of the article.

GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICY

The journal adheres to the recommendations of WAME and Elsevier on the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific publications.
Generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing AI, cannot be considered authors or co-authors, as they cannot be legally or ethically responsible for the content of the publication. Authorship implies the ability to approve the final version of the manuscript, respond to editorial comments, ensure accuracy, and guarantee the absence of plagiarism, which is possible only if real researchers are involved. The use of AI in writing the text is allowed only for the purpose of improving language, style or structure. Authors are fully responsible for the entire content of the manuscript, regardless of the source of its creation.
The fact of using AI must be clearly declared. If an AI tool was used to create or edit the text, this should be reported in the Acknowledgements section. If AI was used in the process of data analysis, writing code, creating tables or visualisations, this information should be indicated in the Abstract and Methods sections. The declaration should include the name and version of the tool, the text of the prompt, as well as the date and time of access to the system.
The use of AI or AI-assisted tools to create or edit images, figures, graphs or graphical abstracts is not permitted. The only exception is when such tools were part of a research method, for example, in the field of biomedical imaging. In such cases, this should be described in detail in the Methods section, with an explanation of the process, the name of the instrument, version, manufacturer and technical details of its use.
Editors and reviewers who use AI tools in the evaluation or communication process should indicate the fact of such use. Transferring the content of the manuscript to third-party tools that store the entered information without the consent of the authors is considered a violation of the confidentiality of the editorial process. The Editorial Board reserves the right to use tools to detect texts and images created or modified by AI in order to maintain scientific integrity and credibility of publications.

SUBMISSION DECLARATION

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, or in any other language.

DATA SHARING POLICY
The journal supports the principles of transparency and openness of scientific research, while protecting the rights of authors and adhering to ethical standards.
The journal stipulates that the data underlying the published results can be accessed only upon official request through the editorial office. Data is provided only with the consent of the author(s) of the study.
To gain access to the data, the interested person should send a request to the editorial office of the journal, indicating the purpose of using the data. The editorial board forwards this request to the author(s) for consideration. If the author agrees, the editorial board notifies the applicant of further actions, including the possibility of signing a confidentiality agreement and an obligation to adhere to the ethical principles of data use.
The editorial board does not oblige authors to provide access to data and takes into account restrictions related to confidentiality, legal or ethical aspects. In case of an author's refusal, the editorial board notifies the applicant.
All requests for access to data should be sent through the official e-mail of the journal. We are convinced that this approach guarantees a fair and regulated process, while protecting the rights of authors and ensuring the ethical use of scientific data.

POLICY AROUND POST-PUBLICATION DISCUSSIONS
Our journal values open and constructive discussions surrounding published research. To facilitate this, we encourage readers and authors to engage with our articles on PubPeer, a respected platform for post-publication commentary.
All articles published in our journal are automatically indexed with their DOI, enabling easy access and discussion on PubPeer. Discussions should remain professional, focused on the research content, and adhere to high ethical standards.
Any credible concerns raised about an article on PubPeer will be investigated in accordance with our journal’s ethics and retraction policies. For more information on engaging with PubPeer, visit their platform at PubPeer.com.
Our journal is committed to fostering a culture of open and respectful post-publication dialog.

ADVERTISING POLICY
This journal does not accept any form of advertising. Our financial model is designed to maintain full editorial independence and uphold the highest standards of academic integrity.

RESEARCH FUNDING POLICY

The “Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Transport” strives for maximum transparency of research funding sources.

All authors are required to declare the sources of funding for the research presented in the article, including
- grants from scientific institutions or foundations;
- funds received from governmental or non-governmental organisations;
- commercial or private sources of support;
- internal funding from universities, clinics or other organisations.

In case of absence of financial support, please indicate: “The study was not funded”.