Procedure for Handling Complaints

Complaints regarding plagiarism, data falsification, authorship manipulation, or conflicts of interest are considered according to

COPE protocols

.(https://publicationethics.org/guidance?f%5B0%5D=type%3A16)

Complaints may be submitted by:

• authors
• reviewers
• editorial board members
• readers or other individuals.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the journal’s official email:

pvsp_journal@ukr.net

The complainant must provide evidence of the violation (sources of plagiarism, comparative data tables, documentation of undisclosed conflicts of interest).

Anonymous complaints are considered only if convincing evidence is provided.

Complaint Review Procedure

Complaints are reviewed according to the following procedure:

The complaint is submitted to the Editor-in-Chief or the Managing Editor for preliminary assessment.
If the complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it is transferred to an authorized representative of the editorial board.
A temporary committee (composed of editorial board members or external experts) is established to analyze the circumstances of the case.
The editorial office reserves the right, when necessary, to request clarification from authors, reviewers, or editors.
After completing the investigation, the committee makes a decision, which may include:

rejecting the complaint as unfounded;
issuing corrections or clarifications to the publication;
retracting the publication;
prohibiting further submissions from the violator;
informing the institution where the author is employed about the violation of academic integrity.

All complaint materials are treated as confidential.
 Information is not disclosed except when necessary for an objective investigation.

If the complainant disagrees with the decision, they may submit an appeal to the Editorial Board for further consideration.