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The collection of scientific papers «Natural Almanac (Biological Sciences)» is included in Category "B" of the List of Scientific Professional Publications of Ukraine in specialty 091 Biology and Biochemistry.

ISSN 2524-0838 (Print)
ISSN 2706-9133 (Online)
Registration as a printed media entity: Minutes No. 27 dated October 24, 2024 (Media ID: R30-05625)
Year of establishment: 2003
Certificate of State Registration: KV 23952-13792 PR
Founder: Kherson State University
Frequency: Twice a year

Mission: The Natural Almanac serves as a platform for scientists and students to disseminate scientific achievements. The journal introduces the scientific community to research of both fundamental and applied significance.

The collection publishes materials in Ukrainian and English. Abstracts are provided in both languages.

Mission and Scope

The journal covers research results in: Botany, Zoology, Human and Animal Physiology, Immunology and Microbiology, Plant Physiology, Genetics, Hydrobiology, and Ecology.

Open Access Policy

The Editorial Board provides immediate open access to its publications to support the global advancement of science and society.

Complaints Procedure Regarding Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics

The procedure for handling complaints regarding violations of academic integrity and publication ethics is conducted in accordance with Ukrainian legislation and is based on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) principles.

1. Submission of a Complaint

Complaints regarding academic integrity or publication ethics violations must be submitted in writing (via email to the journal's editorial office). The complaint must include a clear, evidence-based description of the violation, supporting documentation, and the complainant's contact information.

2. Preliminary Review

The Editorial Board conducts a preliminary assessment of the complaint's merits and its relevance to the journal's scope. If necessary, the editorial office may contact the complainant or the author(s) to request clarifications or additional materials.

3. Investigation

If the complaint is deemed substantiated, the Editorial Board initiates an internal investigation involving independent experts or board members who were not previously involved in the review of the article in question. All parties involved have the right to be heard.

4. Decision Making

Based on the results of the investigation, the Editorial Board may take one of the following actions:

  • Dismiss the complaint if no violations are found;
  • Reject the manuscript (if the violation is identified during the review stage);
  • Retract the article (in accordance with the retraction procedure);
  • Suspend the author from further submissions to the journal for a specified period;
  • Notify the author's institution or other relevant regulatory bodies (if necessary) regarding the established violations.

5. Notification of Parties

The complainant and the author(s) are notified of the outcome of the investigation in writing within the timeframes established by the editorial office. All correspondence is strictly confidential. In the event of an article retraction, a formal notice stating the reasons for the retraction will be published on the journal's website.

6. Confidentiality and Impartiality

All complaints are handled with strict confidentiality, objectivity, and without discrimination. The Editorial Board ensures that there are no conflicts of interest throughout the complaint handling process.

AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy

In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), and the best practices of leading professional publications, the Editorial Board defines the permissible and impermissible applications of AI in the manuscript preparation process, as well as the requirements for disclosure.

Permissible Use of AI

AI may be used as a supplementary tool in the preparation of publications, provided that authors disclose its use. Permissible areas include:

  • Literature search and analytical material gathering (subject to subsequent verification of sources);
  • Improvement of writing style and linguistic accuracy;
  • Assistance in translation or text editing;
  • Formatting bibliographic references (contingent upon the author’s mandatory personal verification of each source’s accuracy);
  • Creation of illustrative materials, such as schemes, charts, and diagrams, provided they do not distort scientific content;
  • Preparation of technical manuscript elements (spell-checking, formatting).

Impermissible Use of AI

  • Generation of scientific content for any part of the article;
  • Creation of bibliographic citations without personal verification by the author(s);
  • Use of AI for paraphrasing or other text-processing methods intended to disguise plagiarism;
  • Submitting AI-enhanced or AI-generated photographic materials as original photographic evidence;
  • Listing AI as a co-author of the article.

Disclosure Requirements

  • Authors are required to clearly state at the end of the article which AI tools were used and for what purpose.
  • Concealing the use of AI is considered a violation of academic integrity principles.

Author Responsibility

  • Authors bear sole and full responsibility for the article's content, the reliability of results, and the correctness of interpretations.
  • The use of AI does not exempt authors from their obligation to ensure scientific novelty, accuracy, and compliance with ethical standards.
  • In case of a policy violation regarding AI application, the Editorial Board reserves the right to request corrections, reject the manuscript, or retract the article.
  • If an automatically generated citation to a non-existent source is detected, the article will be rejected without further consideration.

Retraction of Published Articles

The retraction of published articles is a vital component of ensuring academic integrity and the quality of scientific publications. It consists of the formal withdrawal of an article from a scientific journal, accompanied by a corresponding public notice. Such a decision is made by the Editorial Board in cases where the published information is found to be unreliable or misleads the scientific community.

The grounds for retraction may include identified instances of data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, significant methodological errors that impact the conclusions, or violations of research ethics. Occasionally, authors may independently initiate a retraction upon realizing the existence of critical errors post-publication. Retraction may also result from the discovery of redundant (duplicate) publication, where the same work has been submitted to multiple journals. Based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Editorial Board adheres to the following policy for the retraction of published articles.

Grounds for Retraction:

  • Unlawful appropriation (plagiarism): Presence of unauthorized borrowings;
  • Redundant publication: Duplication of the article in multiple publications;
  • Research misconduct: Identification of data fabrication or falsification;
  • Critical errors: Discovery of significant flaws (e.g., misinterpretation of results) that call into question the scientific value of the material;
  • Inappropriate authorship: Inclusion of individuals who do not meet authorship criteria or the omission of a rightful author;
  • Undisclosed conflict of interest: And other violations of publication ethics;
  • Unauthorized republication: Republication of the article without the author's consent;
  • Ethical violations: Other breaches of the publication’s ethical principles.

Procedure:

The decision to retract an article is made by the Academic Integrity Commission of Kherson State University based on a resolution by the Editorial Board. The author's name(s) and the article title remain in the Table of Contents on the journal's website within the respective issue; however, information regarding the reason for retraction is provided. The author (or authors in the case of co-authorship) is sent the formal decision outlining the grounds for the article's retraction.

Publication Fees

Publication in the journal is completely free of charge. We do not charge fees for manuscript submission, peer review, or editorial processing.

The journal adheres to an Open Access policy (Diamond Open Access), which does not require any contributions for editorial preparation or the publication of materials.

Specifically, the journal guarantees a full waiver of any fees or charges for the processing, reviewing, and/or publication of articles submitted by third-cycle (PhD) students enrolled in state-funded (budgetary) programs.

Peer Review Process

The journal maintains high standards of scientific publishing through mandatory expert evaluation. Every manuscript is rigorously assessed for scientific novelty and compliance with academic requirements.

Review Model: The journal employs a double-blind peer review process, ensuring complete anonymity for both authors and reviewers throughout the evaluation.

Stages of the Process:

  1. Technical Screening: The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the manuscript for alignment with the journal's scope, adherence to formatting guidelines, and absence of plagiarism.
  2. Expert Evaluation: The manuscript is anonymized and assigned to at least two independent experts (typically one Editorial Board member and one external specialist).
  3. Evaluation Criteria: Reviewers assess the manuscript based on its relevance, scientific novelty, validity of results, and overall scientific value.

Review Outcomes:

Based on their assessment, reviewers recommend one of the following decisions:

  • Accept for publication (as is);
  • Accept with minor revisions;
  • Resubmit for major revisions;
  •  

Authors receive the final decision along with substantiated comments, while the identity of the reviewers remains confidential. The final decision regarding publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief, based on the reviewers' recommendations.

Timeline:

  • Review procedure: 2–4 weeks.
  • Average time to first decision: 4–8 weeks.

Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy

The Editorial Board’s activities are founded on the principles of transparency and integrity. We strictly adhere to the requirements of Ukrainian copyright law and are guided by the international standards of publication ethics established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Ethical Obligations of the Editorial Board

  • Decision-making: Decisions are based solely on scientific merit and the results of the double-blind peer review process. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject a manuscript in the event of ethical violations.
  • Confidentiality: The protection of personal data and unpublished materials is guaranteed.
  • Conflict of Interest: The Editorial Board recuses itself from considering manuscripts in the event of a potential conflict of interest.
  • Quality Control: In cases of identified plagiarism or data falsification, the Editorial Board responds by publishing corrections (errata) or retracting the article.

2. Ethical Obligations of Reviewers

  • Competence: Reviewers should only accept manuscripts that align with their area of expertise and must conduct evaluations impartially.
  • Confidentiality: The dissemination or use of manuscript materials prior to their official publication is strictly prohibited.
  • Integrity: Reviewers are obligated to notify the Editorial Board of any identified plagiarism or data manipulation.
  • Objectivity: Evaluations must be substantiated and constructive; personal criticism of the authors is impermissible.

3. Ethical Obligations of Authors

  • Originality: Authors guarantee that the work is original, has not been submitted to other publications, and contains no plagiarism or falsified data.
  • Authorship: Co-authorship is limited to individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the research.
  • Data and Ethics: Authors must be prepared to provide primary data upon request and confirm compliance with ethical standards regarding human or animal subjects.
  • Disclosure: Disclosure of funding sources and any potential conflicts of interest is mandatory.
  • Cooperation: Authors are obligated to promptly correct errors identified during the peer review process or after publication.

Licensing and Copyright Policy

The journal operates under the Diamond Open Access model: we do not charge authors any publication fees and provide immediate free access to articles upon publication of each issue.

Core Principles:

  • Open Access (per BOAI): In accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative, users are free to read, download, copy, and distribute materials without prior permission from the editorial board or the author, provided the original work is properly cited.
  • CC BY-NC 4.0 Terms: Content is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. This allows for any non-commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author. Commercial use of the materials requires prior written consent from the publisher.
  • Author Rights: Researchers retain full copyright without restrictions. Authors have the right to self-archive (depositing preprints and post-prints in institutional or thematic repositories) and to distribute their work non-commercially for scientific and educational purposes.

Adherence to International Principles (COPE, WAME, DORA)

The Editorial Board ensures the high quality of publications by adhering to the regulations of leading international institutions:

  • Ethics and Transparency (COPE, WAME): We strictly follow the standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the prevention of plagiarism, data falsification, and authorship manipulation. In accordance with the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the journal guarantees full editorial independence and mandatory disclosure of conflicts of interest.
  • Research Quality (ICMJE): In manuscript processing, we apply the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), particularly regarding ethical standards for conducting experiments and the verification of primary data.
  • Research Assessment (DORA): The Editorial Board supports the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), prioritizing the intrinsic scientific value of the research rather than relying solely on metric indicators (e.g., h-index, impact factor).
  • Open Science and Digital Standards (OASPA, Plan S, FAIR): We ensure free access to knowledge under Creative Commons licenses, support archiving principles, and ensure that data complies with FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability).
  • Technological Responsibility: Particular attention is paid to the ethics of AI application, ensuring transparency of algorithms and the sole responsibility of authors for any generated content.

Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy

The Editorial Board guarantees permanent access to scientific works through a multi-layered digital content preservation system:

  • Identification: Each article is assigned a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) through the Crossref agency. This ensures the persistence of links and the perpetual availability of metadata.
  • Digital Preservation: In addition to regular backups on independent servers, the journal utilizes long-term preservation systems (such as the PKP Preservation Network or LOCKSS/CLOCKSS). This guarantees that the archive remains accessible even in the event that the journal ceases its activities.
  • Self-Archiving (Green Open Access): We encourage authors to deposit the published version (Publisher's Version/PDF) in institutional repositories, academic networks, and on personal websites, provided that a mandatory link to the journal's DOI is included.

Indexing

Indexed in: Ukrainika Naukova, Index Copernicus, Google Scholar.

Contact Information:
Department of Human Biology and Immunology, Kherson State University
Email: PryrodnychyiAlmanakh@gmail.com
Executive Secretary: Kateryna Orlova-Gudim (+380957910593)