The Bulletin of National Defence University of Ukraine

General terms

The editorial board of The Bulletin of National Defence University of Ukraine adheres to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics COPE and places particular emphasis on academic integrity. All manuscripts are checked for originality, and cases of plagiarism, duplicate submission, citation manipulation, or data falsification are treated as serious violations of publication ethics.

Multiple submission

Authors must submit only unique manuscripts that have not been sent simultaneously to other journals.  Multiple submissions or redundant publications (in the form of literal copying, substantial overlap, or rephrased duplication) will result in immediate rejection and may lead to sanctions against the authors.

Citation manipulation

Manuscripts containing citations with the primary purpose of artificially increasing references to a particular author or journal will be rejected, and sanctions may be applied.

Data fabrication and falsification

Submissions containing fabricated or falsified data, including image manipulation, will be rejected, and the authors may face sanctions.

Response procedure

In cases of suspected misconduct, the editorial board will conduct an investigation in line with COPE guidelines. Authors will be contacted and given the opportunity to respond. Depending on the outcome, the following measures may be taken:

• rejection of the manuscript during review;
• publication of corrections to an already published article;
• retraction of the article.

Corrections

Corrections may be initiated by authors, editors, or readers. After evaluation, the editorial board may decide to issue one of the following:

• Correction: published in cases of significant errors or miscalculations affecting the research results.
• Erratum: issued when substantial mistakes are made by the editorial office during production.
• Corrigendum: published to correct major errors introduced by the authors.

All corrections are published as separate documents with their own DOI and are linked to the original publication.

Retraction

Articles may be retracted in the following circumstances:

• clear evidence that findings are unreliable (due to error or research misconduct, e.g. fabricated data or image manipulation);
• prior publication of results elsewhere without proper citation, licence, or justification (redundant or duplicate publication);
• confirmed plagiarism;
• fraudulent authorship;
• compromised peer review process;
• unethical research or violation of professional ethical codes.

The decision to retract an article is made by the Editor-in-Chief or Deputy Editor after investigation and consultation with the authors and, if necessary, external experts.

When an article is retracted:

• the published version will be marked with a “Retracted” watermark;
• the article title will be amended to “Retraction: [Article title]”;
• a separate retraction statement, signed by the editors and assigned a DOI, will be published.

Withdrawal of manuscripts by authors

Authors may request the withdrawal of their manuscript prior to publication. Such a request must be submitted in writing, providing a clear explanation of the reasons for withdrawal, and must be signed by all co-authors. Withdrawn manuscripts are fully removed from the publisher’s database; however, copyright remains with the authors.

Additional terms

Mass manipulation and paper mills

If it is determined that an article is part of a group of publications compromised by paper mills or other systematic fraudulent practices, the editorial board may decide to retract the article as part of a package. The retraction statement must indicate that the article belongs to a group of works affected by similar violations.

Use of artificial intelligence

The hidden or undeclared use of artificial intelligence systems to create text, images, or other data in a manuscript is considered a serious violation and may be grounds for retraction. Authors are required to transparently disclose the use of such tools. Concealing such facts may be considered grounds for retraction. The editorial board reserves the right to check manuscripts for the use of generative artificial intelligence systems. For this purpose, automated detection tools, expert evaluation by reviewers, and additional requests to authors may be used.

Falsification of authorship and identity theft

Manuscripts may be retracted in cases of confirmed false authorship, use of someone else's personal data (name, ORCID, etc.), as well as hidden or forced authorship.

Expression of concern

In cases where there are serious concerns about the authenticity of an article or a breach of academic integrity, but there is insufficient evidence for immediate retraction, the editorial board may publish an expression of concern. Such a statement has its own DOI, is linked to the original article, and contains a brief explanation of the reasons for publication. The expression of concern remains available until the editorial investigation is complete.

Promptness of procedures

The decision to publish corrections, expressions of concern or retractions is made by the editorial board and implemented as soon as possible after significant violations are identified. In cases where final agreement on the text with the authors is not possible, the editorial board reserves the right to publish the statement without delay in order to preserve scientific integrity.

Availability of retracted articles

Retracted articles remain openly accessible in the journal's archives and databases with a clear indication of “Retraction”. Complete removal is only possible in exceptional cases when required by applicable legal regulations (in particular, personal data protection, copyright infringement, enforcement of court decisions or security considerations).