CODE OF ETHICS OF THE SPORT, SCIENCE, EDUCATION JOURNAL
The Editorial Board of the Sport, Science, Education journal adopts and adheres to the principles of publication ethics accepted by the international scientific community and reflected in the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All participants in the journal’s publishing process fulfil their obligations in accordance with the principles of publication ethics in the following main directions:
1. General Provisions
The International Editorial Board of the Sport, Science, Education journal requires from its authors scientific texts that are: original works - independent or co-authored; developed without any biased political positions, based on the scientific achievements of the cited authors; exclusive of verbal attacks or disrespectful tone towards researchers; formatted in accordance with the standards adopted by the journal (see Guide- lines for Authors); submitted for publication only to the Sport, Science, Education journal; accompanied by a written declaration from the author(s) that the work complies with this Code of Ethics and can be published in both the print and electronic editions of the journal.
Sport, Science, Education is an open-access journal, which means that all articles are available online to all users immediately after publication. Non-commercial use and distribution through any medium are permitted, provided that the author and the journal are properly cited and acknowledged.
2. Rights and Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Secretary
The Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Secretary bear direct responsibility for each issue of the journal.
The Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Secretary observe the following parameters: no more than 2/3 of the authors in each issue of the journal should be from the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo compared to authors from other scientific and educational institutions in the country and abroad.
The editorial team verifies the compliance of the abstract and the full text of the work with the guidelines for authors. Subsequently, the text undergoes inspection via the electronic university plagiarism system. In the event that the detected matches exceed 10% or if they are complete sentences/paragraphs/tables, as well as scientific statements from other authors or from the author’s uncited works, the text is not admitted to the next stages of the publication procedure.
Depending on the topic of the work, the editorial team selects two representatives from the Board of Independent Anonymous Reviewers who evaluate the material within a period of up to one month and under the conditions of anonymous review (see Review).
Only such scientific work that has received a positive evaluation from both members of the Board of Independent Anonymous Reviewers, involved in its evaluation procedure, is directed for publication.
The Editor-in-Chief has the right to submit the evaluation of a work rejected by the reviewers to an arbitrator if the author has thoroughly argued its qualities in a written objection.
The editorial team performs stylistic editing and first proofreading of the texts, informing the author of their suggestions and corrections.
The editorial team has the right to redirect any given work to the next issue if the optimal number of texts have already been accepted and approved.
The International Editorial Board does not provide third parties with information about unpublished works.
3. Rights and Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers are obliged to: give their independent and objective opinion in favour or against the publication of the proposed work within the specified period; contribute to improving the quality of the work by making recommendations, if necessary, regarding the content, structure and/or style of the work; maintain confidentiality regarding any information related to the manuscript; promptly notify the Editorial Board of other materials already published or submitted for publication in another journal which bear substantial re-semblance in content to the one submitted for review in the Sport, Science, Education, provided that they have such information.
Reviewers have the right to withdraw from the review process of a given manuscript if they consider themselves unable to fulfil their obligations or due to other reasons.
4. Rights and Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are obliged to strictly comply with these ethical rules, as well as with the procedure and standard for formatting materials (see Guidelines for Authors); to bear responsibility for the originality and scientific contributions of their publications; to respect the responsibilities and rights of the editorial team (see Section I § 2); to declare any potential conflict of interest that may be considered or viewed as affecting the publication process; to make corrections to the text of the publication if the reviewers have made recommendations to that effect.
In the case of authors publishing studies that include experimental or empirical research with hu- mans, the authors shall declare in writing that the research subjects (or their guardians/parents, in the case of children or persons with disabilities) have given their informed consent before participating in the study, in accordance with the rules of the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, revised in 2013, the Belmont Report on Ethical Principles and Rules for the Protection of Human Subjects in Human Research (1979), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The declaration of compliance with ethical norms in conducted empirical/experimental research with humans can be found in Appendix 1 of this Code of Ethics.
Authors have the right to withdraw a submitted work no later than one month after the date of its sub- mission to the Editorial Board; to receive updates on the process of acceptance, editing and review of the proposed material.
5. The responsibilities of the Publisher (St. Cyril and St. Methodius University Press) are as follows:
• to conduct plagiarism checks on all deposited materials through the StrikePlagiarism program. Theplagiarism check is performed in accordance with the rules adopted by the University of Veliko Tarnovo;
• to perform pre-press preparation of each issue, including final editing and proofreading of the proposed materials;
• to provide authors with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the material prepared for publication and, if possible, makes desired corrections related to its formatting;
• to publish an electronic and corresponding print issue of the journal;
• to provide the due print issue of the journal to each of the authors included, as well as to each member of the International Editorial Board;
• to support the compilers of the issue by consulting them on problems that arise during the work process;
• to support the editorial board in creating projects for the development of the journal, as well as the process of indexing the publication.
PROCEDURES IN CASE OF ESTABLISHED UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
1. Establishing unethical behaviour
Unethical behaviour or misconduct can be established and brought to the attention of the Editorial Board or the publisher by anyone at any time, therefore it is necessary to provide sufficient information and evidence to initiate an investigation.
2. Investigation
The initial decision to investigate and establish unethical behaviour must be made by the Editorial Board, which may consult or seek advice from the publisher, if appropriate.
Evidence must be gathered avoiding the dissemination of accusations.
After consultations with affected or competent authorities, the Editorial Board assesses the severity of the violation.
3. Follow-up actions by the Editorial Board of the Sport, Science, Education journal (in ascending order of severity of the violation):
• notification to the author if the violation can be overcome with the necessary adequate actions in the course of the work process;
• official withdrawal of the publication from the journal, accompanied by notification to the author
with a copy to the head of the author’s department/faculty or to the funding institution;
• publication of an editorial article in the next issue informing about misconduct, if the report has been received following the publication of the material;
• imposition of an official ban on the author from publishing in the journal.
COPYRIGHT
No one may use or reproduce another author’s work in any way whatsoever without the express per- mission of its creator or their authorized representative. This applies to any reproduction of scientific text, whether in print or online.
Assignment of Rights
Authors publishing in the Sport, Science, Education journal grant exclusive rights to the publisher, as the journal is open access. Authors are allowed to promote their publications in Sport, Science, Education on other platforms only with the explicit mention of the journal of publication (Sport, Science, Education). The Sport, Science, Education journal has a license type: CC BY-NC/ Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.
No fee is required from authors for publications in the Sport, Science, Education journal. The pub- lished issues are freely accessible.
This Code of Ethics was adopted by the members of the International Editorial Board of the Sport, Science, Education journal and approved at a meeting of the Faculty Council of the Pedagogical Faculty at St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo.