The ethics statements of Facta Universitatis. Series: Electronics and Energetics (FU Elec Energ) are based on guidelines and standards developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties are expected to commit to provided publication ethics. We do not tolerate plagiarism or any other unethical behaviour of any party. Manuscripts that do not follow this guidelines will be removed.
Publication decisions and Editor's duties
Publication decisions
The Editor is responsible for deciding which of the papers submitted to the journal will be published. The Editor must keep the information pertaining the submitted manuscript confidential and disclose any conflict of interest. The Editor evaluates submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and its relevance to the journal’s scope. The Editor evaluates manuscripts without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism should also be considered.
Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Editor and editorial board members will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. Editor will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.
Reviewer’s responsibilities
Contribution to editorial decisions
The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of scientific endeavor. Facta Universitatis, Series: Electronics and Energetics shares the view of many, that all scholars who wish to contribute to the scientific process have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Reviewers must evaluate the manuscript only for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Acknowledgement of sources
Reviewers should identify cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Any statement that has been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. Reviewers should notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge. Reviewers must bring to the attention of the Editor any information that may be reason to reject publication of a manuscript.
Disclosure and conflict of interest
Any invited referee who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should notify the Editor to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Authors' duties
Reporting standards
Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study supporting their paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available, if practicable. Authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for a reasonable amount of years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.
Originality, plagiarism and acknowledgement of sources
Authors will submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal of primary publication. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by the journal should not be submitted to other publications while the manuscript is under review.
Authorship of the paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, analysis and/or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the paper (e.g. language editing or medical writing), they should be recognized in the acknowledgements section.
The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author should also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Authors should disclose any conflicts of interest that might influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in form of an erratum. If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains an error, it is the obligation of the author to cooperate with the editor, including providing evidence to the editor where requested.
Publishing responsibilities of authors
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of work of the author and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior.
By signing the Copyright and Warranty Form, the Corresponding Author and all co-authors jointly and severally warrant and represent the following:
- The submitted article is original.
- The submitted article does not contain any statements or information that is intentionally misleading or inaccurate.
- All Authors have been informed of the full content of the submitted article at, or prior to the time of submission.
- The submitted article has not been previously published. An exception can be made for papers published at a conference by the Authors themselves, whereby a significant modification and extension of the already published work has been conducted thus justifying publication in FU Elec Energ.
- The submitted article is not being considered for publication elsewhere in any form and will not be submitted for such consideration while under review by FU Elec Energ.
- Nothing in the submitted article violates any right of privacy or infringes any intellectual property rights (including without limitation copyright, patent, or trademark) or any other rights of any kind of any person or entity, and does not contain any material or instructions that might cause harm or injury.
- Nothing in the submitted article infringes any duty of confidentiality which the Author(s) may owe to another party or violates any contract, express or implied, that the Author(s) may have entered into.
- Permission has been obtained and included with the submitted article for the right to use and authorize use in print and online formats, or of any format that hereafter may be developed for any portions that are owned or controlled by a third party.
Reporting standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial 'opinion' works should be identified as such.
Hazards and human or animal subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
Use of patient images or case details
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper.
Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in Facta Universitatis, Series: Electronics and Energetics Engineering publication. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to Facta Universitatis, Series: Electronics and Energetics on request.
Particular care should be taken with obtaining consent where children are concerned (in particular where a child has special needs or learning disabilities), where an individual's head or face appears, or where reference is made to an individual's name or other personal details.
Failure to meet any of the above-mentioned standards and requirements will lead to rejection of the submitted manuscript or retraction of the already published article.
Retraction notices will mention the reasons and basis for the retraction to enable readers to understand why the article is unreliable and will also specify how the matter came to the journal’s attention (claimants may be named only when they have given permission).
Publications will be retracted as soon as possible after the editor is convinced that the publication is seriously flawed, misleading, or falls into any of the categories described above.
Publishers and editors are always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
Conflict of interest
All manuscripts submitted to the journal must be accompanied by a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a declaration by the authors that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare.
All authors must disclose all their potential conflicts of interest to the editors of the journal already at the time of submission. These include all financial and non-financial interests and relationships (e.g., full-time or part-time employment, negotiations regarding future employment, grants or research funding, consultancies, travel grants, speaking or writing fees, honoraria, paid expert testimony, strong views relevant to the topic, etc.), direct employment with a private sector entity (whether full or part-time), and service on private sector and non-profit Boards and advisory panels, whether paid or unpaid. Authors should also disclose any conflict of interest that may have influenced either the conduct or the presentation of the research, such as academic interests and rivalries, and similar.
A submission must be accompanied by a Letter of Submission, in which the authors, besides the Copyright Form, must include a draft statement that discloses all relevant conflicts of interest and affiliations, or a declaration that they do not have any conflicts of interest to report.
The invited reviewers and handling editors are also obliged to report any conflict of (financial or non-financial) interest to the Editorial Board, which will then suitably act to avoid the reported conflict of interest. A paper submitted by an editor will be handled by one of the other editors who does not have a conflict with the review and who is not at the same institution as the submitting editor. The handling editor and reviewers will not be from the same institution as any of the authors of the submitted paper, or have any kind of relationship to the authors.