PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

The editorial board of the scientific journal Matej Bel Geographical Review has adopted a code of ethics for publishing and malpractice, following the highest ethical principles in accordance with the rules and publishers of the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE) in the document Code of Conduct and Elsevier in the document Publishing Ethics Resource Kit.

The editors oversee all stages of the publication process and consider it important to apply the following standards of conduct when publishing scientific articles, for all stakeholders - authors, editors, reviewers and the publisher. The code of ethics is intended to contribute to ensuring a high scientific level of the journal by setting ethical standards for the publication of scientific papers and to preventing violations of these standards.

The authors confirm in a written statement the originality of their papers, as well as the compliance with the publication ethics of the journal. The members of the editorial board and the reviewers are obliged to maintain discretion in relation to the information concerning the submitted and reviewed manuscripts and to assess their content as objectively as possible in accordance with the scientific field.

The review process is ensured by the following procedure. The editorial board, led by the scientific editor, will perform the primary assessment of the manuscript in terms of its originality, compliance with technical requirements and the suitability of the topic based on the scope of the journal. If the manuscript meets the above requirements, the editorial board will nominate at least two anonymous reviewers. The reviewer shall state in the report the recommendation to accept the paper for publication, to reject it or suggest modifications to improve the manuscript. In case of any required modifications to the text, the review procedure can also be in two rounds. The reviewer’s comments should be provided by less than 30 days.

Code of ethics for editors and editorial board

The editor-in-chief is a respected academic with extensive publishing experience, with responsibility to the editorial board, authors, reviewers and the entire scientific community. His role consists in the first editorial decision, whether the manuscripts delivered are compatible with the thematic scope of the journal. He will also assess their suitability for inclusion in the review procedure. He may entrust this task to another renowned expert from the journal's scientific editorial board. The editorial board of the journal is made up of a group of experts who, with their scientific focus and erudition, cover the entire portfolio of individual geographical disciplines in a balanced way. Following rules apply:

• Individual contributions are assessed by the editor-in-chief and the editorial board exclusively from the point of view of their importance for the scientific community, regardless of personal, commercial and institutional background. Manuscripts are processed without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality or political views of the authors.
• Disputed cases are consulted by the editor-in-chief of the scientific board with members of the scientific board who are experts on the topic covered in the article.
• The editor-in-chief of the journal, represented by the publishing editor, may request from the authors the necessary basic modifications of the submitted manuscripts: for example, shortening them, reworking the citation apparatus in accordance with the instructions for authors, adaptation of figures, maps and graphic material to the requirements of the journal.
• If the manuscript meets the stated requirements, the editorial board will suggest at least two reviewers. The review process is anonymous from the point of view of authors and reviewers. At the same time, the editorial board declares that the reviewers of the manuscripts accepted for review are respected experts in the given field, which is the subject of the assessed manuscript.
• When selecting appropriate reviewers for the needs of the review process, all parties involved avoid a potential conflict of interest.
• The editor-in-chief and the editorial board are fully familiar with the role of copyright in the scientific environment and supervise their observance within the journal.
• Communication between the editors and authors, as well as the editors and reviewers, is confidential.
• The chief scientific editor, in cooperation with the journal's scientific board, will decide on the publication or revision of the manuscript (or rejection of the manuscript), which results from the two-stage review process.
• The revisions of the manuscript must correspond to the requests and recommendations of the reviewers. In case of non-acceptance, the author must thoroughly explain the non-execution of the required modifications in the form of a cover letter, which he sends to the editorial office together with the manuscript.
• The modified manuscript is sent to the reviewer for re-evaluation (in the second round) if the reviewer required it.
• The editorial board informs the author about the final decision on the acceptance, modifications or non-acceptance of a contribution to the press.
• The journal Matej Bel Geographical Review publishes exclusively the results of original research, which are not considered by any other journal. The editors will reject all contributions bearing signs of any form of plagiarism, duplication, multiplicity or simultaneous submission.
• The editor-in-chief, in cooperation with his deputy, compiles individual issues of the journal with the consent of the editorial board. 

Code of ethics and obligations of authors

• By submitting the contribution, the authors agree that the contribution and its essential parts have not been published or submitted for review to another periodical or publication, even in another language.
• The paper submitted for consideration comes from the participating authors' own original research.
• Misleading or knowingly false statements are considered as unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
• If the authors used sources from other authors in their work, they are obliged to cite them correctly.
• Plagiarism in all its forms is unacceptable.
• All authors who significantly contributed to its final form are listed in the paper.
• The responsible author is obliged to ensure that all co-authors are included in the paper, they have seen and approved its final version and agreed to submit it to the journal.
• If authors discover a serious error in their own published work, they are obliged to immediately inform the editor and cooperate in correcting or withdrawing the article from its publication process.
• By submitting the manuscript, the authors provide the editorial board with the copyright of the article, the free right to publish it in printed and electronic form.
• The authors also agree to include the article in all databases in which the journal is or will be included.
• At the same time, the authors agree in writing to include their full names, workplaces and contact e-mail address in the introductory part of the contribution according to the Author's Declaration.
• The submitted manuscript must meet the formal and technical requirements listed in the For authors section. 

Reviewer's code of ethics

• The reviewer helps the editors and the editorial board in the decision on publishing/rejecting the paper. The reviewer's comments summarized in the peer review help the author to improve the quality of the paper.
• Any suggested reviewer who, due to professional or time reasons, is not ready to prepare a high-quality review, shall immediately notify the editors of the journal and decline the review process.
• If the reviewer has accepted the manuscript for review, he is required to prepare a review report within 30 days of receiving the study.
• Each manuscript submitted for review is treated as confidential by the reviewer.
• The review must be prepared objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inadmissible. The reviewer should express his or her views in a professional, clear, comprehensible and appropriate manner.
• The reviewer should mark the data and information that the author incorrectly cited or did not cite. Any statement that data or arguments have been previously published should be properly documented. The reviewer will notify the editor-in-chief in case of similarity or overlap of the reviewed manuscript with any other study known to him.
• The reviewer should not evaluate manuscripts where there could be a conflict of interest. 

Violation of principles of publication ethics

In the case of any violation of the above principles, measures will be taken in accordance with the journal's code of ethics. The implementation of remedies, measures and possible sanctions will always be undertaken only after a thorough investigation of potential actions in violation of publication ethics, which is the responsibility of the editor-in-chief and the scientific board of the journal.

© Editorial board of the Matej Bel Geographical Review 2023