Open Access Policy

The editorial team of “The LAU Bulletin” adheres to the principles of ‘platinum open access’, which implies that all published articles become freely accessible on the journal’s website immediately following publication. No fees are charged for preparing an article for publication.
The open access policy of this academic journal is grounded in the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), which advocates for free and impartial access to scholarly research and publications for all interested parties. We strive to ensure that all materials are available in digital form without any financial or legal impediments, thus facilitating the dissemination of knowledge and fostering the growth of the scientific community. The authors retain the copyright to their works, which they may disseminate in various formats. The journal, in turn, upholds the principles of peer review to guarantee the highest standards of publication. This approach is designed to foster openness and collaboration within the scholarly community.

Copyright Policy

  1. The authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the exclusive right to publish the work first, under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution4.0 (CC-BY) license. This license allows others to distribute the work, provided they attribute the authors and the original publication in this journal.
  2. Authors may conclude separate additional agreements regarding the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of their work (for example, by placing it in an institutional repository or including it in a book), subject to confirmation of its original publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and even encouraged to make their works available online, such as in institutional repositories or on their personal websites, before, during, and after submitting them for publication. This practice can foster a fruitful exchange of ideas and prompt earlier and broader recognition of the published work.

Archiving

  • Scientific Electronic Library (elibrary.ru)

In accordance with the Federal Law of December 29, 1994 No. 77-FZ “On the Compulsory Copy of Documents,” all issues of the journal (compulsory copies) are deposited in the following repositories:

  • The Russian State Library;
  • The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.
  • The full texts are accessible through the electronic library system “Lan”.
  • Article-by-article placement of published materials and their metadata is carried out in the “Russian Scientific Journals” database (RSJ DB).
  • Article-by-article placement of published materials and their metadata is carried out in the IS Metafora.

Reviewing

The Editorial Board of the Journal ensures an objective and unbiased review of all submissions based on the principle of double-blind reviewing. Manuscripts are submitted to the reviewers without any information about the author.

The Editorial Board of the Journal ensures the high quality of the reviews by attracting leading experts in the field relevant to the material in question, including members of the Editorial team, members of the Journal Editorial Board, and external Russian and foreign experts as reviewers.

The aim of the reviewer is to express his/her own opinion on the validity, novelty and relevance of the results obtained.

Manuscripts submitted for peer reviewing are treated as confidential material and are not to be used for personal purposes or disclosed to third parties not authorized by the editorial staff of the journal outside the editorial process of preparation, peer review, and publication.

The reviewer’s summary should be clear, reasoned and unbiased. A discrepancy between the scientific positions of the author and the reviewer is a matter for scientific discussion, but is not in itself a sufficient basis for refusing to publish the article. No personal critique of the author is permitted.

In the review process, no conflicts of interest are permitted. Scientific advisors, supervisors of authors (heads of department, etc.), co-authors of submissions, etc. are not eligible to be reviewers.

Feedback

After the review process is completed, authors receive feedback from the reviewers, along with suggestions for improvements or the possibility of rejection for publication. The revision process should be undertaken within a period not exceeding two weeks from the time the reviewer’s comments are communicated to the author. If the revised manuscript is not submitted within three months of receiving the review feedback, and there is no indication from the author regarding their intention to revise or reject the article, the manuscript will be withdrawn from further consideration by the Editorial Board.

Personal Data Protection

The editorial team of the journal “The LAU Bulletin” ensures that the personal information provided by authors on the website is used exclusively for the purpose of article production and communication with the author. No transfer of such data to third parties is permitted. All authors have signed a consent form regarding the processing of their personal information.

Publication Ethics

In our editorial practice, we adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Ethics Council of the Association of Scientific Editors and Publishers (ANRI) when dealing with manuscripts, peer reviewers, and the review process itself. The ethical standards of our journal were approved by its Editorial Board on the 1st of September, 2022, (Protocol No. 3).

1. Responsibilities of the Editors

The primary objective of scientific editing is to guarantee adherence to the Journal’s consistent style and to uphold the high scientific standard of the published content.

During the editorial process, the editorial team actively collaborates with the author to ensure the timely publication of content that is in line with the Journal’s formatting guidelines and high standards.

Any editorial alterations to the text must be approved by the author of the manuscript, with the exception of corrections related to spelling, punctuation, style, and other formal aspects that do not impact the substance of the content.

If it becomes necessary to modify the content (author’s revision) and the author and the editor cannot reach an agreement, the editor may propose to the Editorial Board that the material be withdrawn from publication. The Editorial Board will then make a decision on this matter.

The editor guarantees the privacy of the author’s information. The personal details provided by authors, beyond the standard information published in the journal, are used exclusively for administrative purposes during the article’s preparation for publication. The editorial team strictly adheres to the principle of not sharing this personal information with any third parties for any reason other than the preparation and publication of the material.

1.1. Decision on Publication. The editor of “The LAU Bulletin” is responsible for taking the decision on publication in collaboration with the deputy editors-in-chief overseeing the scientific areas of this multidisciplinary journal. Their decision is informed by the credibility, validity, and academic merit of the article under consideration. An editor may be guided by the policy of the journal’s Editorial Board, being limited by current legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright, legality, and plagiarism. The editor may seek advice from other editors and reviewers (or officials of the Scientific Society) when making a decision about publication.

1.2. Decency. An editor must assess the intellectual substance of a manuscript without regard to the author’s ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious convictions, nationality, or political stance.

1.3. Confidentiality: The editor and editorial board of “The LAU Bulletin” are committed to not disclosing information about an accepted manuscript to any person or organization without proper authorization, except for the authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, other scientific experts, and the publisher.

1.4. Disclosure and Conflict-of-Interest Policy:

1.4.1 All unpublished data derived from manuscripts submitted for evaluation cannot be utilized for personal research without the explicit permission of the author. Any information or insights gained during the review process, which may lead to potential advantages, must be treated as confidential and not exploited for personal benefit.

1.4.2 Editors must abstain from reviewing manuscripts (by requesting a substitute editor or collaborating with other members of the Editorial Board to review the work instead of personally reviewing and making a decision) in cases where there are conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other interactions and relationships with Authors, companies, and potentially other organizations related to the manuscript.

1.5. Oversight of Publications

If an editor has compelling evidence that the assertions or findings in a publication are inaccurate, they must inform the publisher (and/or the relevant scientific community) about the need for corrections, the withdrawal of the publication, expressions of concern, or other appropriate measures.

1.6. Engagement and Collaboration in Research

The editor, in conjunction with the deputy editors, promptly addresses any ethical concerns that arise regarding manuscripts or published content. This typically involves engaging with the authors of the manuscript and providing a response to the complaint or request. In some cases, it may also involve communication with relevant institutions and research centers.

2. Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The activities of the Editorial team aim to achieve a high quality of materials published in the Journal. The Editorial Board ensures a fair, objective and impartial review of all submissions.

The decision to publish the materials submitted to the journal is made by the editorial board, provided that they meet the formatting requirements and based on the results of the peer review process and discussion at an editorial board meeting.

In dealing with the submitted articles under consideration, the Editorial Board primarily focuses on the interests of readers and authors, and promotes the free expression of opinion in the pages of the Journal.

When deciding whether to publish an article, the Editorial Board will follow the Journal’s publishing ethics and will not publish articles with evidence of libel, slander, plagiarism and/or copyright infringement. The ultimate decision to accept a manuscript is made by the Editorial Board of the Journal.
The Editorial Board guarantees that the rejected materials will not be used in the works of the Editorial Board’s members without a written consent of the author.

The Editorial Board considers complaints of unethical behaviour by authors of submitted or published material. The Editorial Board reserves the right to refuse to publish the submitted material and to terminate further collaboration with the author as a result of considering such appeals. If justified claims are made against published articles, the Editorial Board will publish a statement and take other necessary steps according to applicable law.

The Editorial Board’s members have a duty of impartiality and objectivity towards all parties involved in the editorial and publication procedures.

3. Responsibilities of the Reviewers

Reviewers are instrumental in ensuring the quality of scientific publications. Therefore, they must adhere to the following ethical principles and standards:

3.1. Objectivity and Impartiality: Reviewers are obliged to assess manuscripts based on scientific facts and the quality of the submitted materials, free from personal preferences or biases.

3.2. Confidentiality. The reviewers are obliged to regard the materials submitted for review as confidential. They are precluded from disclosing the content of the paper to any third parties, unless expressly authorized by the editorial board.

3.3. Timeliness. Reviewers are expected to submit their comments within the specified timeframe (three weeks) or inform the editorial team if an extension is needed.

3.5. Justification of comments. Peer reviewers should offer critical analysis that is both constructive and clear, providing specific suggestions for enhancing the article’s quality. Such well-grounded comments assist authors in understanding how to improve their work.

3.6. Absence of Conflict of Interest: Reviewers are requested to inform the editorial office if they have any potential conflicts of interest, such as personal, financial, or professional relationships with the authors of the article. In the event of a conflict, the reviewer should decline to review the work.

3.7. Honesty and Integrity. Reviewers must adhere to high standards of scientific honesty and indicate any cases of plagiarism, data falsification, or insufficient referencing of previous research discovered during the review process.

3.8. Non-Use of Information. The reviewers are precluded from making use of the data contained in the articles under review for their own scholarly or any other purposes prior to the publication of the respective work.

4. Responsibilities of the Authors

The Editorial Board of the Journal assumes that, in submitting material for publication in the Journal, each author agrees to abide by the rules of this Editorial Code of Ethics as well as the text formatting requirements.

The author shall ensure that the material is prepared in accordance with the requirements set by the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board reserves the right to disregard material that does not meet these requirements, with appropriate notification to the author.

Materials for publication are sent to the editorial office of the journal only by the author or co-author, with the consent of all authors concerned. All authors of the submitted material bear equal responsibility for the content of a manuscript or published article.

By submitting material for publication in the Journal, the author guarantees that the submitted manuscript is original research, has not been previously published and is not currently being considered by any other journal.

The use of work or parts of work (quotes) of others in the submission will be allowed, but such use must be duly formalized by citing the original source in the reference list of the paper. It is unethical and unacceptable for an author to plagiarize in any form.

The Editorial Board has the right to reject a paper if the originality of the article is less than 75% in accordance with the anti-plagiarism system.

Abuse of citation in any form (inappropriate or excessive citation, including for the purpose of increasing the citation of individual authors, colleagues, etc.), including self-citation, is not permitted. No more than 10% of the submission may contain references to the author’s work.

It is the responsibility of the authors to indicate all sources of financial support for the project (grants, government programmes, projects, etc.) in the material submitted for publication. Authors are responsible for disclosing potential conflicts of interest when submitting and/or publishing to the journal.

The author is obliged to inform the editorial board of any significant errors or inaccuracies in the material at any stage of the editorial and publication cycle, including after it has been published in the journal.

Retraction policy

Articles published in “The LAU Bulletin” may be subject to the retraction process (withdrawal from publication). Retraction is exercised in order to notify readers about the publication of inaccurate information and remove such publications from scientific circulation.

Retraction is employed in instances where a published paper:

  • violates the ethical standards of the journal;
  • incorporates plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
  • constitutes a duplicate publication;
  • contains substantial errors or fabricated data that cast doubt on the veracity of the scientific findings;
  • is republished without obtaining the consent of the authors;
  • includes content that contravenes the laws of the Russian Federation.

The process of retracting a publication can be initiated by the author(s), the Editorial Board, or upon official requests from external sources such as other journals, scientific organizations, or third parties. The decision to retract is based on a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the publication of inaccurate information. A specially appointed committee reviews all available evidence and assesses the publication’s compliance with the necessary requirements.

The editorial team informs the author(s) of a breach of publication standards and commences the process of retracting the publication. The author(s) are given the opportunity to express their agreement or disagreement with the editorial team. In situations where the breach of publication standards is confirmed, such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data manipulation, or legal violations, the editorial team has the authority to proceed with the retraction process without the author(s)’ consent. Based on a thorough analysis of the circumstances that led to the retraction, the editorial board is empowered to independently determine the course of action regarding future collaboration with the authors of the retracted publications. This decision may involve complete discontinuation of cooperation, a temporary suspension, or the appointment of additional experts to review the articles if further collaboration is pursued.

The article that has been withdrawn is not deleted from the digital edition and remains accessible on the journal’s website as part of the PDF version of the corresponding issue. Simultaneously, a notice indicating the withdrawal and the date of withdrawal is added to the article’s metadata. This notice is also included in the table of contents of the corresponding journal issue and in the databases where the journal is indexed.

Publication fees

The publication of articles in the journal is gratuitous for the authors. The editors do not impose any fees on the authors for the preparation, submission, and publication of their materials.

Borrowings and Plagiarism

The editorial team of the publication, when assessing a manuscript, employs the Antiplagiat system (Антиплагиат) to scrutinize the content. For manuscripts written in English, an additional layer of verification is conducted using Google Scholar.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The editorial board of “The LAU Bulletin” acknowledges that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of scientific research and publications. However, it is crucial to uphold ethical principles and adhere to the highest standards of scientific practice. Authors may employ AI to assist in the process of writing, but it is essential that they clearly disclose any use of such technologies and the extent to which they were employed. AI can serve as a valuable tool for data analysis and visualization, contributing to enhancing the quality of presented findings. It is imperative that authors subject all results to meticulous scrutiny, ensuring their accuracy and credibility. If artificial intelligence (AI) tools were employed for data gathering, examination, or the creation of the text, this must be disclosed in the methodological section of the paper.