The editorial board of the journal «Constructive geography and rational use of natural resources» accepts for publication only original scientific articles that have not been published before, and have not been submitted for publication in another journal.

To detect textual quotations in submitted articles, the journal’s editorial board uses various software tools, including StrikePlagiarism.com and Plag.com.ua to identify plagiarism and verify the uniqueness of texts. Manuscripts in which plagiarism or textual quotations without proper citations to the original source are detected are rejected by the editorial board prior to publication in the journal.

Plagiarism check before publication

The editorial board of the journal "Constructive Geography and Rational Use of Natural Resources" analyzes any case of plagiarism in its essence. If plagiarism or text borrowing is discovered by editors or reviewers at any stage prior to the publication of the manuscript, the author or authors are warned to refer to the original source. If plagiarism is found to be more than 25% of the manuscript submitted, the article may be rejected and the author's institution / employer informed. Manuscripts in which plagiarism is detected are processed according to the amount of plagiarism found in the manuscript: if less than 25% of plagiarism, the manuscript is sent to the authors for review, and if more than 25% of plagiarism, the manuscript is rejected without editorial review.

Authors are encouraged to review text borrowings and plagiarism of the manuscript and resubmit a new manuscript. The share of plagiarism is calculated by the software and also assessed separately by the editorial board.

Recommendations for avoiding plagiarism

• Use quotation marks for words taken literally from the source;
• Unchanged part of the quote in the context of the sentence;
• Use of separate characters for a quote in a quote;
• Use three dots (space and three dots) for part of the omitted quotation;
• Using parentheses for added own words;
• Restrictions on the use of direct quotations, etc.

Authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to reproduce illustrations, tables, drawings taken from other authors and / or sources. The permission must be placed at the bottom under each element.

Autoplagiarism (self-citation)

The use of the author's own materials in the article, which have already been published previously.
Each manuscript is protected by copyright after its publication and the author transfers to the publisher his exclusive rights to print and use. Because the author no longer owns the rights to sections that have already been published, they should not be republished, thus making them new. The author may not copy previously published own material for a new manuscript without the permission of the copyright owner. An exception may be the citation (there is no violation of academic ethics) of short phrases of the author from his own work, indicating the relevant references to the source.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The journal "Constructive Geography and Rational Use of Natural Resources" upholds the highest international standards of academic integrity throughout the editorial and publication process (in accordance with international standards Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE), Elsevier Publishing Ethics Guidelines, and others). Authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers share the responsibility to ensure honesty, transparency, and trust in the scientific record.

Authors are required to:
• submit only original research work;
• avoid any forms of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification;
• properly cite all sources and previous research;
• refrain from submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously;
• ensure accurate authorship attribution according to international authorship criteria.

The editorial board guarantees independent and objective peer review, confidentiality during the entire review process, and timely response to any concerns regarding research misconduct. Corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern are published as necessary.

Reviewers must act impartially, maintain confidentiality, and inform editors of any potential conflicts of interest or ethical violations. The journal encourages open access to data, transparency of methods, and adherence to ethical standards in research. Complying with these principles is a prerequisite for manuscript consideration and publication in the journal.Data, Methods and Reproducibility

Authors must:
• provide a transparent description of methods and analytical procedures;
• share raw data or provide access to them whenever possible;
• guarantee that the data have not been manipulated to achieve desired outcomes.

Misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
• any form of plagiarism,
• duplicate publication,
• manipulation of the peer review process,
• misrepresentation of authorship contributions,
• undisclosed conflicts of interest.

The journal reserves the right to reject a manuscript, retract a published article, or notify the author’s institution in cases of confirmed violations.

The Editorial Board promotes a culture of academic integrity, encourages the use of open data and transparent methodology, and adheres to the ethical standards of COPE, Elsevier PERK, and other international guidelines.

POLICY ON THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

We recognize the potential benefits of using AI to improve the efficiency and quality of scientific publications, but emphasize the need for its ethical, responsible, and transparent application in compliance with academic integrity and scientific ethics standards. This policy applies to all participants in the editorial process of the scientific journal, including: - Authors who submit materials for publication. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and authenticity of all content in their manuscripts, including parts created or edited using AI tools. The use of AI does not exempt the author from responsibility for plagiarism, fabrication, falsification of data, or other violations of academic integrity. Authors are required to clearly indicate in the “Acknowledgments” section or in a separate subsection “Use of AI Tools” information about the use of AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript. The name of the AI tool, its version, and the purpose of its use (e.g., for text editing, grammar checking, data analysis, image generation, etc.) must be indicated. AI tools cannot act as authors of manuscripts. Authorship belongs only to individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the research and preparation of the publication. Authors should carefully check any text, data, or images generated by AI tools for accuracy, contextual relevance, and absence of bias or errors. When using AI tools for data analysis, authors should clearly describe the analysis methodology, including the AI tools used, in the “Materials and Methods” section. If AI tools were used to generate images or other visual materials, authors should indicate this in the captions for the relevant items and in the “Use of AI Tools” section. - reviewers who conduct expert evaluations of submitted materials. Reviewers are not allowed to upload confidential manuscript materials (including full text, data, figures, etc.) to AI tools that do not guarantee data confidentiality and security. The use of AI tools should not affect the objectivity and impartiality of the review. The reviewer is fully responsible for the content of their review. Reviewers are encouraged to inform the editorial board about the use of AI tools in the preparation of the review, if this has been done. - Members of the editorial board and editorial staff may use AI tools to optimize editorial processes, such as: plagiarism checks (using specialized tools); formatting and journal compliance checks; assistance in selecting potential reviewers; and analysis of trends in scientific publications. At the same time, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the principles of confidentiality, data security, and avoidance of biases that may be inherent in some AI tools. Decisions to accept or reject a manuscript are always made by the editorial board based on scientific value and compliance with journal standards, and not solely on the results obtained using AI tools.

Ethical aspects of using artificial intelligence in editorial activities and responsibility

The use of text generated by AI tools without proper attribution and/or without substantial reworking by the author may be considered plagiarism. AI tools can generate content that contains biases that reflect the data on which they were trained. Authors, reviewers, and editors should critically evaluate the results of AI work and avoid disseminating biased content. Maximum transparency regarding the use of AI tools is a key element of responsible scientific publication. The ultimate responsibility for adhering to the journal's ethical standards and guidelines lies with the authors, reviewers, and editorial board members. Any identified cases of improper or unethical use of AI tools will be reviewed by the editorial board in accordance with the journal's procedures for addressing violations of publication ethics. This may include requesting clarification from the author/reviewer, rejecting the manuscript, retracting the published article, or other measures. The policy on the use of artificial intelligence in editorial activities may be reviewed and updated by the journal's editorial board in light of developments in AI technology and changes in standards within the scientific community.