Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The peer-reviewed scholarly journal “Physical and Mathematical Education” publishes research in education (secondary and higher education; theory and methodology of teaching; vocational and professional education; digital technologies in education) and adheres to high-quality standards through peer review and an ethics-oriented editorial policy.
The journal’s ethics principles align with international publication ethics standards, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Core principles

  • Fairness and equality: manuscripts are assessed based on scholarly merit and relevance to the journal’s scope.
  • Confidentiality: manuscripts and related information are not disclosed prior to publication.
  • Transparency: editorial decisions are based on peer review and editorial assessment, with stages recorded in the journal system.
  • Prevention of misconduct: the journal responds to plagiarism, data manipulation, improper authorship, conflicts of interest, and other ethical breaches.

2. Editorial responsibilities

The editorial office:

  • follows COPE guidance and academic integrity principles;
  • manages peer review and provides editorial and technical support;
  • protects confidentiality of submissions and personal data in accordance with applicable law and relevant data-protection requirements;
  • handles complaints and takes appropriate actions under the journal’s policies (complaints, corrections, retractions, etc.);
  • periodically updates journal policies and procedures;
  • follows non-discrimination and equal treatment principles; decisions are based solely on scholarly merit (see “Non-Discrimination and Equal Treatment”).

3. Engagement with readers

The journal:

  • provides accessible information about its policies, peer review, and ethical requirements;
  • ensures that all accepted scholarly content has been peer-reviewed by qualified experts.

4. Engagement with authors

Authors are entitled to a fair and transparent review process. The editorial office:

  • provides author guidelines and a description of peer review;
  • communicates decisions and forwards reviewers’ comments;
  • may perform minor language/technical editing while preserving the author’s style;
  • makes decisions based on relevance, novelty, scholarly quality, ethical compliance, and adherence to journal requirements.

Manuscripts may be rejected if they are out of scope, fail to meet requirements, contain major flaws identified by peer review, or if authors do not address justified comments.
Authors may request withdrawal: the submission can be removed from active consideration and archived in the system, with an option to reinstate upon request.
Authors may appeal editorial decisions under the journal’s appeal procedure (see “Peer Review / Appeal”).

5. Engagement with reviewers

The journal:

  • provides reviewers with instructions for using the journal system;
  • asks reviewers to declare potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review;
  • expects reviewers to report suspected plagiarism or other misconduct;
  • selects reviewers with appropriate expertise and supports quality and timeliness;
  • may discontinue collaboration with reviewers who repeatedly submit poor-quality or late reviews.

Confidentiality: reviewers must not disclose manuscript content prior to publication.

6. Editors and editorial board

The journal:

  • provides editors with role descriptions and procedural guidance;
  • periodically reviews the editorial board and communicates policy updates;
  • maintains confidentiality of manuscript materials prior to publication.

7. Authorship and contributions

The journal requires that only individuals who make a substantial contribution be listed as authors. For transparency, after acceptance, authors provide a CRediT contribution statement, which is published in the final article (see “Authorship and Author Contributions (CRediT)”).
Changes in authorship require a written request from the corresponding author, reasons for the change, and agreement of all authors.

8. Access, use of materials, and data

Articles are published under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (unless otherwise stated on the journal website).
Where possible, supplementary materials (datasets, software, media, etc.) should be deposited in repositories or reliable online resources and cited in the article. Alternatively, they may be provided as supplementary files during submission.
Upon request, authors should provide data/materials needed for verification, subject to confidentiality and ethical constraints (e.g., personal data of research participants).

9. Corrections and retractions

If errors or ethical concerns are identified, the journal acts in accordance with its policies on corrections/expressions of concern/retractions, and updates publication metadata as needed.

10. Multiple submissions / duplicate publication

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that it is not under consideration elsewhere and is not a duplicate publication. Violations may result in rejection and further actions under journal policies.

11. Intellectual property and plagiarism

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of information, correct citation, and compliance with copyright. Suspected plagiarism or other violations are handled in accordance with the journal’s established procedures.

Manuscripts submitted by editors/editorial board members are handled under a separate procedure with an independent handling editor and independent reviewers (see “Peer Review Process”).
The journal follows international principles of publication ethics and responsible scholarly publishing, including COPE guidance, WAME editorial integrity principles, and DORA recommendations on responsible research assessment. See the page “Compliance with International Principles (COPE, WAME, DORA)” for details.