Editorial Polices

Compliance with the principles and recommendations of COPE, WAME, DORA

The journal Biotechnologia Acta adheres to the principles and recommendations of COPE, WAME, DORA and other international organizations that define ethical, editorial and evaluation standards of modern scientific communication. This ensures transparency of editorial processes, high quality of review, responsibility to the scientific community and integration of Ukrainian research into the global context.
- COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): the journal adheres to ethical standards of publication practice, ensures transparent review, prevents plagiarism and conflict of interest.
- WAME (World Association of Medical Editors): supports international editorial standards, promotes professionalization of editorial activities and ensures responsibility to authors and readers.
- DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment): the journal focuses on the quality and significance of scientific contribution, and not only on bibliometric indicators, supports various forms of research assessment.

The editorial policy of the Journal is based on the recommendations of the ethics of scientific publications developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/), complies with current requirements of Ukrainian legislation with regard to copyright and plagiarism, and is aimed at

– promotion of high academic and ethic standards by single-blind peer review and following the best practice recommendations;

– promotion of transparency of the reviewing by applying publicly available review form and prescribed process;

– facilitation of access to the research results for Ukrainian and international research community by

• providing structured abstracts in English/Ukrainian;
• ensuring open access to the full texts;
• supporting the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC );
• processing and publishing the papers free of charge.

– ensuring unbiased consideration of all submissions following the established procedure;

– using a License agreement to regulate authorship, copyright, intellectual property right and potential conflict of interest issues;

– implementation of the mechanisms to correct the paper in case errors or misconduct have been revealed after the publication.

The Editorial Board expects the authors the compliance with the following principles:

* originality of the research;

* reliable results and infallibility of the data;

* an objective discussion of the significance of the research;

* recognition of the contribution of others, proper referencing of the other’s work;

* avoidance of unnecessary self-referencing and extension of the list of references;

* provision of confidential information only upon explicit permission of the owner/source;

* availability of the permission of the third party to use their content (including images) in the publication;

* acknowledgment of all essential contributors to the research results reported in the paper;

* approval of the final version of the paper by all the co-authors and their written consent to publish it;

* immediate reporting to the Editorial Board about significant errors or inaccuracies in the publication.

The reviewer and Editorial Board members should observe the following principles when evaluating the article for publication:

* providing objective evaluation based solely on the academic merit of the work and aimed at improving the quality of the text;

* informing the Executive Editor about potential conflict of interest and suspicion of plagiarism;

* notifying the Executive Editor if the review cannot be finished on time or the paper does not fit the area of competence;

* treating the paper under review as confidential information;

* drawing attention to the missed references, excess of references, and substantial repetition of already published results.

Copyright and copying

All articles published in the Journal are freely available under CC-BY-NC License from the following websites:

– Journal "Biotechnologia Acta" http://biotechnology.kiev.ua;
– V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine http://www.nbuv.gov.ua

The articles are reviewed by three independent experts who are appointed by the editorial board (single-blind reviewing process). After that, the corresponding author receives a copy of an article manuscript with reviewers’ remarks. The reprint version revised by the author and agreed with reviewers is considered the final one and must be signed by the reviewers and authors. After that, the text, figures, and table replacements or modifications are prohibited. When publishing an article, the editorial board follows the last version delivery date. When publishing an article, the editorial board follows the last version delivery date. Editors should strive to ensure that peer review oft their journal is fair, unbiased, and timely.

Our journal editors treat the submitted manuscript and all communication with the authors and referees as confidential. The authors must also treat communication with the journal as confidential: correspondence with the journal, reviewers' reports, and other confidential material must not be posted on any website or otherwise publicized without prior permission from the editors, whether or not the submission is eventually published

Biotechnologia Acta requires all authors to disclose any financial conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. The authors must declare any such conflict in the cover letter accompanying the manuscript and in the Acknowledgments section of the manuscript itself.

Readers should be informed about who has funded research or other scholarly work, whether the funders had any role in the study and its publication, and, if so, what this was.

Publication ethics and editorial policy of the publication,
which complies with the recommendations of COPE or other recognized international organizations in the field of publication ethics

The editorial board of the journal Biotechnologia Acta adheres to the international standards of publication ethics defined by the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines). Falsification or falsification of data, plagiarism (including re-publication of one's own work without proper citation), as well as illegal appropriation of research results, are categorically unacceptable practices. The editorial board treats any violations of ethical norms with the utmost seriousness; each case will be considered in accordance with COPE's recommendations. Compliance with ethical rules by all participants in the publication process guarantees: • protection of authors' intellectual property rights, • improvement of the quality and trust in the publication by the global scientific community, • prevention of unauthorized use of authors' materials. The journal's policy provides for the publication of only new and original works. The use of texts copied from copyrighted sources, even in introductory sections, is possible only with a clear reference to the source (by citations or appropriate formatting). Each article must contain elements of scientific novelty and be written in the author's own words. In the event of significant textual overlap with previously published works without proper explanation, the article will not be considered for publication again. This requirement is an integral part of the journal Biotechnologia Acta's editorial policy and review process.
Archiving and long-term open access storage policy, including information on repositories, technical means, and guarantees of accessibility. The journal Biotechnologia Acta provides long-term preservation and open access to all publications, using international archiving standards, repositories, and technical measures that ensure the continuous availability of content. The archiving and long-term storage policy includes: Repositories and indexing - National and international databases: journal articles are indexed in DOAJ, CrossRef, CAS, Google Scholar, ProQuest, Index Copernicus, and other international systems. - National repository of the National Library of Ukraine: archival issues are stored in the National Library of Ukraine named after V.I. Vernadsky (Academy Journals portal), which ensures duplication and long-term preservation. - DOI identifiers: each article receives a unique DOI, which guarantees its constant citation and accessibility. Technical means - Storage format: all publications are available in PDF and HTML, ensuring compatibility across different platforms. - CC BY license: allows free distribution, editing, and use of materials even for commercial purposes, provided that the source is cited. - Permanent availability: the final version of the article is stored online from the moment of publication without time or access restrictions. - Accessibility guarantees - Open Access: all journal materials are free to read, download, and print. - No barriers: there are no national, political, or religious restrictions for authors and readers. - Archive duplication: storage in several repositories (journal website, NBUV, international databases) guarantees restoration of access even in the event of technical failures. 

Exemption from any payment (contributions) for the processing, review and/or publication of articles
submitted by third-level higher education applicants of the budgetary form of training, performed by them alone (without co-authors)

The journal Biotechnologia Acta publishes articles on a free basis, which is an important component of the policy of supporting young scientists, which provides for the exemption from any payment for the processing, review and publication of articles submitted by third-level higher education applicants (Doctors of Philosophy/PhD) studying in the budgetary form of training. This provision also applies to works performed alone, without co-authors, which aims to stimulate independent research, ensure equal access to publication opportunities, and remove financial barriers for postgraduate students. This practice emphasizes the journal's social mission - to promote the development of young scientists, support their integration into the global scientific community, and ensure the openness of research results regardless of the authors' financial capabilities.