Principles of publication ethics by COPE

The Editorial Board of Przegląd Statystyczny. Statistical Review (PS) is highly committed to the safeguarding of the highest ethical standards as expressed in the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and ready to take any available measures towards preventing any abuse and authorship misconduct (see the COPE standards). These adopted operating principles are valid for all parties involved: the authors, the Editorial Board, the reviewers and the Publisher.

Authors’ Responsibilities

1. The manuscripts submitted for publication in PS should contain a precise description of the problem of interest and the method applied towards its solution. In the case of a new method used, an exemplary illustration of its use is requested. The paper’s aim and scope should be explicitly and clearly formulated. The same applies to the conclusions and recommendations for further research.
2. Authors are fully responsible for all of the article’s content and any supplementary material submitted to the journal. Should readers report any reservations to any of the authors, the authors are obliged to address them via the Editorial Board.
3. Authors are obliged to ensure that the submitted manuscript and supplementary material are original and authentic. The Editorial Board does not allow for any indications of authorship misconduct, including:
   • duplicate publications – republishing one’s own full or partial work,
   • plagiarism – appropriating another author’s or authors’ complete work or a fragment of it without citing its source,
   • fabricated data – preparing a scientific work based on untrue research results,
   • ghost authorship – not disclosing co-authors regardless of the significance of their contribution to the article,
   • guest authorship – listing as co-authors persons who made an infinitesimal or no contribution to the article,
   • gift authorship – listing as co-authors persons whose contribution is based on a flimsy, tangential relation with the research.
4. Authors must complete a statement declaring that the submission is an original, unpublished work, does not infringe upon the copyrights of any third parties, and in whole or part, is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. In addition, they must specify their contribution to the article.
5. In case similar materials have been published or presented during a conference, symposium or workshop, authors are obliged to inform the Editor accordingly upon submission.
6. Authors are obliged to provide relevant information on all funding details and acknowledge any financial interest or benefit that has arisen from the application of their research.
7. A corresponding author should be the author submitting the article who bears the primary responsibility for the accuracy of the submission and its consequences.
8. Manuscripts submitted for publication in the journal are subject to a double-blind peer review carried out by two independent reviewers. Authors are obliged to respond in writing to the reviewers’ reports and correct their papers accordingly. In case they disagree with any of the recommended corrections and/or amendments, they must formulate a response addressing the unaccepted suggestions.
9. On detecting errors of any kind in published articles, authors should immediately report them to the Editor. All corrections will be included in the journal’s electronic version with an appropriate disclaimer.

The Editorial Board’s Responsibilities

1. The Editorial Board is responsible for the organisation and the efficient execution of the publishing process. As such, it is highly committed to upholding the highest standards in the steps that constitute this process which include the credibility of reviews, the time elapsed from submission to the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection, and the provision of an open access to the electronic version of the journal published online. In doing so, it closely cooperates with the Publisher.
2. The Editorial Board determines the principles to be followed during the publishing process, informs its participants of their obligations, enforces the latter at every stage of the publication process and ensures that any information regarding the adopted principles is updated on the journal’s website on a regular basis.
3. Members of the Editorial Board must not be a party to any conflict of interest with regard to the submitted manuscript or its authors. Conflict of interest refers to any circumstance in which any interest or relationship, either financial or other, influences the fair evaluation of the submitted work or the decision on its acceptance or rejection.
4. The Editorial Board is responsible for determining criteria that is consistent for the evaluation of articles and requires that reviewers sign a statement on complying with these principles of ethical review outlined by COPE and avoiding any conflict of interest (see the Ethical Guidelines for peer reviewers).
5. The Editorial Board may communicate any information regarding the manuscript only to the authors, reviewers, Publisher and other advisors to the Editorial Board.
6. In case of suspected abuses, the Editorial Board proceeds according to the procedures of COPE (see the relevant procedures).
7. The Editorial Board ensures that any editorial changes made in the text, do not infringe upon the main idea of the author(s).
8. Should a final decision to reject the submitted work be made, the Editorial Board must not use the work in any way without the written consent of the author.

The Reviewers’ Responsibilities

1. Reviewers accept articles for review if they are certain of their own expertise in the field of the article, are able to assess the submitted work fairly, thoroughly and within a pre-specified deadline. There must be no possibility of a conflict of interest regarding the authors and the institutions financing the research. If there is, the reviewers should immediately withdraw from the review process.
2. In preparing reports on the submitted work, reviewers are obliged to provide a sufficient number of arguments and reasoning, refrain from personal criticism and preserve confidentiality. After completing the reports, the reviewers must not save any material pertaining to the submission and/or use it for any purpose.
3. When detecting abuse of any kind in the submitted work, reviewers must immediately report it to the Editorial Board through the editor in charge.

The Publisher’s Responsibilities

1. The Publisher is committed to the upholding of the highest standards of the publishing process and to the provision of an open access for the electronic version of the journal published online.
2. Any work published in the journal is subject to copyright laws. Its reprint requires the Publisher’s written consent. When cited, it must be accompanied by a detailed note detailing the source.
3. The Publisher declares its readiness to publish corrections, explanations and apologies regarding the published work.