Publication ethics

"Customs Scientific Journal" complies with the requirements established by the international Committee on Publication Ethics (Committee on Publication Ethics - COPE), which can be found on the COPE website.

Duties and rights of authors:

1. Authors are responsible for the originality of the text of the scientific paper, the accuracy of the facts, citations, statistical data, proper names, geographical names, and other information, as well as ensuring that the materials do not contain information that is not open for publication.
2. When an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, they are obligated to immediately inform the editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article.
3. Neither the editors nor the editorial board are responsible for the opinions, views, or content of the manuscripts published in the journal. The originality, proofreading, and correction of manuscripts and errors are the sole responsibility of the individual authors.

Duties and rights of the editorial board:

1. The editorial board decides on the publication of submitted papers based on the journal’s policy, academic values, and the conclusions of the reviewers.
2. The editor evaluates manuscripts independently of the authors' previous achievements, race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, citizenship, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.
3. The journal's editorial staff guarantees that personal data, other than what is publicly provided in the article, will be used solely for internal editorial purposes and will not be disseminated or transferred to third parties.

Duties and rights of reviewers:

1. Any manuscripts and supplementary materials received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They should not be shared or discussed with third parties.
2. A reviewer who is aware in advance of a lack of time to review or of circumstances that make it impossible to review the manuscript within the designated time frame must inform the editor and withdraw from the review process.
3. Reviews must be objective. Reviewers should express their views on conflicting points clearly and substantively. Personal criticism of the author is not acceptable.

 

Article selection criteria

The "Customs Scientific Journal" accepts unpublished manuscripts that have not been submitted for publication in any other journals, provided they present original research results relevant to the journal's scope and topics.

Main selection criteria: relevance of the research topic; originality and independence of the research; high theoretical level; reliable, original, and scientifically justified research results; methodological and linguistic quality; compliance with the journal's editorial policy and ethical principles, as well as manuscript requirements.

 

Anti-plagiarism policy

The "Customs Scientific Journal" accepts only original manuscripts that have not been previously published and have not been submitted to other journals.

All articles are checked for plagiarism using StrikePlagiarism.com, provided by the Polish company Plagiat.pl. Manuscripts that contain plagiarism or textual borrowing without proper references to the original sources will be rejected by the editorial board, and further investigation into the causes and circumstances of the borrowing will be conducted.

Plagiarism before publishing. The editorial board thoroughly examines any instance of plagiarism. If plagiarism or textual borrowing is identified by the editors or reviewers at any stage before the manuscript is published, the author(s) will be informed and asked to clarify whether the detected plagiarism is indeed their own work or whether it is original work of theirs that has been borrowed by another person and published (i.e., not plagiarism in the case of the peer-reviewed article). If this is not the case, the author is asked to rewrite the text or provide proper references to their original source. If plagiarism exceeds 40%, the article may be rejected.

Plagiarism check procedure. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism will be assessed based on the extent of the plagiarism. If plagiarism is below 40%, the manuscript will be returned to the authors for revision. The author(s) are advised to review the borrowed text in the manuscript and resubmit the updated version. If plagiarism exceeds 40%, the manuscript will be rejected without further editorial review.

The percentage of plagiarism is determined using the appropriate software and is also reviewed by the editorial board.

Plagiarism after publishing. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the editorial board may decide to retract the article from the journal’s electronic resources.

Self-plagiarism. The editorial board does not support excessive self-citation but acknowledges the justified use of self-references for clarifying a previously expressed opinion or properly citing earlier conducted and published research.

 

Privacy and Data Protection Policy

The editorial board of the journal ensures the confidentiality and protection of the personal data of all individuals interacting with the journal, including authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process. The editorial board adheres to the applicable data protection laws and strives to ensure the security and transparency of the processing of such data.

Collection and Use of Personal Data:
The editorial board collects only the personal data necessary for the publication process, specifically for processing submitted articles, organizing the review process, and communicating with authors, reviewers, and editors. This may include data such as names, contact details, affiliation, academic qualifications, and other information relevant to the publication process.

Processing of Personal Data:
Personal data are processed exclusively for purposes related to the publication in the journal, including:

  • Article evaluation by reviewers.

  • Communication regarding article publication.

  • Conducting scientific and publishing activities.

  • Publishing articles in online format.

All data are stored in a secure environment, and access is granted only to authorized individuals involved in the publication process.

Confidentiality:
All participants in the publication process (authors, reviewers, editors) are required to maintain confidentiality and not disclose any information obtained during the review process, or any other confidential data related to publications, until the article is officially published.

Data Transfer to Third Parties:
Personal data will not be transferred to third parties without the data subject’s consent, except when necessary to comply with legal requirements or in cases involving research misconduct, which may require the involvement of relevant organizations (e.g., organizations conducting investigations into violations of publication ethics).

Data Retention Period:
Personal data will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes of article publication, after which it will be deleted or anonymized in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

 

Conflict of interest

The editorial board of Customs Scientific Journal does not exclude a potential conflict of interests during the publication process.

A conflict of interests involves factors which have a negative impact on neutrality or can be interpreted as interference in the process of reviewing, making editorial decisions, publication, and presentation of a manuscript.

A conflict of interest may arise in relation to individuals or organizations and is divided into the following categories (but not limited to the below):

Personal conflict of interest

Personal relationships (e.g., friends, family members, actual or previous supervisors, opponents) with individuals involved in submitting or reviewing manuscripts (authors, reviewers, editors, or editorial board members);

personal beliefs (political, religious, ideological, and others) related to the manuscript’s topic may interfere with the objective process of publication (at the stage of submission, review, editorial decision-making, or publication).

Professional conflict of interest

A reviewer or editor is a colleague of the author who participated in or observed the conduct of the specific study.

Membership in organizations lobbying the author’s interests.

Financial conflict of interest

Research grants from various organizations funding governmental, non-governmental, research or charitable institutions.

Patent applications (existing or pending), including applications from institutions the author is affiliated with and from which one may profit.

Fees, gifts, and rewards of any kind.

All persons related to the manuscript, including authors, editors, reviewers, and readers, who comment on or evaluate the relevant paper, must report any conflict of interest.

If, according to the editors, there are circumstances that may affect an unbiased review, the editors will not engage such a reviewer into the peer-review process.

The editors reserve the right not to publish the manuscript if a conflict of interests declared by the author jeopardizes the objectivity and reliability of the research evaluation.

If the editorial office detects a conflict of interest that was not declared when submitting the manuscript, the manuscript may be rejected.

 

Article Retraction Policy

In the event of any allegations of research misconduct related to a published article in our journal, the editorial team follows the guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The article retraction procedure includes the following steps:

  1. Investigation: Upon receiving information regarding possible ethical violations, the publisher or editors conduct a preliminary investigation, contacting the author(s) of the article for clarification. If the allegations involve publication ethics violations, such as plagiarism, data falsification, or other misconduct, a more detailed investigation will be carried out.

  2. Retraction: If the investigation reveals that the article contains serious ethical violations or misconduct that cannot be rectified, the article will be retracted. All necessary changes will be made to the journal's online archive to clearly indicate that the article has been withdrawn due to ethical violations.

  3. Public Announcement: In the case of retraction, an appropriate announcement will be published on the official journal website, outlining the reason for the retraction and providing any available clarifications. This announcement will be accessible to all journal users and will comply with ethical standards.

  4. Record Keeping: After retraction, the records of the article will remain in the journal’s archive with an appropriate note indicating the reason for withdrawal. This ensures the preservation of the historical context of the article and maintains transparency in the publication process.

  5. Responsibility of the Editorial Team and Publisher: The editorial team and publisher must be prepared to cooperate with authors, institutions, and other stakeholders to ensure a fair and effective resolution of any allegations concerning research misconduct.