Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest, Revision and Appeals

Confidentiality

The editorial office and reviewers undertake to keep submitted manuscripts confidential and not to use unpublished materials for their own benefit or for the benefit of third parties.

Manuscript materials may be disclosed only to persons involved in the editorial process: editors, members of the Editorial Board, reviewers and technical staff of the editorial office.

Conflict of Interest during Peer Review

A reviewer must inform the editorial office of any potential or actual conflict of interest and decline to review a manuscript if circumstances exist that may affect the objectivity of the assessment.

If a conflict of interest is identified, the editorial office appoints another reviewer or takes other measures to ensure impartial consideration of the manuscript.

Manuscript Revision

If, following peer review, an article is recommended for revision, the authors receive the comments and recommendations of reviewers and the editorial office.

Authors must make the necessary changes to the manuscript or provide a reasoned response to comments with which they disagree.

The revised manuscript is reconsidered by the editorial office and, if necessary, sent to reviewers again.

Appeal against an Editorial Decision

Authors have the right to submit a reasoned appeal against an editorial decision. The appeal must be submitted in writing to the editorial office by email and must state the title of the article, the substance of the disagreement and the author’s arguments.

The editorial office considers the appeal and, where necessary, may involve an additional independent expert. The author is informed of the decision on the appeal in writing.

Editorial Process Dates

For each accepted article, the editorial office records:
the date of initial submission to the journal;
the date of acceptance for publication after peer review;
the date of publication / online release.

These dates must be clearly stated in the HTML and/or PDF version of the article and must correspond to the DOI metadata.