Complaints and Appeals

This order establishes the procedure for handling complaints about violations of ethical principles by authors, reviewers, or members of the editorial board of the journal "Mechanics and Advanced Technologies". It applies to issues related to plagiarism, misappropriation of materials, conflict of interest, data manipulation, and other violations of academic integrity.

Filing a Complaint

1. The complaint is submitted electronically to the journal's official email.

2. The complaint must clearly state: Contact details of the applicant; Link to the publication or material under review; Detailed description of the violation with reference to evidence.

3. Anonymous complaints are not considered.

 Preliminary Review Stage

1. The Editor-in-Chief appoints an authorized person for the preliminary analysis of the complaint.

2. Within 5 working days, the authorized person checks: Compliance of the complaint with the journal's topics; Availability of sufficient grounds for review.

3. The applicant receives a notification about the registration of the complaint or refusal to review it.

Complaint Review

1. A commission of three independent experts is created to review the complaint.

2. The commission has the right to: Request additional materials and explanations; Involve independent experts; Conduct consultations with all interested parties.

3. The review period is not more than 30 calendar days.

Decisions and Measures

1. After the review, the commission may make the following decisions: Reject the complaint as unfounded; Recognize the violation as minor and suggest corrections; Recognize the violation as serious and take appropriate measures.

2. Possible measures in case of serious violations: Refusal to publish the material; Retraction of an already published article; Ban on submitting materials for a certain period; Notification of the violation to the author's institution.

Protection of Rights of the Parties

1. All parties to the conflict have the right to: Receive full information about the review process; Present their explanations and evidence; Appeal the commission's decision.

2. Confidentiality of the process is guaranteed to all participants.

Appeal of Decisions

1. The commission's decision may be appealed within 14 days to the Editor-in-Chief.

2. The Editor-in-Chief reviews the appeal within 10 working days.

3. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief is final.

The Editor-in-Chief or the managing editor must adhere to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the principles of publication ethics of a scientific journal.