The editorial board of the journal is committed to responding promptly and constructively to all complaints and to resolving them. The editorial board and staff of the journal “Transport technologies” will investigate specific cases of complaints according to their nature and complexity, and any decision taken will take into account the recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Suggestions or complaints can be sent to the journal's email address: tt.journal@lpnu.ua. All reports will be processed within thirty business days. However, depending on the complexity of the complaint, additional time may be required to complete the investigation.
The complaint should be concise, detailed, and contain sufficient information to demonstrate any possible violation of publication ethics. If possible, it is also advisable to provide additional documents confirming the specific requirement.
Сomplaints of a personal nature against authors, editors, reviewers, or the editorial board of the journal will be responded to with an explanation of why the complaint was recognized as falling outside the scope of the journal's responsibility. Furthermore, the journal refrains from conducting an investigation when complaints are submitted in an offensive, threatening, or defamatory manner.
Procedure for handling complaints by the editorial board
1. Filing a complaint
- A complaint may be filed by an author, reviewer, reader, or any other member of the scientific community.
- Complaints should be submitted in written form to tt.journal@lpnu.ua and should contain:
- a clear description of the nature of the violation;
- evidence (references to sources, copies of documents, excerpts from texts, etc.);
- the complainant's contact details.
2. Initial review
- The complaint is registered by the executive secretary of the editorial board.
- The editor-in-chief conducts a preliminary analysis of the complaint and determines whether it concerns issues of academic integrity and publication ethics.
- If there is insufficient information, the applicant is notified of the need to provide additional materials.
3. Consideration of the complaint by the editorial board
- The complaint is forwarded to the editorial board for consideration.
- The editorial board considers:
- the nature of the violation (plagiarism, data falsification, double publication, improper authorship, violation of the review procedure, etc.);
- the scale and consequences of the violation;
- the available evidence.
- If necessary, independent experts are involved.
4. Decision making
The editorial board may take one of the following decisions:
- Reject the complaint (if it is unsubstantiated or not supported by evidence).
- Make comments to the authors and require them to correct the errors.
- Reject the article (if the violation is detected at the review stage).
- Retract an already published article (with a corresponding official publication about the retraction).
- Notify the author's scientific institution or employer about the violations.
- Refuse the author further publishing in the journal for a specified period of time (sanction).
5. Notification of parties
- The author(s) and applicant will receive written notification of the results of the review.
- If an article is retracted, a notice stating the reasons will be published on the journal's website.
6. Appeal
- The author or applicant has the right to appeal within 30 days from the date of receiving the decision.
- The appeal is considered by the editor-in-chief and, if necessary, by members of the editorial board or external experts.
7. Principles of the process
- Transparency – the procedure is clearly structured and available for review on the journal's website.
- Confidentiality – complainants and reviewers remain anonymous (at their request).
- Impartiality – decisions are made collectively, taking into account all evidence.