PUBLISING ETHICS
Matej Bel University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Physical Education and sport is committed to meeting normative standards of ethical behavior in all phases of the publishing process. The following lines describe the common standards of the Slovak Journal of Sport Science publishing process;
Researchers should conduct their research in accordance with best practices and codes of relevant professional bodies or national and international regulatory bodies. The Slovak Journal of Sport Science progresses and requires standard ethical behavior for all participating sides, such as the author, journal editor, reviewer, publisher and company owning the journal or their sponsors. The Slovak Journal of Sport Science follows the ethical schemes, that are identical to publication ethics (http://www.publicationethics.org.). All studies should be carried out in accordance with the latest revision of the Helsinki Declaration.
Editors duties
The editors undertake to adhere the ethical standards of the publishing process and undertake to evaluate the accepted manuscripts based on their scientific originality (relevance, significance, applicability, originality of the study). Acceptance of the article is conditional solely on scientific originality, regardless of the author´s race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation. Decisions on editing and publishing are not determined by the policies of governments or other agencies outside the Journal itself.
Publisher duties
The publisher has a supportive, investment and prophylactic role in the process of scientific communication but is also ultimately responsible for ensuring that ethical standards are observed in his publications. The publisher complies with the International Ethical Principles for Publishing. (https://www.stmassoc.org/2013_05_21_STM_Ethical_Principles_for_Scholarly_Publication.pdf)
The publisher acts in accordance with the above guidelines to support editors, reviewers and authors in performing their ethical duties. The publisher also follows the basic procedures of The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): (https://publicationethics.org/), in order to achieve the highest possible standards of publication ethics. The publisher undertakes to publish the works of the authors independently, in an objective manner without discrimination of sex, orientation, religion, political opinion, ethnic or geographical origin. All the articles must be judged and accepted based on their content and academic value. The publisher must ensure editorial independence and no commercial income should influence the editor´s decision. The relationship between publisher and editor should be firmly based on the principle of editorial independence.
Discretion
The editorial team of the Slovak Journal of Sport Science is committed to discreet adherence to information about the authors of the article to guarantee an objective peer review process. Furthermore, they undertake not to use any part of the unpublished and published manuscript without written consent. The head of the editorial board, together with the editor-in-chief and the editorial board, is responsible for the scientific and ethical level of the journal.
Reviewers duties
Reviewers have the full right to decide whether to accept an article into the Journal. The review process is mandatory in order to improve the quality of published articles. Reviewers have a duty to treat the authors´ work in accordance with ethical rules and good etiquette. The reviewer´s role is to evaluate the article objectively. The reviewer´s personal criticism is non-aqueous. The reviewer´s opinion on the manuscript should always be based on arguments and evidence from current studies. The reviewer may refuse to review the paper on the grounds that he does not feel qualified enough to evaluate the issue or is in a conflict of interest, whether financial or personal with the author of the article, even after the author´s name is kept secret. The reviewer must treat the manuscript confidentially and must not provide the manuscript or information he has learned about the person to somebody else, discuss it in public or use it elsewhere. After sending the review report, the reviewer is obliged to delete all copies, whether in paper or electronic form. The reviewer is obliged to notify the editor in case of any doubts the originality of the manuscript or in case of doubts in ethical issues, related to the document. The reviewer should also point out to the editor the substantial similarity in the review manuscript to another published article of which he is aware.
Publication decision
The final decision, in the form of acceptance or rejection of the article for publication, remains in the full competence of the editorial board. The authors are responsible for the linguistic proofreading (linguistic and grammatical side of the paper). The editors reserve the right to make minor stylistic adjustments to the text without consulting the author, with whom the author will become acquainted during the author´s proofreading. Article with formal deficiencies will be returned to the author for revision.
