General Provisions

The Editorial Board of the Legal Journal "Law of Ukraine" adheres to the principles of academic integrity and international standards of publication ethics (COPE, DORA). All complaints regarding violations are reviewed promptly, transparently, and impartially.

Submission of Complaints

Complaints may be submitted by authors, reviewers, readers, institutions, or other interested parties. A complaint must be submitted in writing and include a clear description of the violation (plagiarism, data fabrication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, breaches of research ethics, etc.). Anonymous complaints are considered only if sufficient evidence is provided.

Review of Complaints

The Editor-in-Chief appoints a responsible person or committee to conduct an initial review of the complaint. The author(s) are given the opportunity to provide an explanation. If necessary, the Editorial Board may consult independent experts or institutions. Decisions are made by the Editorial Board in accordance with COPE procedures.

Possible Decisions

Based on the review of the complaint, the Editorial Board may take the following actions: reject the complaint as unfounded; issue corrections or clarifications to the published article; publish an official refutation or apology; retract the article with an official notice on the journal’s website and in relevant databases.

Corrections and Clarifications

If minor errors are identified after publication that do not affect the main research results, the Editorial Board will issue a correction or clarification. Corrections and clarifications are published in open access with a clear reference to the original article. The DOI of the article is retained, and metadata is updated to reflect the changes.

Article Retraction

Retraction is carried out in cases of confirmed plagiarism, data fabrication or manipulation, serious breaches of ethical standards, or undisclosed conflicts of interest. All retracted articles remain accessible in the journal’s archive with a clear “RETRACTED” label and an explanation of the reasons. The DOI of the article is retained, but metadata is updated to indicate the “retracted” status.

Transparency and Accountability

All decisions regarding complaints, corrections, clarifications, and retractions are published openly on the journal’s website. The Editorial Board guarantees that commercial interests do not influence the complaint review process. The procedure complies with international COPE recommendations on handling misconduct, corrections, and retraction guidelines.