ETHICAL RULES

The Editorial Board of the Annual of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski,
FESA, Annual of Educational Studies, follows the Universal Ethical Code for
Scientists (Government Office for Science Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills, London)
(https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-
research-2018), striving to achieve its three main goals:
• to foster ethical research;
• to encourage active reflection among scientists on the implications and
impacts of their work;
• to support communication between scientists and the public on complex
and challenging issues.
The editorial board of Annual has implemented the basic principles of the
Universal Ethical Code for Scientists:
• rigour: promoting the strict adherence to scientific methods and
approaches;
• respect: ensuring confidentiality with regard to the subjects involved in the
research;
• responsibility: providing space for discussion of evidence-based scientific
results and their correct interpretation.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Actively seeks feedback and views of authors, readers, reviewers and members
of the editorial board on options for improving the processes associated with the
compilation and publishing of the Annual.
Assigns reviews to reviewers based on the competency approach.
Proceeds the reviews of the received materials.
Initiates the publication of the manuscripts that have received positive evaluation
or re-evaluates the process of their publication.
Agrees with the publisher resources or expert guidelines whenever necessary.
Provides support for initiatives aimed at eliminating ethical violations in research
and publications.
Ensures the published materials to be fully relevant to the thematic scope of the
Annual, to be original and of interest to the scientific community.
Assess the impact of the Annual’s policies on the work of authors and reviewers
and initiates their revision, if applicable.
Ensures all published materials to be archived in online permanent repositories.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Takes all measures to ensure the quality of the materials that are published.
Advocates the freedom of expression of scientific views and ideas.
Complies with the ethical norms related to copyright.
Promotes the ethics of research and requireс all authors who have contributed to
the research be identified.
If necessary, admits and publishes corrections, clarifications, apologies.
The managing editors do their best to ensure that the published research
materials are implemented in full compliance to the internationally accepted
guidelines (The AERA and BERA Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research).
Occasionally (eg. for topical volumes) the members of the editorial board can
publish scientific texts in the publication, in accordance with the rules of
anonymity of the reviews.
RELATIONS WITH THE AUTHORS
The editorial board has published detailed guidelines for authors, comprising all
requirements to the submitted manuscripts, and on the deadlines for submission.
The guidelines for authors include also the detailed requirements for the technical
layout of the materials, which guarantee their accuracy, completeness and clarity.
The decision of the editorial board to accept or reject material for publication is
based on its timeliness, originality and clarity, as well as on the validity of the
study and its implications.
The editors accept the manuscripts, except for in case of serious problems with
their submission.
The Annual has announced mechanism through which authors can appeal against
the editorial decisions.
The editor-in-chief ensures that the appropriate reviewers are selected (i.e.
persons who are competent to review the manuscript and have no conflict of
interest).
RELATIONS WITH THE REVIEWERS
The editor-in-chief provides guidelines to reviewers on all requirements to them,
including the need for blind review of the submitted manuscripts.
The editor-in-chief requires reviewers to disclose any potential conflict of interest
before accepting to review the respective manuscript.
The editor-in-chief implements a system that guarantees protection of reviewers’
anonymity.
The editor-in-chief stimulates reviewers to comment on the originality of the
materials and to be vigilant about plagiarism.
The reviewers review the manuscripts in respect to their scientific content,
regardless of the authors' race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship, or
political affiliation.
The managing editors develop, maintain, and update a database of reviewers,
using a wide range of sources (personal contacts, bibliographic databases, etc.) to
identify potential new reviewers.
In cases of suspected reviewer misconduct, the editor-in-chief follows the COPE
procedure.
RELATIONS WITH THE MANAGING EDITORS
The editor-in-chief explains to the new members of the editorial board the
guidelines and their functions.
The editor-in-chief and the managing editors create and implement reviewing
policies of the editorial board members that ensure impartiality of reviews.
The editor-in-chief provides clear guidelines to editorial board members on their
expected functions and responsibilities, which include:
• activities, promoting the Annual;
• search for the best authors and active promotion of the publication of
materials in the Annual;
• review of the manuscripts;
• attending the meetings of the editorial board.
The editor-in-chief regularly consults with members of the editorial board (eg.
once annually) and discusses the management of the publication, as well as any
necessary policy changes.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
The editors take all necessary measures as to ensure the quality of the materials
published in the Annual.
The editorial board uses systems to detect falsified data (eg. manipulated photos
or plagiarism).
The resolutions concerning the style of the Annual shall always be based on
factors that promote the quality of the publication, but not on aesthetic or personal
preferences.
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION
The editors comply with the rules of personal data protection.
Support is provided to authors whose copyrights have been infringed or who have
been victims of plagiarism.
Editors collaborate with the publisher on copyright protection (e.g. by
downloading or removing material from websites).
Consent is required for the publication of personal data and images, and the
instructions for references are included in the guidelines for authors.
ENCOURAGING DEBATES
The editors support reasonable recommendations to the materials published in the
Annual.
The authors of manuscripts, subject to criticism that have to be corrected or which
are rejected, are given opportunity to respond.
The Annual is open to research that challenge previous material published in the
publication.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The managing editors are in charge to prevent conflict of interests with authors,
reviewers, and editorial board members. Data from manuscripts, submitted to the
Annual, cannot be published in publications of the reviewers and members of the
editorial board.
The Annual has a declared process for processing opinions of editors, which
ensures the impartiality of reviews.
Lists of the key interests of the members of the editorial board are published and
annually updated.
The ethical rules of the Annual are in compliance with the norms of the Ethicаl
Code of the academic community of the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski,
available at:
https://www.uni-
sofia.bg/index.php/eng/content/download/155466/1421618/version/3/file/Et.

The yearbook complies with the rools of COPE (https://publicationethics.org/guidance).