Code of Conduct and Ethical Guidelines of the Festung Journal

The Editorial Board of the Festung Journal is committed to the highest ethical standards in all stages of manuscript publication. The journal’s ethical principles and standards are based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. All participants in the publication process – editors, reviewers, and authors – are obliged to adhere to the following principles:

 

1. Ethical Guidelines and Responsibilities of Participants

1.1. Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board

Objectivity and Non-discrimination: The Editor-in-Chief considers and evaluates manuscripts solely based on their content and scientific/professional merit, without discrimination on any grounds.

Confidentiality: The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board maintain secrecy and ensure the confidentiality of all information regarding submitted manuscripts throughout the entire processing period.

Plagiarism Check: Before entering the review process, all papers undergo a check using plagiarism detection software. In the event of confirmed plagiarism, the publication of the work is rejected.

Publication Decision: The final decision on accepting or rejecting a paper is made by the Editorial Board based on reviewers’ opinions, ensuring an objective double-blind review. The decision to publish or not to publish a paper is confirmed by the Editorial Board.

Ethical Conduct: The Editorial Board encourages responsible conduct from all participants in the process of receiving, handling, and publishing papers. In the event of complaints regarding unethical conduct, the Editor-in-Chief acts in accordance with scientific community practices, allowing authors to comment on any potential conflict and collecting all documentation related to the issue while the Editorial Board jointly investigates the breach of ethical standards.

Communication: All communication between the editorial board and other participants must be appropriate and in accordance with professional ethics in the academic community.

Journal Integrity: The Editor-in-Chief ensures the scientific and professional integrity of the journal and guarantees regular publication for recognition and excellence.

1.2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Timeliness and Objectivity: Reviewers are obliged to conduct reviews in a timely and objective manner, clearly articulating their positions.

Source Citation: Reviewers point out deficiencies regarding source citation and overlaps with publications of similar content.

Confidentiality: Reviewers protect the integrity of authors and manuscripts; information obtained through the review is treated as confidential and must not be used for personal purposes. The review process is secret and confidential.

Qualifications: Reviewers must be established scientists or academic staff from the relevant scientific field. Reviewers from the Republic of Croatia must be registered in the Register of Scientists of the Republic of Croatia, and international reviewers must hold scientist status according to the regulations of their respective countries.

Categorization and Recommendations: The reviewer assesses whether the paper can be accepted for publication and indicates whether revisions and amendments are required. In case of conflicting opinions from two reviewers, the editor may request the opinion of a third reviewer.

Adherence to Guidelines: Reviewers are obliged to adhere to the Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publishing published on the journal’s website and/or the HRČAK portal.

Communication: All communication with other participants must be appropriate and in accordance with professional ethics in the academic community.

1.3. Responsibilities of Authors

Adherence to Instructions: Authors must adhere to the Instructions for Authors published on the journal’s website.

Research Integrity: Authors adhere to generally accepted standards and customs related to research integrity, in accordance with the publicly published European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.

Objectivity and Accuracy: Authors must present results, professional, and scientific contributions objectively and accurately, and support them with sources using literature citation guidelines (APA 7th edition).

Originality of Work: The author bears responsibility for the originality of their work. By submitting a manuscript to the journal, the author accepts all necessary originality checks. Authors are obliged to submit a signed statement of manuscript authenticity.

Revisions and Amendments: If the reviewer requests changes, the author must address them, and the revised version is checked by the reviewer or editor.

Republication: Published works may not be published elsewhere without the permission of the Editorial Board.

Communication: All communication with other participants must be appropriate and in accordance with professional ethics in the academic community.

 

2. Resolution of Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when personal relationships or financial interests may affect the objectivity or integrity of scientific publishing.

2.1. Authors

Authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest (financial, personal, academic) that could influence their results or data interpretation.

2.2. Reviewers

Reviewers must inform the editor of any conflict of interest that could compromise the objectivity of the review and decline to review if they cannot be impartial.

2.3. Editorial Board

Editorial Board members must not participate in decisions regarding manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest with the authors or institutions. The Editor-in-Chief acts in accordance with scientific community practices, allowing authors to comment on any potential conflict and collecting all documentation related to the issue while the Editorial Board jointly investigates the breach of ethical standards.

 

3. Withdrawal and Correction of Papers

The Editorial Board of the Festung Journal is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of published scientific literature.

3.1. Withdrawal

Papers will be withdrawn from publication in the following cases:

• Proven scientific fraud (e.g., data falsification).
• Multiple publication of the same work without adequate citation or permission.
• Serious errors that invalidate the results and conclusions. The withdrawal procedure is carried out in accordance with COPE guidelines, with a clear indication of “RETRACTED” on the withdrawn paper and the publication of an official withdrawal statement.

3.2. Correction

Minor errors that do not affect the validity of results or conclusions, but are nevertheless important for the reader, will be corrected by publishing an erratum or corrigendum in the next available issue of the journal. The correction will clearly state what has been corrected and where the error was located.

 

4. Terms of Use for Journal Content

The Festung Journal is published in open access (Open Access), meaning that the entire content of the journal is freely available to users and/or their institutions.

4.1. License

Papers published in the Festung Journal are available under the international Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.

Copying and distributing the material in any medium and format is permitted, exclusively for non-commercial purposes and without adaptations, provided that authorship (source) is appropriately credited.

4.2. Archiving

The journal will be available on its own website and on the HRČAK portal (Central Portal of Croatian Scientific Journals), ensuring long-term archiving and accessibility. Authors retain copyright, but grant the publisher the right of first publication.