Ethical Guidelines

Article publishing options (Diamond OA, CC BY):

Open Access Policy. The Ukrainian Chemistry Journal is a Diamond Open Access journal. This means that: All articles and issues are freely available to readers immediately upon publication, at no cost; Authors are not required to pay any article processing charges (APC); There are no submission fees, publication fees, or charges of any kind; All published content is permanently and freely accessible online.

Fee Waiver for Third-Cycle (Doctoral) Students. The Ukrainian Chemistry Journal operates under the Diamond Open Access model: no submission, processing, peer review, or publication fees are charged to authors or their institutions.

We explicitly affirm that third-cycle higher education applicants (PhD students / doctoral candidates) enrolled in state-funded (budget-funded) full-time or part-time programmes who submit a manuscript as the sole author (with no co-authors) are fully exempt from any publication-related charges. To confirm eligibility, authors are requested to indicate the name of their higher education institution or research institution and their form of enrolment in the cover letter accompanying the submission.

Article Types. The journal accepts the following types of manuscripts: Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications, Book Reviews.

Language. Manuscripts are accepted in Ukrainian and English.

Licensing. All articles published in the Ukrainian Chemistry Journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0,https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (see the section "Copyright and Licensing").

Licence Policy Change

Until 1 April 2026, all content published in the Ukrainian Chemistry Journal was released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permitted free use of published content for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship was credited. However, the restriction on commercial use limited the inclusion of articles in a broader range of open collections, archives, and repositories. Furthermore, leading international research funding organizations now prefer or explicitly require publication under a CC BY license.

The ease and freedom of reuse of publications is our priority. The Editorial Board has therefore decided to replace the CC BY-NC 3.0 license with CC BY 4.0, which permits any use — including commercial — provided that clear attribution is given. This ensures the widest possible dissemination and use of research results, in keeping with the core purpose of open access — the removal of barriers to knowledge — and in line with the requirements of international bibliographic databases.

As of 1 April 2026, all articles and related materials published in the Ukrainian Chemistry Journal are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits anyone to read, download, copy, distribute, reproduce, adapt, print, search, cite, or link to the full text of published articles, including for commercial purposes, provided that:

• appropriate credit is given, including the author's name and copyright holder, copyright notice, license notice, disclaimer, and a reference to the material (the article published in this journal);
• a link to the license is provided: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• any changes made to the material are clearly indicated.

Articles published prior to 1 April 2026 remain governed by the terms of the CC BY-NC 3.0 license.

This change in license policy reflects the journal's commitment to full open access principles and aligns with the requirements of international bibliographic databases and funding organizations.

For any queries regarding licensing, please contact the editorial office: ukrchemj@gmail.com.

Manuscript Preparation. Authors are kindly requested to follow the journal's author guidelines when preparing their manuscripts. Detailed formatting requirements are available in the Instructions for Authors section.

Ethical Standards. The Ukrainian Chemistry Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism. The journal follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Handling of Complaints Regarding Academic Integrity and Academic Ethics Violations:

The Editorial Board of the Journal strives to maintain high standards of publication quality and takes very seriously any violations of academic integrity and academic ethics, including but not limited to data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, authorship falsification, and other misconduct.

All authors and co-authors of articles bear personal responsibility for adhering to the principles of academic integrity and academic ethics. The Editorial Board reserves the right to retract publications in case of detection of serious violations of academic integrity and ethical standards.

If you are aware of any violations, please inform the Editorial Board in writing (by email) at ukrchemj@gmail.com. The complaint must be clear, specific, and supported by appropriate evidence.

Review Mechanism

The Editorial Board will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days and commence an investigation that will last up to 30 working days. We will follow the relevant COPE guidelines to guide this process. If the allegations are proven, the journal will take appropriate action, including:

• Immediate rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article;
• Publication of an official statement in the journal with a detailed description of the nature of the misconduct;
• Notification of the authors' institutions and relevant academic bodies;
• Imposition of a ban on the author(s) from submitting articles to the journal for a certain period.

The results will be communicated to the complainant and, in cases of confirmed violations, to the author(s) of the article.

Authorship and Use of Generative AI Technologies:

Authors must not list artificial intelligence (AI) as an author or co-author, nor cite AI as an author.

The use of generative AI tools (e.g., for data analysis, model development, statistical processing, literature review creation, data management planning, translations, etc.) must be disclosed in the "Research Methods" section, with a detailed description of the AI methods, algorithms, and datasets used.

Results obtained through AI tools must be verified using scientifically sound methods. Authors must ensure that AI tools do not replace critical analysis, human expertise, or ethical scientific practices.

Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the work, avoiding plagiarism, and protecting against bias introduced by AI.

Example: In the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used Claude 3.5 Sonnet for translation and text editing. Following the use of this tool/service, the authors reviewed and edited the content as necessary and take full responsibility for the final version of the publication.

The editorial board reserves the right to reject a manuscript if the use of AI tools or technologies during the research or manuscript preparation has not been disclosed. Failure to declare the use of AI constitutes a violation of transparency and ethical standards. See also: COPE Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools (Authorship and AI tools | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics).

Retraction Policy:

In certain cases, retraction (withdrawal) of a published article may be necessary. Grounds for retraction include serious violations of legal, publishing, or ethical standards by the author(s). The journal adheres to COPE guidelines in such cases, particularly when:

• There is clear evidence that the data are unreliable or have been falsified;
• A conflict of interest was hidden or misrepresented;
• The article contains plagiarism;
• The results were previously published elsewhere without appropriate cross-referencing, permission, or justification;
• The research is reported to be unethical;
• Serious errors are identified that cast doubt on the scientific validity or lead to misinterpretation of results;
• The list of authors/sponsors contains inaccuracies (e.g., an author who qualifies was excluded, or someone who does not meet authorship criteria was included).

POLICY ON RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND PERSONAL DATA

General provisions. The Ukrainian Chemistry Journal requires that all research published in the journal be conducted in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation and international ethical standards. The editorial board adheres to the principles of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, as well as international standards for animal research (the 3R principles: Replace, Reduce, Refine).

1. Research involving human subjects. If a manuscript contains results of research conducted with human participants (including the collection of biological materials, surveys, clinical observations, processing of personal medical data, etc.), authors are required to:

• obtain and provide confirmation of approval of the research by the relevant ethics committee (institutional or national), specifying its name and protocol number;
• confirm that informed written consent was obtained from all research participants (or their legal representatives);
• ensure full anonymization of participants' personal data in the article text, figures, and tables; publication of any identifying information without the explicit written consent of the participant is not permitted;
• confirm compliance of the research with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data" (No. 2297-VI of 01.06.2010) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The relevant declaration is placed in the manuscript at the end of the Experimental Section or in the Conflict of Interest section, in the following format:

"The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Bioethics Committee of [name of institution] (Protocol No. ___, date ___). All participants provided informed written consent to participate in the study."

2. Research involving animals. If a manuscript contains results of research conducted on animals or using their biological materials, authors are required to:

• obtain and provide confirmation of approval of the research by the bioethics committee of the relevant research institution, specifying the protocol number;
• confirm that the treatment of animals complied with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Animals from Cruel Treatment" (No. 3447-IV of 21.02.2006) and EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes;
• specify the species, sex, age, and number of animals used in the research;
• describe the conditions under which the animals were kept and the anaesthesia/euthanasia procedures applied (where applicable).

The relevant declaration is placed in the manuscript in the following format:

"All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine 'On the Protection of Animals from Cruel Treatment' and were approved by the Bioethics Committee of [name of institution] (Protocol No. ___, date ___)."

3. Use of biological materials of human origin. Research involving the use of cell lines, tissues, blood, or other biological materials of human origin must be accompanied by confirmation of the lawfulness of their acquisition and the existence of appropriate ethical approval. For commercial cell lines, it is sufficient to state their official name and source.
4. Processing of personal and confidential data. If the research involved the processing of personal or confidential data (medical records, genetic data, survey data, etc.), authors are required to confirm compliance with applicable personal data protection legislation and to describe the measures taken to anonymize or pseudonymize such data.
5. Editorial responsibility. The editorial board reserves the right to reject a manuscript or retract a published article if it is established that research was conducted without appropriate ethical approval or in violation of participants' rights. In cases of doubt regarding compliance with ethical standards, the editorial board is guided by the relevant COPE guidelines.

Publication ethics:

The journal has developed and adopted these guidelines in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as in compliance with the Civil Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On Copyright and Related Rights".

1. ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Publication Decisions

The Editorial Board is responsible for the appropriate presentation of scientific materials to the scientific community and verifies all submitted manuscripts for plagiarism using dedicated verification systems.

All manuscripts, following initial assessment by the editor, undergo independent anonymous double-blind peer review. The Editorial Board ensures the confidentiality and impartiality of the review process.

The Editorial Board is committed to engaging reviewers who fulfill their responsibilities in a timely and unbiased manner, have no financial interest in the research, and do not represent the interests of competing organizations.

The Editorial Board does not influence the decisions of reviewers.

In cases where both a positive and a negative review are received, the responsible editor appoints an additional reviewer. The final decision is made by the responsible editor.

In the event of manuscript rejection, the Editorial Board reserves the right not to enter into discussion with the authors.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject a manuscript without sending it for peer review in cases of improper formatting, non-compliance with scientific criteria or the journal's scope, detected plagiarism, duplicate publication, or similar issues.

Impartiality

The Editorial Board evaluates manuscripts solely on the basis of their scientific content and merit, regardless of the author's age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious or political views, origin, or citizenship.

Confidentiality

The confidentiality of the publication process is maintained within the circle of: the author, reviewers, members of the Editorial Board, the publisher, and, where necessary, scientific consultants.

The Editorial Board guarantees the protection of unpublished data received from the author during the preparation of the manuscript for publication.

Disclosure Policy and Conflict of Interest

The responsible editor recuses themselves from handling manuscripts in cases of conflict of interest arising from competition, collaboration, or other relationships with the author or organizations associated with the submitted manuscript.

The journal publishes information about the sources of financial support for the research presented in its articles.

Publication Oversight

In cases where convincing evidence of erroneous conclusions, plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication of data is found, the responsible editor notifies the author and the publisher in order to decide on the publication of a correction, clarification, apology, or retraction of the article.

The Editorial Board and the publisher take appropriate measures to address conflicts arising from complaints regarding ethical violations related to submitted manuscripts or published articles. Every report of unethical behavior is investigated regardless of when the alleged violation may have occurred. If a violation is confirmed, the Editorial Board and the publisher will publish an appropriate correction, retraction, or apology.

In cases of dispute, the Editorial Board acts in accordance with COPE guidelines on publication ethics violations: https://publicationethics.org

The Editorial Board publishes up-to-date guidelines for authors and reviewers in open access on the journal's website.

 

2. ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF REVIEWERS

Peer review helps the Editorial Board make decisions on article publication and helps Authors improve their work.

Responsibility. If a Reviewer is unable to conduct a review due to lack of expertise or time, they must notify the Editorial Board and return or destroy the received materials.

Confidentiality. A Reviewer must not discuss the materials received for review, share them with colleagues, or use them for personal gain. If consultation with colleagues is necessary, the Reviewer must first obtain approval from the Managing Editor.

Manuscript Requirements and Objectivity. The Reviewer provides an unbiased assessment of the submitted materials about their relevance to the journal's scope, novelty, and topicality, as well as the credibility and quality of the conclusions. Personal criticism of the authors is not acceptable. The Reviewer's conclusions must be well-reasoned and supported by references to authoritative sources.

Acknowledgement of Sources. The Reviewer must verify the accuracy of citations and the presence of properly formatted bibliographic references, and identify relevant published works that have not been cited. In cases of overlap with other works, falsification, or plagiarism, the Reviewer must notify the Managing Editor.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy. A Reviewer must not participate in the review process if they have a close personal or professional relationship with the author, co-authors, or the organization where the research was conducted, or if they work at a competing organization in the same field. Any other potential conflicts of interest (political, religious, or financial) must be disclosed to the Managing Editor. The Reviewer is required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure form. Information and ideas from the manuscript must not be used for personal gain.

Impartiality. The Reviewer evaluates the manuscript solely based on its content and scientific merit, regardless of the age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious and political views, origin, or citizenship of the Author.

 

3. ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF AUTHORS

Authors must provide accurate scientific data and objective conclusions. The manuscript must contain sufficient detail and bibliographic references to allow reproducibility of methods and results.

Access to and Retention of Data. The Editorial Board reserves the right to request raw research data from the Author for submission to the Reviewer.

Originality and Plagiarism. Authors must use only original research data. Any use of other authors' materials must be properly cited. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication of data are not acceptable.

Authors may submit a manuscript to only one journal at a time. Simultaneous submission to multiple journals or resubmission of a previously published article constitutes a violation of publication ethics and will result in rejection of the manuscript.

Authorship. Authorship is attributed to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the research and preparation of the manuscript. Authors must ensure that all contributors are listed as co-authors, and that all co-authors agree on the order of authorship and approve the final version of the manuscript.

Research Involving Humans and Animals. Authors must confirm that experiments involving humans or animals were conducted in compliance with applicable legislation and the requirements of Ethics Committees.

Conflict of Interest. Authors must disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest that may influence the results or conclusions presented in the manuscript, and must provide information on financial support. Upon submission, the Author may indicate in the relevant form any potential conflicts of interest that could affect the impartiality of the review process.

Errors in Manuscripts.  Authors are obliged to notify the Managing Editor of any errors or inaccuracies in the manuscript and to assist in their correction. If the Managing Editor receives information about errors from a third party, the Editorial Board may invite the Author to participate in a discussion.

Disclosure of conflict of interest:

In the interest of transparency and to allow readers to make their own objective assessments, the Editorial Board requires Authors to disclose any conflicts of interest. The Corresponding Author is responsible for this disclosure.

Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial. Authors are required to declare any potential or actual conflict of interest that may affect the research or its results. The Corresponding Author, on behalf of all authors, must complete the relevant disclosure form and submit it together with the manuscript.

Studies involving laboratory animals must be accompanied by an expert opinion from the Ethics Committee of the institution from which the manuscript originates.

Privacy and personal data protection:

Personal data, namely first names, last names, and email addresses, which users of this journal's website provide during registration, will be used in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine On Protection of Personal Data | on June 1, 2010 № 2297-VI exclusively for fulfilling internal tasks in line with the purpose of this journal; this data will neither be disclosed nor transferred to third parties."

Archiving and long-term storage:

The Ukrainian Chemistry Journal ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of published materials through the use of reliable digital archiving mechanisms.

Electronic Preservation. All published articles are stored electronically on the journal's official website (https://ucj.org.ua/index.php/journal/archives) and are maintained by the editorial team to ensure permanent open access to scientific content.

Institutional and Repository Archiving. Full-text print and electronic copies of all journal issues are stored in the collections of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (VNLU) and the VNLU Repository, as well as in the library collection of the V. I. Vernadsky Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Authors are entitled to independently archive the published versions of their articles in open repositories, with a reference to the original source of publication.

Long-Term Archiving Systems. The journal is considering joining the LOCKSS/CLOCKSS systems. Archiving is ensured through an institutional repository and backups.

Backup. The editorial team maintains regular backups of all journal materials to prevent data loss.

Access Guarantee. If the journal ceases publication, all published materials will remain accessible through archiving systems or will be transferred to relevant institutions (libraries or repositories) to ensure open access.