The editorial board of the journal «DICTUM FACTUM» guarantees an objective, transparent and confidential review of reports concerning potential breaches of academic integrity and publication ethics at all stages of the editorial and publishing process.

The editorial board of the journal ensures a transparent and fair procedure for handling complaints relating to possible breaches of academic integrity and publication ethics.

The procedure for handling complaints regarding breaches of academic integrity and publication ethics has been developed in accordance with international standards of publication ethics, in particular the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and applies to: authors; reviewers; members of the editorial board; readers; and other interested parties.

The main grounds for lodging a complaint are: suspicion of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data; breaches of authorship rules; undeclared conflicts of interest; breaches of confidentiality during the peer review process; biased or unethical peer review; discriminatory or inappropriate conduct by participants in the publication process; breaches of established editorial procedures.

Complaints must be submitted to the editorial office in writing (or electronically) via the journal’s official email address and must include:

1. The complainant’s full name (or organisation name) and contact details (email address).
2. The title of the publication or manuscript to which the complaint relates (DOI, title, authors, year of publication).
3. A specific description of the alleged infringement, stating the relevant facts and circumstances.
4. Evidence to support the complaint (screenshots, links, files, results of checks using anti-plagiarism software, etc.).
5. Date of the complaint and signature (or a scan of the signature or digital signature).

Anonymous complaints will not be considered.

Within five working days of receiving a complaint, the Editor-in-Chief or an authorised member of the editorial board will carry out an initial assessment of the complaint’s validity and decide whether to proceed with its consideration. The complainant will be notified that the complaint has been registered or that it has been rejected.

To consider the complaint, the editor-in-chief shall establish a temporary committee comprising members of the editorial board and/or external experts. The committee shall be formed in such a way as to ensure there is no conflict of interest, that members possess the relevant professional expertise, and that the consideration of the complaint is conducted impartially.

Following the investigation, the editorial board may take one or more of the following decisions:

• to reject the complaint as unfounded;
• require the publication to be corrected or clarified;
• publish a retraction;
• withdraw the article;
• terminate cooperation with the reviewer or editor;
• notify the relevant authorities (in the event of serious violations).

The decision must be proportionate to the seriousness of the breach. Timeframe for handling complaints: up to 30 working days.

All stages of the complaints-handling process are conducted in accordance with the principles of confidentiality and impartiality, and the processing of personal data within the proceedings is carried out in accordance with the principle of data minimisation and the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation.