Policies

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy

(Aligned with COPE, ICMJE, and International Editorial Standards)

 

1. Introduction

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. This Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement is based on the guidelines and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and internationally recognized scholarly publishing standards.

All parties involved in the publication process, including editors, reviewers, authors, and the publisher, are required to adhere to these ethical principles to ensure the integrity, transparency, and quality of scholarly publishing.

 

2. Editorial Responsibilities

The Editorial Team evaluates submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit, intellectual content, originality, scholarly relevance to the journal’s scope, methodological rigor, and contribution to the academic field. Editorial decisions are made without discrimination based on the authors’ age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, institutional affiliation, citizenship, or political orientation. The evaluation process is conducted independently and free from commercial or institutional influence.

Editors are required to maintain strict confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts and must not disclose any information about a submission to individuals other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisors, or the publisher when appropriate. Editors must not use unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts for their own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.

Editorial decisions regarding manuscript acceptance, revision, or rejection are based on the manuscript’s scholarly merit, methodological rigor, originality, clarity, scientific validity of the research, and relevance to the journal’s scope, as well as the reviewers’ recommendations. The Editorial Team assumes full responsibility for ensuring that the peer review process is fair, objective, and conducted in accordance with ethical standards.

 

3. Peer Review Process and Reviewer Responsibilities

The journal applies a double-blind peer review process in which the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the review process. Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with appropriate expertise in the subject area. Reviewers are responsible for providing objective, constructive, and timely assessments of the manuscript’s scientific quality, originality, clarity, and scholarly relevance.

Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of all manuscript information and must not use unpublished materials or ideas for personal advantage. Reviewers are expected to notify the editor if they believe they are not qualified to evaluate the manuscript or if they are unable to complete the review within the required timeframe. Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and must inform the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published or unpublished work of which they are aware.

 

4. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted manuscripts represent original work and have not been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal. Authors must ensure that all sources used in the research and manuscript preparation are properly cited and acknowledged. Any form of plagiarism, including direct copying, paraphrasing without proper attribution, duplicate publication, or self-plagiarism, is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Authors must ensure that the manuscript accurately presents the research conducted and that all data are reported honestly and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation. Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions to reproduce copyrighted materials, including figures, tables, and other visual content.

Authors must carefully review and approve the final version of the manuscript prior to publication and must ensure the accuracy of all content, including data, references, and authorship information.

 

5. Authorship and Contribution

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the conception and design of the research, acquisition and analysis of data, interpretation of results, drafting of the manuscript, or critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Authors must ensure that all individuals who meet authorship criteria are appropriately listed and that individuals who do not meet these criteria are acknowledged in the acknowledgments section.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that no qualified author has been omitted and that all listed authors have agreed to the submission and publication of the manuscript.

 

6. Disclosure of Funding Sources and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support related to the research and publication of the manuscript, including the names of funding organizations, grant numbers, and the role of the funding sources in the research process. Authors must also disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest. If the funding source had no involvement in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or publication decision, this must be explicitly stated.

Editors and reviewers must also disclose any conflicts of interest and must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

 

7. Use of Artificial Intelligence and Generative Tools

Authors must disclose any use of generative artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of the manuscript. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript content. Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors, and their use must be transparently acknowledged in the appropriate section of the manuscript.

 

5. Ethical Standards in Research

Authors must ensure the accuracy of their data and provide honest and transparent reporting of their findings. They must not engage in fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data under any circumstances. If errors are discovered after submission or publication, authors are required to promptly notify the journal so that appropriate corrective action can be taken.

 

6. Conflict of Interest

All participants involved in the publication process must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. These conflicts may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, or academic competition that could influence the research or its evaluation. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in cases where a conflict of interest exists to maintain impartiality and fairness.

 

7. Publication Misconduct

Publication misconduct includes plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and authorship manipulation. The journal follows the established procedures of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when investigating and addressing cases of misconduct.

 

8. Retraction, Correction, and Erratum Policy

Articles may be retracted if significant scientific errors, ethical violations, plagiarism, or fraudulent data are identified. Retracted articles will remain accessible in the journal archive to preserve the scholarly record but will be clearly marked as retracted.

Corrections will be issued when minor errors are detected or when inaccuracies affect the precision of the content but do not compromise the overall validity of the research. Errata will be formally published in subsequent issues of the journal to ensure transparency and accuracy.

 

9. Complaints and Appeals

Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions. Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, the Managing Editor, and, if necessary, an independent reviewer. Final decisions are made in accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Complaints related to ethical concerns, editorial processes, or alleged misconduct are formally investigated following established procedures.

 

10. Open Access, Licensing, and Copyright

The journal provides immediate open access to all published content under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, and share the material in any medium or format, as well as to adapt, transform, and build upon the content for any lawful purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source, and any changes made are clearly indicated.

Copyright of all published articles remains with the author(s). By submitting and publishing their work in the journal, the author(s) grant the journal PROSTOR the non-exclusive right to publish the article, to identify itself as the original publisher, and to distribute the work in both electronic and printed formats. The author(s) also grant the journal the commercial right to produce and sell printed editions to libraries and individuals.

Third parties may freely use the published material in accordance with the CC BY license, provided that proper attribution is given to the original author(s) and full citation details are maintained. This policy ensures broad dissemination and reuse of scholarly work while preserving authors’ ownership rights and guaranteeing compliance with international open access standards.

 

11. Archiving and Accessibility

All published articles are permanently archived in recognized repositories and maintained within the journal’s archives to ensure long-term accessibility. Journal archive is available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/prostor?lang=en. Publisher copyright policies & self-archiving are also described at the Sherpa organisation web (RoMEO service).

Authors are permitted to deposit their published articles in institutional repositories in accordance with journal policies.

 

12. Publication Fees and Transparency

Publication fees are applied in a transparent manner. Fee waivers or reductions may be granted based on institutional affiliation or economic circumstances. Editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by the payment of publication fees.

 

13. Ethical Oversight and Compliance

The journal adheres to internationally recognized publication ethics standards, including those established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and Creative Commons licensing standards. All participants in the publication process are required to comply with these policies.

 

14. Retraction and Correction

The journal is committed to preserving the accuracy, integrity, and transparency of the scholarly record and manages all post-publication changes in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Before publication, the corresponding author receives the final proof of the accepted manuscript and is responsible for carefully reviewing it and submitting any necessary minor corrections within the specified timeframe. Such corrections are limited to typographical, formatting, or minor factual errors and must not substantially alter the content or conclusions of the article without editorial approval.

If an error is identified after publication, the journal will assess its significance. When the error affects the accuracy of the article but does not compromise the validity or reliability of the findings, a formal Correction or Erratum will be published and permanently linked to the original article.

If the error or concern substantially affects the integrity, reliability, or ethical foundation of the work, the journal will conduct an investigation in line with COPE procedures. An article may be retracted if there is clear evidence of major error, data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, redundant publication, unethical research practices, or other serious breaches of publishing standards. Retraction may be initiated by the authors upon discovery of significant flaws or by the editor following a formal review.

In all cases of retraction, a clear retraction notice stating the reasons will be published, and the original article will remain accessible but clearly marked as retracted in order to maintain the transparency and continuity of the scholarly record.

 

15. Final Statement

The journal is firmly committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency, and quality of scholarly publishing. It takes all necessary measures to prevent publication malpractice and to address any issues that arise in accordance with established ethical standards.