Publication Ethics

Łódzkie Studia Humanistyczne is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and adheres to the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved in the publication process – authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers – are expected to act ethically and responsibly.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must submit original and unpublished manuscripts that have not been submitted elsewhere.

All sources must be properly cited and referenced. Plagiarism in any form is strictly prohibited.

Data should be accurate and verifiable. Falsification or fabrication of results is considered a serious ethical violation.

All contributors must be properly listed as co-authors, and individuals who did not contribute significantly should not be included.

Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation of their research.

In case of errors discovered after publication, authors must promptly inform the editorial board to issue corrections or retractions as needed.

2. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair and impartial review process.

Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Editors must maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process and must not disclose information about submissions to anyone outside the process.

Editors must take appropriate action when ethical concerns arise, including investigating allegations of misconduct.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, and timely feedback.

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and avoid using information obtained during the review for personal advantage.

If a reviewer recognizes a conflict of interest or lacks expertise in the subject matter, they should promptly notify the editor and decline the review.

Reviewers should report any ethical concerns such as suspected plagiarism, duplicate submission, or data manipulation.

4. Handling Misconduct

The journal takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. In cases of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, or other ethical breaches, the editorial board will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines and may involve the author’s institution if necessary.

 

Conflict of Interest Policy

A conflict of interest refers to any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationship that may influence, or appear to influence, the objectivity of the peer-review process, editorial decisions, or the content of a publication.

The following parties are required to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest:

  • Authors – regarding financial and non-financial relationships;
  • Reviewers – regarding any potential competing interests;
  • Editors – when handling manuscripts involving their own institution, colleagues, collaborators, or subordinates.

Where a potential conflict of interest is identified:

  • the relevant editor or reviewer shall be recused from the editorial process;
  • an independent handling editor shall be appointed;
  • independent reviewers shall be selected;
  • all decisions and the reasons for them shall be documented.

Submissions by Editors or Editorial Board Members

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, or members of the Editorial Board:

  • are handled exclusively by an independent editor;
  • undergo the journal's standard double-blind peer-review procedure;
  • do not allow the submitting author to participate in editorial decision-making;
  • are accompanied by a publicly available declaration describing how the conflict of interest has been managed.

The Editorial Board ensures that regular publication of manuscripts authored by Editorial Board members is not permitted unless all established editorial procedures have been strictly followed.

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

The Editorial Board supports the responsible use of innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), in the preparation of scholarly publications. At the same time, the journal emphasizes the importance of academic integrity, transparency, and accountability when AI tools are used.

Authors must clearly disclose where and how artificial intelligence tools have been used in preparing their manuscripts (for example, for text generation, data analysis, language editing, or image creation). Manuscripts generated entirely by AI without substantial intellectual contribution from the authors are not accepted for publication. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and quality of their work, regardless of whether AI tools have been used.

The Editorial Board may use AI-assisted tools to support plagiarism detection, language editing, fact-checking, and other editorial tasks. However, all editorial decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts are made exclusively by editors and reviewers and are never delegated to AI systems.

The use of AI must not infringe copyright, violate confidentiality, or result in data manipulation. Authors must not conceal the use of AI or mislead readers regarding the origin of the manuscript or research findings.

Authors, reviewers, and editors share responsibility for complying with this policy. Violations may result in manuscript rejection, publication of corrections, or article retraction in accordance with the journal's editorial policies.

 

Retraction Policy

The Retraction Policy is implemented by the Editorial Board to alert readers to cases of self-plagiarism (when authors publish the same data in multiple publications), plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, undisclosed conflicts of interest that may have influenced the interpretation of the results or recommendations arising from them, and other forms of publication misconduct.

Retraction of a published article serves as a mechanism for correcting the scholarly record and informing readers about publications containing serious errors, unreliable findings, or research that cannot be considered trustworthy. Such publications may result from either unintentional mistakes or deliberate misconduct.

The purpose of retraction is to notify readers that a publication contains unreliable or invalid data.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Editorial Board follows the retraction policy set out below.

Grounds for Retraction

An article may be retracted for one or more of the following reasons:

  • plagiarism or other forms of improper use of copyrighted material;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • fabrication or falsification of research data or results;
  • serious errors (e.g., incorrect interpretation of results) that invalidate the scientific value or reliability of the publication;
  • inappropriate authorship (including honorary, guest, or omitted authorship);
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest or other violations of publication ethics;
  • republication of an article without the author's consent;
  • other serious breaches of the journal's ethical standards.

Initiating the Retraction Process

The retraction procedure may be initiated on the basis of:

  • a request submitted by the author(s);
  • a complaint from third parties, including individuals involved in a conflict of interest, accompanied by evidence of publication ethics violations;
  • evidence of research or publication misconduct identified by the Editorial Board.

The final decision regarding retraction is made by the Editorial Board in accordance with the COPE Core Practices and Retraction Guidelines.

Publication of the Retraction

Information concerning the retraction will be published on the journal's official website.

Following retraction, the article will remain permanently available in the journal archive. The full text will not be removed; instead, it will be clearly identified as Retracted, together with an explanation of the reasons for the retraction.

The corresponding author (or all authors, where appropriate) will receive a formal notification explaining the reasons for the retraction.