AK VERION Press Policies

AK VERION Press: Publishing Policies and Ethical Standards

1. Our Publishing Mission and Commitment

AK VERION Press is committed to advancing scholarly communication through the responsible publication and dissemination of high-quality academic research. Our publishing principles are founded on scientific integrity, editorial independence, transparency, accountability, inclusivity, and respect for intellectual property.

We seek to provide a trustworthy publishing environment in which researchers, academics, practitioners, and other contributors can communicate original findings, exchange ideas, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge across scientific and scholarly disciplines.

These policies establish the principles and procedures governing the journals and scholarly publications published by AK VERION Press. They apply, as relevant, to authors, editors, peer reviewers, editorial-board members, guest editors, publishing staff, and other individuals involved in the publication process.

Our policies are informed by internationally recognised scholarly publishing guidance, including the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and established academic publishers. Each journal may maintain additional subject-specific policies consistent with this framework.

2. Editorial Independence

AK VERION Press recognises editorial independence as a fundamental principle of credible scholarly publishing.

Editorial decisions must be based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, and contribution of a manuscript to its field. Decisions must not be improperly influenced by commercial interests, publication fees, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, political considerations, or pressure from sponsors.

Editors are responsible for making publication decisions in accordance with their journal's editorial policies and the evidence available through editorial assessment and peer review.

The publisher may address administrative, legal, technical, and ethical matters but must not improperly interfere with the scientific evaluation of individual manuscripts.

Where an editor has a competing interest involving a submission, the manuscript must be handled independently by an appropriately authorised editor.

3. Peer Review Policy

AK VERION Press supports rigorous, fair, confidential, and timely peer review appropriate to the scope and requirements of each journal.

Each journal must clearly identify its peer-review model, such as double-anonymous, single-anonymous, or open peer review, and explain the procedures followed.

Unless otherwise stated in the relevant journal's policy, the peer-review process ordinarily involves the following stages:

1.      Initial editorial assessment: The manuscript is evaluated for relevance, completeness, originality, methodological soundness, and compliance with the journal's requirements.

2.      Reviewer selection: Suitable independent reviewers are invited based on their expertise, experience, availability, and potential conflicts of interest.

3.      Independent evaluation: Reviewers assess the scientific contribution, research design, methods, analysis, interpretation, ethical considerations, and presentation of the work.

4.      Editorial decision: The responsible editor evaluates the reviews and makes an independent decision to accept, request revision, or reject the manuscript.

5.      Revision and further assessment: Revised manuscripts may undergo additional editorial assessment or further peer review where necessary.

6.      Final decision: Acceptance is determined by the authorised editor in accordance with the journal's standards.

Peer review does not guarantee publication. The number of reviewers, review timelines, and decision procedures may vary according to the journal and manuscript type.

Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, evidence-based assessments and must not engage in personal criticism, discriminatory conduct, or inappropriate attempts to influence authors' citation practices.

4. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

AK VERION Press expects all participants in scholarly publishing to uphold the highest practicable standards of research integrity.

Authors must ensure that their work is original, accurately reported, ethically conducted, and appropriately referenced. Editors and reviewers must evaluate submissions fairly and protect confidential information.

The publisher does not tolerate research or publication misconduct, including:

·         Plagiarism and unattributed appropriation of another person's work.

·         Fabrication or falsification of research data, results, or experimental observations.

·         Deceptive manipulation of figures, images, or analytical outputs.

·         Duplicate publication or undisclosed redundant publication.

·         Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals, except where expressly permitted.

·         Improper attribution, ghost authorship, gift authorship, or other authorship violations.

·         Citation manipulation or coercive citation practices.

·         Undisclosed conflicts of interest that materially affect the integrity of the publication process.

·         Peer-review manipulation, fabricated reviewer identities, or fraudulent editorial practices.

·         Misrepresentation of research ethics approvals, funding, affiliations, or scientific findings.

Allegations will be assessed fairly and confidentially, with appropriate consideration of the available evidence and responses from the relevant parties.

Where necessary, AK VERION Press may request original data, supporting documentation, institutional clarification, or independent expert advice. Editorial action will be proportionate to the findings and consistent with the applicable journal policies.

5. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine scholarly contributions and carry corresponding responsibility for the published work.

Authors are expected to have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and accepted accountability for the integrity of the work.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communications with the journal, confirming that all authors have approved the submission, and ensuring that required declarations are complete and accurate.

All contributors who meet the applicable authorship criteria should receive appropriate recognition. Individuals whose contributions do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged where appropriate and with their consent.

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a reasonable explanation and the documented agreement of all affected authors. The editor may require further information before approving the change.

Authorship disputes should ordinarily be referred to the relevant institution or responsible authority when they cannot be resolved among the authors. The publisher will follow appropriate procedures without making unsupported determinations about disputed contributions.

AI systems and other non-human tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

6. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

AK VERION Press requires transparency concerning financial and non-financial relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, research, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication.

Authors must disclose relevant interests, including employment, consultancies, financial relationships, patents, funding arrangements, personal relationships, and other circumstances that may be pertinent to their work.

Reviewers must disclose potential conflicts before accepting an invitation and decline or discuss the assignment with the editor where impartiality may reasonably be compromised.

Editors and editorial-board members must declare relevant competing interests and recuse themselves from decisions in which those interests create a potential conflict.

A competing interest does not automatically invalidate research. Appropriate disclosure enables editors and readers to assess the circumstances transparently.

7. Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

Research must comply with applicable laws, institutional requirements, professional standards, and recognised ethical principles.

Human participants

Research involving human participants, human biological materials, identifiable personal information, or sensitive clinical data must have the necessary ethical review and approvals where required. Authors must provide relevant approval details and evidence of informed consent where applicable.

Identifiable information must not be published without appropriate authorisation and a legitimate basis for disclosure.

Animal research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable animal welfare legislation, institutional requirements, and recognised ethical standards. Authors must report relevant ethics approval, welfare safeguards, and procedures for minimising pain, distress, and unnecessary animal use.

Clinical trials and other regulated studies

Clinical trials must comply with applicable registration and reporting requirements. Authors should provide the required trial registration information and describe the study design, outcomes, and methods accurately.

Other ethical concerns

Editors may request documentation concerning biosafety, environmental protection, consent for publication, data protection, or other ethical issues relevant to a submission.

Ethics approval does not prevent the journal from considering whether the reported research meets appropriate ethical and scientific standards.

8. Plagiarism, Similarity Screening, and Originality

AK VERION Press supports the responsible use of similarity-screening tools to help identify potential textual overlap and other originality concerns.

A similarity score alone is not conclusive evidence of plagiarism. Editorial assessment must consider the source, context, extent, attribution, and nature of the overlapping material.

Authors must appropriately cite previous work, obtain permissions where necessary, and distinguish their own contributions from those of other researchers.

Plagiarism includes the unattributed use of text, ideas, data, images, or other intellectual contributions. Self-plagiarism and text recycling must also be evaluated in context, particularly where prior publication has not been disclosed or reused material creates a misleading impression of novelty.

Suspected violations may result in requests for clarification, revision, rejection, or post-publication action, depending on the evidence and seriousness of the concern.

9. Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy

AK VERION Press recognises that generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies can support research, writing, translation, data processing, and scientific communication. Their use must remain transparent, responsible, and subject to human oversight.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, and integrity of their submitted work.

AI may be used for appropriate supportive purposes, including language improvement, preliminary organisation of ideas, coding assistance, and research workflows, provided that applicable journal requirements are followed.

Material AI assistance in manuscript preparation, figure generation, or research methodology must be disclosed when required by the relevant journal policy. AI used as part of the research methodology should be described in sufficient detail to support evaluation and reproducibility.

AI must not be used to fabricate data, generate fictitious references, misrepresent scientific findings, manipulate evidence deceptively, or conceal plagiarism.

Reviewers and editors must protect confidential manuscripts and must not submit unpublished material to unauthorised AI systems. AI may support administrative work where permitted, but it must not replace independent scientific judgment or determine editorial decisions.

Each journal published by AK VERION Press may provide additional AI guidance suited to its discipline and publishing workflow.

10. Data Availability, Reproducibility, and Research Transparency

AK VERION Press encourages transparent reporting and responsible management of the data and materials supporting published research.

Authors should provide a data availability statement where required by the journal. This statement should explain whether supporting data are publicly available, included in supplementary materials, accessible through a repository, available upon reasonable request, or restricted for legitimate ethical, legal, privacy, or contractual reasons.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that shared data, code, protocols, and supplementary materials are accurate, appropriately documented, and legally shareable.

Where relevant, manuscripts should report sufficient methodological detail to enable independent evaluation and, where practicable, reproduction of the findings.

Editors may request supporting data, original files, or methodological documentation to investigate concerns about reliability, authenticity, or reproducibility.

Data sharing must respect participant confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, biosafety, and applicable legal requirements.

11. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing

AK VERION Press supports transparent dissemination of scholarly knowledge and may publish journals under open-access or other clearly specified publishing arrangements.

The access model, copyright ownership, applicable licence, author rights, reuse permissions, and any embargo or repository-deposit requirements must be stated clearly for each journal and article type.

For open-access publications, the journal must identify the licence under which the content is made available. Where a Creative Commons licence is used, the correct licence and its conditions must be clearly identified.

Authors must ensure that they have the necessary rights and permissions for third-party material included in their submissions.

Open access does not, by itself, establish that all published material is available for unrestricted reuse. Readers and authors must follow the specific copyright and licensing terms applicable to each publication.

The publisher will communicate its copyright and licensing arrangements transparently and will not imply that an article has a particular licence unless that licence has been formally applied.

12. Publication Fees and Financial Transparency

AK VERION Press is committed to transparent communication concerning publication-related charges.

Each journal must clearly disclose any applicable article-processing charges (APCs), submission fees, page charges, colour charges, or other mandatory publication fees before authors submit their work or incur the relevant cost.

Where a journal does not charge a particular fee, its website should state this accurately. Waivers, discounts, eligibility requirements, and the procedures for requesting financial assistance should also be explained where applicable.

Payment must not guarantee acceptance, favourable peer review, or preferential editorial treatment.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of whether an author, institution, or funder can pay publication charges. Fee arrangements must not undermine the integrity of peer review or create misleading expectations about publication outcomes.

13. Editorial Complaints and Appeals

AK VERION Press recognises the importance of fair procedures for addressing complaints and appeals.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they can provide a substantive reason, such as a demonstrable factual error, a material misunderstanding of the manuscript, a procedural irregularity, or evidence that relevant information was overlooked.

Appeals should be submitted in writing to the designated editorial contact and should clearly explain the grounds for reconsideration.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer-review procedures, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, or the administration of a journal will be reviewed by an appropriately authorised person who is not materially involved in the matter, where practicable.

The publisher may request supporting evidence, consult independent advisers, or refer relevant issues to the appropriate institution or authority.

An appeal does not guarantee reversal of an editorial decision. Decisions following a properly conducted appeal will be communicated with an appropriate explanation.

14. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Issues

AK VERION Press is committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Where a published article contains a material error, the journal will assess the nature and significance of the issue and determine whether a correction, clarification, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate action is required.

Corrections

Corrections may be issued when errors affect the accuracy, interpretation, attribution, or completeness of a published article but do not necessarily invalidate its principal findings.

Expressions of concern

An expression of concern may be considered when credible questions about an article remain unresolved and readers need to be informed while an investigation is ongoing.

Retractions

Retraction may be appropriate when the findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, when serious ethical violations are established, or when other circumstances justify removal of reliance on the article.

Retractions must be handled transparently, with the reason for the action clearly stated. The original publication should remain identifiable in the scholarly record, with its status appropriately indicated, except where exceptional legal or safety considerations require otherwise.

Post-publication criticism and scholarly discussion should be considered fairly and responsibly.

15. Digital Preservation and Long-Term Accessibility

AK VERION Press recognises that long-term preservation is essential to maintaining the scholarly record.

The publisher aims to establish and maintain appropriate arrangements for safeguarding published content, bibliographic metadata, and associated files against data loss, technical disruption, and changes in publishing infrastructure.

Depending on the journal's technical arrangements, preservation measures may include secure backups, redundant storage, repository deposits, and participation in recognised digital preservation services.

Each journal should clearly identify the preservation arrangements that have actually been implemented. No journal should claim participation in a particular archiving service unless that participation has been verified.

The publisher will review its preservation arrangements periodically and seek to maintain reliable access to published scholarly content over time.

16. Confidentiality and Data Protection

AK VERION Press expects authors, reviewers, editors, and publishing staff to respect the confidentiality of manuscripts, personal information, unpublished research, and editorial communications.

Information obtained through manuscript handling or peer review must not be disclosed or used for personal, professional, or commercial advantage without appropriate authorisation.

Personal data will be handled in accordance with the publisher's applicable privacy statement, relevant journal procedures, and applicable data-protection requirements.

Confidential manuscript files must be stored, transmitted, and processed using appropriate safeguards. Access should be limited to individuals who require the information for legitimate publishing purposes.

Where a security incident or confidentiality breach occurs, the publisher will assess the circumstances and take appropriate steps consistent with applicable obligations.

17. Advertising, Sponsorship, and Commercial Relationships

Commercial relationships must not compromise editorial independence or the credibility of published research.

Advertising, sponsorship, commissioned content, institutional partnerships, and other commercial arrangements must be transparently managed. Where relevant, sponsored or commissioned material should be clearly identified.

Editors must retain authority over scientific and editorial decisions. Advertisers, sponsors, funders, and commercial partners must not be permitted to determine peer-review outcomes or suppress unfavourable research findings.

Any commercial relationship that creates a relevant competing interest must be disclosed and managed appropriately.

18. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Publishing

AK VERION Press seeks to maintain a professional and inclusive publishing environment that respects the diversity of the global scholarly community.

Editorial decisions should be based on scholarly merit and relevant ethical requirements rather than an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, political beliefs, institutional prestige, or personal characteristics unrelated to the scientific assessment.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and publishing staff are expected to communicate professionally and respectfully.

The publisher does not tolerate harassment, discrimination, intimidation, or abusive conduct within its publishing activities.

Where appropriate, journals should use inclusive language and consider diversity in editorial recruitment, reviewer selection, and scholarly engagement.

19. Ownership, Governance, and Journal Management

AK VERION Press will identify its publisher, journal ownership or management arrangements, editorial responsibilities, and official contact information transparently.

Each journal should provide clear information about its aims and scope, editorial leadership, peer-review model, publication schedule, access model, fees, copyright, licensing, and ethical policies.

The publisher will seek to maintain secure and reliable publishing systems, clear editorial workflows, and appropriate oversight of editorial-board appointments and responsibilities.

Changes to ownership, editorial leadership, publishing arrangements, or other material governance matters should be managed transparently and communicated where relevant.

The publisher's administrative and commercial responsibilities must remain distinct from the independent scientific assessment of manuscripts.

20. Special Issues and Guest-Edited Collections

Special issues, themed collections, and guest-edited publications must comply with the same fundamental standards of research integrity, peer review, confidentiality, and editorial accountability as regular journal content.

Guest editors must declare relevant competing interests and apply the journal's established editorial procedures.

The responsible journal editor must maintain appropriate oversight of the collection, including reviewer selection, publication decisions, ethical concerns, and any allegations of misconduct.

Special issues must not be used to bypass peer review, guarantee publication to invited contributors, manipulate citations, or prioritise commercial interests over scholarly quality.

21. Responsibilities of Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

Authors are responsible for submitting original work, reporting methods and findings accurately, providing appropriate declarations, obtaining necessary approvals and permissions, and responding to editorial queries.

Reviewers are responsible for providing impartial, constructive, timely assessments, declaring conflicts of interest, maintaining confidentiality, and avoiding inappropriate use of unpublished information.

Editors are responsible for fair manuscript assessment, independent editorial decisions, appropriate reviewer selection, confidentiality, and the investigation of relevant ethical concerns.

The publisher is responsible for maintaining clear publishing policies, supporting responsible editorial procedures, safeguarding the integrity of the publication process, and reviewing policies as scholarly standards evolve.

All parties are expected to cooperate appropriately when concerns about research or publication integrity arise.

22. Policy Implementation and Review

These policies establish the overarching publishing principles of AK VERION Press. Individual journals may adopt additional requirements to address the needs of their disciplines, applicable regulations, professional guidance, and specific publishing models.

The publisher will review its policies periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research ethics, digital technology, artificial intelligence, and applicable law.

Material changes should be communicated through the publisher's or relevant journal's official website.

AK VERION Press will seek to implement these policies consistently, fairly, and transparently, while recognising that individual cases may require careful assessment of their specific circumstances.

23. Contact and Reporting Concerns

Questions, complaints, appeals, or concerns relating to publishing practices should be directed to the appropriate journal editorial office or the authorised AK VERION Press contact identified on the official website.

Reports of suspected misconduct should provide sufficient information to allow the concern to be assessed responsibly. Confidentiality will be respected to the extent practicable, subject to the requirements of a fair investigation and applicable law.

The publisher may refer matters to relevant institutions, professional bodies, or other appropriate authorities when warranted by the evidence and circumstances.

Our Commitment to Responsible Scholarly Publishing

AK VERION Press is committed to promoting a publishing environment founded on integrity, transparency, fairness, and respect for the scholarly record. Through clear policies and responsible editorial practices, we aim to support researchers and readers and to contribute meaningfully to the dissemination of reliable academic knowledge.