Ethical Principles for Authors
Requirements for manuscripts. Submission guidelines
The manuscript submitted to the journal’s editorial office must be in accordance with the requirements. The completeness of the submitted documents, compliance with the established requirements, correspondence to the profile of the journal and the scientific level are initially checked. In case of non-compliance with the requirements above, the article is not accepted for further consideration.
The authors attach to the article their personal data (place of work, address of place of work, position, e-mail, work phone), which are allowed for publication in the journal.
If the publication contains criticism or comments regarding third parties, authors must comply with ethical standards.
The authors agree that their article will be submitted for review. According to the results of external and internal (editorial) reviews, the author is given information on the required modifications and the time frame in which they need to be done. Upon receipt of such information, authors have the right to provide reasoned explanations and comments, to oppose the comments made. The authors carry out activities to address possible shortcomings (correction, reduction or adding new data to the article) in collaboration with the editors.
In turn, if necessary, authors should be ready to play the role of reviewer.
Access to the source data of the article. Originality of work and plagiarism
The authors are responsible for the accuracy of the names, surnames and quotations, the accuracy of the facts, information and results of the research. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to assess the reliability of the work, including checking the baseline data and the results obtained.
Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable
The author should retain the initial data which formed the basis of his article and be prepared to provide public access to such data upon request of the editorial staff, both during the period of its consideration and within a year after its publication.
The authors should ensure that they have written independently an entirely original work. The authors should ensure that use of other people's works, fragments and statements from them is properly acknowledged, e.g. they are appropriately cited or quoted (with the obligatory indication of the author and the source), and permission has been obtained where necessary
Any forms of plagiarism are unacceptable in the paper, including:
- representation of someone else's paper or a fragment from it as the author’s own paper, including absence of quotes were necessary;
- paraphrasing parts of another’s paper without proper referencing and attributiuon (this also includes the replacement of words with synonyms, the arrangement of sentences in a different order, etc.), which equates to verbatim copying.
Excessive borrowing, that is, the use of a significant part of someone else's work, with reference to the author and the original source, but in a volume much higher than the purpose of quoting, is prohibited.
The author is liable for the unlawful use of intellectual property objects in a scientific article in accordance with the law in force. Materials protected by copyright (for example, images, tables, large quotes, etc.) may be reproduced only with the permission of their owners.
Negative results of the research (experiments) do not preclude the publication of an article in the journal.
Duplication of publications
In order to avoid duplication of publications, authors should not submit to the journal a manuscript identical or substantially the same as that which has been submitted, is under consideration or has already been published in another printed or electronic media. This does not preclude consideration of an article not accepted for publication by another journal, or an article providing a complete description of the study conducted after the publication of the preliminary results (for example, as abstracts or posters presented at conferences).
In exceptional cases, materials previously published in other journal can be accepted for publication in Forensic Examination of Belarus, subject to the consent of the editorial office and / or publisher of the first publication, as well as the existence of a bibliographic reference to the first edition. In case such materials are published in the translation, it is necessary to provide information about the translator and to guarantee the observance of his rights (including the publication of information about the translator in the journal).
Self-plagiarism (also known as text recycling) is prohibited. Verbatim copying of previously published works and their paraphrasing, creation of new work by compiling earlier publications constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable.
If elements of the manuscript were published earlier in another paper, the author should make reference to the earlier work and clarify the difference between the earlier and the new paper submitted to the Forensic Examination of Belarus. Such elements can be can be used only as a basis for new conclusions or for comparisons with new data.
An author should indicate that the paper is published for the first time in the manuscript or in the cover letter.
Bibliographic list. Reliability of sources
The article should contain links only to those publications that were actually used in the course of the study. Authors should not copy from other publications links to works with which they have not read. Accuracy of reference data is the author’s responsibility.
In the event that the author borrows fragments and statements from other works, it is necessary to indicate a reference to the source. Author should cite publications which formed the basis for developing his own ideas and for conducting scientific research.
The authors are responsible for the presence of data that are not subject to open publication in the manuscript.
Data, materials and other information received privately, for example, during personal conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without the explicit written permission from the source.
Authorship. Recognition of the contribution of third parties
Only persons that have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study can be listed as co-authors.
The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
"Invisible authors" (“ghost authors), that is, individuals who actually made a significant contribution to a research (article), but were excluded from the list of authors when sending a publication to the journal. are not permitted. The editorial office has the right to require the co-authors to provide information on the role of each of them in the writing of the material and topublish it.
Participation, which consists only in providing funding, general management of the research team, collecting material, editing, proof-reading, providing premises, tools, etc., is not a basis for including a person as a co-author in the author's group. However, the input of such persons, who contributed to the research and writing of the article, should be recognized. With their consent, they can be thanked (e.g. in the “acknowledgements” section of the publication) or they can be indicated in the text of the article as participants of the research (project).
In any case, it is considered unethical to name as co-authors or persons who have contributed to the study:
- «guest authors», that is, well-known scientists who have not actually worked on the article, but whose participation could potentially increase the chances of publication;
- «honorary authors», that is, individuals who have not actually worked on the article, but who have the power in relation to real authors, for example, heads of departments, representatives of the administration, etc.
The order of the names of the authors (co-authors) in the work is determined by the co-authors themselves. When the list and order of authors are modified for legitimate reasons, which are not objectionable to any of the authors, all authors (including those whose names are excluded from the list) must express their consent in writing to any such addition, removal or rearrangement.
Disputes regarding the authorship of both published and unpublished works that arise before or after publication cannot be resolved by the journal’s editorial office and are considered by other relevant independent bodies.
Protection of humans and animals as objects of scientific research. Research safety
If the work provides data on the use of animals or the participation of people as objects of research, the manuscript should indicate that all stages of the study comply with the legislation and have been implemented in accordance with ethical standards.
The manuscript should clearly state that written informed consent has been obtained from all people who have become objects of research. Further information and documentation to support this should be made available to the journal's editorial office on request. Manuscripts may be rejected if the editorial office considers that the research has not been carried out within an appropriate ethical framework.
One must always ensure that privacy rights are respected. Patients are entitled to privacy. Identifying information, including patient names, initials, hospital numbers and case histories, should not be published unless this information is of great scientific value or if the patient (or parent, or guardian) does not provide written consent to the publication.
Authors should inform individuals that there is a possibility that material that can identify the (details, images, or videos relating to an individual person) after the publication will be freely available on the internet and may be seen by the general public. Authors must prove that the written informed consent of such persons to the dissemination of information and report this in the article.
In cases where images are entirely unidentifiable and there are no details on individuals reported within the manuscript, consent for publication of images may not be required. The final decision on whether consent to publish is required lies with the editor-in-chief.
Authors must include all appropriate warnings concerning any specific and particular hazards that may be involved in carrying out experiments or procedures described in the article or involved in instructions, materials, or formulae in the article; include explicitly relevant safety precautions, and cite, if an accepted standard or code of practice is relevant, a reference to the relevant standard or code.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work (both at the stage of its consideration and after publication), it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the editor-in-chief about it and cooperate with him in order to correct the зфзук (if possible), revoke it, or publish a refutation.
Upon receipt of information from third parties that the work contains a fundamental error or inaccuracy, the relevant information is brought to the author by the editorial staff. If such information is received before the publication of the article, the author can withdraw the work or promptly make corrections to it. If the article has already been published, the author must prepare data for the publication of refutations, apologies and other similar statements. In any case, the author has the opportunity to provide evidence of the correctness of his data.
Information disclosure. Conflict of interests
The author should inform the journal's editorial office about the existing or potential conflict of interests in case of its discovery at any stage of the review of the manuscript of the article.
Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
Known and potential conflicts of interest must be indicated by the author either directly in the text of the manuscript or in a cover letter. If the author does not have information about a possible conflict of interest, it is recommended to indicate this in the cover letter.
Authors should indicate the names of those to whom, in their opinion, a manuscript should not be sent for a review due to possible, usually professional, conflict of interest. If the authors are not sure that there is a conflict of interest, they should explain the situation to the editor so that the latter himself appreciates it.
All sources of financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article should be disclosed, as should the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.
