Ethics

Publishing ethics

The quarterly “State and Local Government Budget Law” applies the principles of publication ethics resulting from the Code of Conduct adopted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The aim of the Quarterly is to popularize scientific knowledge in the field of public finance law in Poland and other countries. It publishes peer-reviewed scientific articles that make a significant contribution to the development of science in the area of broadly understood public finance law.

High standards of ethical behaviour are applied to all entities involved in the publication process.

Publishing ethics principles guiding the Editorial Board

The Editorial Office conducts an independent and impartial publishing policy, taking decisions on accepting scientific papers for publication in a transparent manner. The Editors ensure a reliable and professional publishing process, maintaining high editorial standards.

The Editorial Office ensures confidentiality and security of personal data processing – in accordance with the binding regulations.

The Editor-in-Chief, together with the subject editor, decides which of the submitted articles will be sent for further editorial work (in particular – for review).  The final decision concerning the publication of the text is always made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the subject editor and other members of the Editorial Staff.

Neither the Editor-in-Chief nor any member of the editorial staff will disclose any information about a submitted scientific paper to anyone not involved in the editorial process.

All those involved in the editorial process are obliged to report any case of any conflict of interest.

The editors will use all available measures to prevent plagiarism and the publication of false data. The editorial staff takes steps to prevent any occurrence of such negative phenomena as ghostwriting and guest authorship.

The editorial staff will document all manifestations of scientific dishonesty, in particular violations and breaches of ethics in science.

The editorial staff undertakes to respect the author's moral rights, and in particular to respect the right to authorship and to decide on the manner of designating authorship, as well as to care for the reputation and good name of the Authors and the work.

Ethical rules for authors

Authors must declare the originality of the submitted manuscript, and the absence of the negative phenomena of ghostwriting or guest authorship. If it is discovered that an author of a publication has engaged in unethical behaviour (e.g. plagiarism or republishing a previously published work or parts thereof), the Editor-in-Chief will ask the author for an explanation before taking the steps provided for in the COPE Guidelines.

Texts of other authors used in the work should be marked accordingly. All publications used in the creation of an academic article must be listed in the list of sources.

Authors may voluntarily withdraw a text submitted for publication from the publishing process without any consequences before it is published.

Texts submitted by authors are published on the basis of free publishing licences granted to the publisher, regulating all copyright issues. Failure to sign an agreement concerning the use of a work renders publication of a scientific article in “State and Local Government Budget Law” impossible.

Ethical rules for reviewers

Prior to publication, scientific articles undergo a review procedure. To assess each publication the Editorial Staff appoints at least two reviewers from among specialists in the field to which the publication pertains.

Before undertaking a review, reviewers assess whether, in view of the subject of the paper and the proposed time for completion of the review, they are able to fulfil their duty properly. Any selected reviewer who is unable to review the paper or knows that it will not be possible to complete the review in time should inform the editorial office.

The details of the reviewer of the publication shall not be disclosed – the review is performed on a double blind peer review basis. The list of reviewers co-operating with the journal, without identifying the reviewer of a specific publication, will be published on the journal's website once a year.

Reviewers prepare reviews that significantly assist the editorial process in deciding whether to publish a paper. Reviews should be performed in an objective manner, and criticism may concern substantive and formal issues and not personal ones. Reviewers are obliged to express their opinions in a clear manner. Theses formulated by reviewers should be supported by arguments.

All reviewed papers must be treated as confidential documents. They may not be distributed (forwarded), shown, or discussed with anyone other than an authorized member of the editorial office.

Reviewers should indicate sources (including: scientific publications) that have not been cited by the author of the work. The reviewer should also inform the editors of any significant similarity or overlap between the content of the reviewed paper and any other published work known to them. The reviewer should inform the editors of any suspicion of plagiarism in the reviewed publication.