The "Zeszyty Łużyckie" journal observes ethical standards as delineated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

ETHICAL STANDARDS
The mission of "Zeszyty Łużyckie" is to advance and develop knowledge and reliable research in minority studies. The Editor and the Publisher remain neutral as to the content published in the journal. Any text published in "Zeszyty Łużyckie" should meet certain requirements, notably, that of presenting up to date, precise, and credible research information. It is an objective pursued by the Authors, the Editor, the Reviewer, the Publisher, and the Editorial Board to meet a number of important ethical standards at successive stages of processing texts. Below are the main requirements for Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publisher.

ETHICAL REQUIREMENTS

Editors Roles and Responsibilities

• The Editor carries out their responsibilities in a fair, objective manner, with no bias or discrimination on grounds of age, academic degree, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious or political views, ethnic or geographical origin.
• Texts are accepted solely based on their scientific and scholarly quality and value as they present scientific development.
• If allegations or doubt of ethical character arise, the Editor is to apply appropriate procedures as developed and approved by the Editorial Team, so as to allow the Author an opportunity to fairly address the allegations. All allegations should be considered regardless of when the publication was approved for print. The documentation of processes and procedures concerning the allegations is to be archived.

Reviewers Roles and Responsibilities:

• The Reviewer takes part in the decision making process regarding publication of articles; they help enhance the quality of the text via an objective and timely reading and assessment of the manuscript.
• The Reviewer should preserve confidentiality of all information provided by the Editor or the Author. They should by no means store or copy the manuscript.
• The Reviewer will inform the Editor of any elements in the text reviewed which are found in a work published elsewhere, should its content be essentially similar to the manuscript being reviewed.
• The Reviewer has to be aware of a possible conflict of interest (e.g. financial, institutional, personal, or other kind of relationship between the Reviewer and the Author) and shall notify the Editor if such conflict occurs, to subsequently withdraw their services regarding the Author and text in question.

Authors Roles and Responsibilities:

• The Author shall confirm that the article submitted had not been submitted or accepted to be printed elsewhere. Should any fragments of the article be consistent with the Author’s own printed or submitted work, the Author should declare this fact and provide the source.
• The Author of the articles is obliged to provide accurate description of research works performed as well as objective presentation of results. Description of the research should include information which allows for identification of sources of data as well for as repetition of the research/study. Contents reproduced from other sources should be placed in quotation marks (given as a citation). Presenting and interpreting data and research results in ways incompliant with the guidelines of publishing ethics will result in rejection of the text.
• The Author is to obtain permission for content reproduction (e.g. images and photographs) from other sources.
• The Authors submitting multi-authored texts for publication are obliged to provide information on respective Authors’ contribution to its creation (together with the respective Authors’ affiliation and information specifying authorship of concept, hypotheses, methods etc. used in preparation of the text).
• Ghostwriting and guest authorship are regarded as instances of unfair scientific practice and all detected cases thereof shall be revealed. Relevant entities such as institutions employing the Authors, sacademic organizations etc. shall be notified of such practices.
• The Author should ensure that all research involving persons is compliant with regulations and requirements in force in a given state. The Author should obtain these persons’ explicit consent to publish these materials and respect these persons’ right to privacy.
• If the text states findings of research funded through grant awarded by the National Science Centre (NCN) or other institutions or associations, the Author is obliged to provide this information together with the grant number, in a footnote. The responsibility for truthfulness and accuracy of the aforementioned data rests with the person submitting the text.
• The Author should inform the Editor of any potential conflicts of interest (e.g. in a situation which could be considered or perceived as exerting undue influence on the Editors at any time in the course of publication of their article).
• The Author should inform the Editor immediately if they notice a significant error in their publication, to subsequently prepare and publish, together with the Editor, an erratum, appendix, or – if necessary – to withdraw the text.

Publisher Roles and Responsibilities:

• The Publisher of "Zeszyty Łużyckie" ensures that good practice is maintained by adhering to the standards defined above.
• The Publisher of "Zeszyty Łużyckie" ensures that the Publisher agrees with the principles delineated above or essentially similar principles, takes note thereof, and adopts them in the Publisher’s own production as well as in the works of the Editors and the Editorial Team.

POST-PUBLICATION DISCUSSIONS

The Journal supports post-publication debates regarding the published articles. Readers can submit their concerns, opinions, criticism, or letters of support. The Journal has the right to peer review the criticism, the response to criticism and to publish the discussion. The discussions can also be held on third party moderated platforms, such as PubPeer. As the Journal follows the COPE guidelines, the Editors require that criticism should:

• be reasonable,
• not contain libellous or defamatory content,
• have evidence or data that support the claims.

Readers can sent their comments via email at zeszyty.luzyckie.polon@uw.edu.pl. Depending on the nature of the concern and the outcomes of an investigation, the Journal may publish:

• an addendum (significant information disclosed after the publication that enhances the readers’ understanding of the article),
• Editor’s note (to inform that an investigation has been started),
• editorial expression of concern (to alert the readers about serious concerns),
• correction,
• corrigendum,
• retraction.

In the above instances, the Journal follows the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/resources/forum-discussions/expressions-of-concern)

Corrections

If an Author notices a mistake after the article has already been published, they are requested to contact the Editorial Team at zeszyty.luzyckie.polon@uw.edu.pl . Depending on the nature of the error, the Editorial Team will investigate the case and decide whether an erratum or corrigendum needs to be published. Only for substantial errors the procedure of corrections will be taken. Reports on mistakes in punctuation, mistakes not influencing the meaning of the paper or not affecting the scientific integrity of the paper, will not be processed.

PROCEDURES IN THE CASE OF UNETHICAL CONDUCT

Identifying Unethical Conduct

• Examples of unethical and inappropriate behavior include:

  – plagiarism and self-plagiarism,

  – ghostwriting – failure to disclose the contribution of others to the publication,

  – guest authorship – listing a co-author whose contribution to the publication was negligible or non-existent.

• Unethical conduct may be identified and reported to the Editors by any person at any time.
• The person informing the Editors of misconduct is to provide the Editors with enough information and proof to initiate appropriate proceedings. All complaints should be seriously taken into account and treated equally until final decision is made.

Procedure

• The preliminary decision is made by the Editor who, should they find it necessary, consults the Editorial Board in this matter.
• Evidence of unethical conduct is to be saved, and will not be disclosed to other parties, with the exception of allegations which require publication.

Minor Infringements

In the case of a minor infringement, decision may be made by the Editor alone without further consultation; in any such case, the Author is to be given an opportunity to respond to all allegations.

Major Infringements

In the case of serious misconduct, the Editor may notify the employer of the situation regarding the infringer. Whether there is need of the employer’s involvement in analyzing available information, or of further consultation involving experts, is decided upon by the Editor or the Editorial Board.

Final Resolutions

• If the Editor has reasonable grounds to suspect a misunderstanding or misapplication of accepted ethical standards, they will inform the Author and/or the Reviewer.
• The Editor sends a letter to the Author in which allegations regarding the infringement are clearly stated.
• The Editor sends an official letter to the Author’s university unit or the agency financing the research.
• The Editor officially withdraws the publication and notifies the Author’s employer of this fact immediately.
• The Editorial Board may ban the publication of academic works of a person who engaged in unethical conduct (for a defined time period).

ETHICAL OVERSIGHT

Authors, Editors, Publishers, and Readers adhere to the publishing ethics described herein on the
Journal page. The Journal encourages reports on any unethical practices such as, but not limited to, fabrication of data/research/figures/tables, plagiarism, authorship falsification, duplicate publication, peer review manipulation, concealment of conflict of interest, paper mill publication, and others.

Upon submission, the Corresponding Author has to receive the approval form from all the Authors. The forms must be available upon request to the Journal’s Editors and include all the necessary consents to the use of third-party materials. The consent has to be obtained also for any research on human beings, managing confidential data, and ethical business/marketing practices.

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Apart from misconduct allegations, Editors encourage Authors, Reviewers, Readers, and other individuals to contact the Editor in Chief, Editors, Editorial Team Members, Scientific Council Members or the Publisher in the case of complaints against the Journal, the Editorial Board, Publisher, or Reviewers. Individuals wishing to rise a concern or make a complaint may send an email to zeszyty.luzyckie.polon@uw.edu.pl  or call +48 22 552 05 46. The appropriate party will investigate whether correct procedures have been followed. The complainant will be notified about the outcome in writing.

Complaints may concern editorial decisions, published articles, the review procedure, delays, unethical behaviour, and any other activity that is seen by the complainant as important. If the complainant wishes to pursue the complaint further, they may contact COPE directly. The procedure is available at: https://publicationethics.org/facilitation-and-integrity-subcommittee.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

The journal is owned by the Faculty of Polish Studies of the University of Warsaw and is funded by the budget allocated to the Faculty.

At no stage of the editorial process does the editorial team charge authors any fees for the submission, preparation for print, or publication of their texts.

Authors and reviewers do not receive any compensation for their work.

The journal does not engage in advertising or marketing activities.