Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics" is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, editorial independence, and transparency in order to protect the reliability of the scholarly record. This policy defines the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, the publisher, and other parties involved in the publication process.

The journal follows the COPE Core Practices and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

Responsibilities of the Publisher

I-EDU GROUP LLC, as the publisher of the Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics", is responsible for:

Editorial Independence: Protecting the independence of the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial team. The publisher must not interfere in decisions concerning the acceptance, revision, or rejection of individual manuscripts.

Infrastructure and Resources: Providing the editorial, technical, administrative, and digital infrastructure necessary for the effective operation of the journal.

Ethical Support: Supporting the editors in addressing allegations of misconduct, disputes, corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern in accordance with established procedures.

Transparency: Ensuring that information concerning journal ownership, management, fees, copyright, licensing, peer review, and editorial policies is accurate and publicly accessible.

Digital Preservation: Maintaining reliable digital archiving and preservation arrangements to ensure the long-term accessibility of published content.

Responsibilities of the Editors

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the editorial team are responsible for:

Editorial Decisions: Making decisions on manuscripts solely on the basis of their academic quality, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the journal’s scope, clarity, and significance.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, citizenship, institutional affiliation, disability, political beliefs, academic position, or personal characteristics.

Peer Review Management: Ensuring that eligible manuscripts undergo a fair, timely, confidential, and academically rigorous peer review conducted by appropriately qualified reviewers.

Confidentiality: Protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, author information, editorial correspondence, and unpublished data.

Conflicts of Interest: Disclosing and appropriately managing any financial, professional, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which such conflicts exist.

Research Integrity: Assessing concerns related to plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, data or image manipulation, fabrication, falsification, unethical research, and other forms of misconduct.

Post-Publication Action: Issuing corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other notices when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the published record.

Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal research or advantage without the authors’ explicit written permission.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

  • provide objective, evidence-based, fair, and constructive assessments;
  • evaluate manuscripts within their area of expertise;
  • complete reviews within the agreed period or promptly inform the editorial office if additional time is required;
  • maintain strict confidentiality concerning manuscripts, data, methods, findings, and editorial communications;
  • refrain from using unpublished information for personal, professional, or commercial advantage;
  • disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest and decline the review when impartiality cannot be ensured;
  • identify important published work that has not been appropriately cited;
  • alert the editors to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, ethical concerns, or substantial similarity with other work;
  • avoid personal criticism, discriminatory language, hostile comments, or unsubstantiated allegations;
  • communicate with authors only through the editorial office during the review process.

Reviewers must not delegate the review to another person without prior permission from the editorial office.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

  • submit original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal;
  • present research methods, data, analyses, and findings accurately, completely, and transparently;
  • provide sufficient methodological detail to enable verification, replication, or further development of the research;
  • retain the underlying research records and make supporting data available in accordance with the journal’s Data Availability Policy;
  • cite all relevant sources accurately and avoid plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse, and citation manipulation;
  • avoid fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, inappropriate image manipulation, and misleading presentation of results;
  • disclose all sources of funding and all relevant financial, professional, institutional, or personal competing interests;
  • acknowledge individuals, institutions, facilities, and organizations that provided legitimate support but do not qualify for authorship;
  • ensure that all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria and have approved the submitted and final versions of the manuscript;
  • obtain the necessary permissions for copyrighted material reproduced in the manuscript.

Where research involves human participants, human data, human-derived materials, animals, or other activities subject to ethical oversight, authors must obtain all required approvals and clearly report the approving authority, approval number, and relevant consent information.

Authors must promptly inform the editorial office if they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted or published manuscript and must cooperate in issuing an appropriate correction or retraction.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the work and who accept responsibility for its content.

All authors must:

  • approve the final version of the manuscript;
  • agree to its submission and publication;
  • be able to identify their own contribution;
  • accept accountability for the integrity of the work.

Author contributions must be described using the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy where applicable.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be identified in the Acknowledgments section with their permission.

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be supported by a written explanation and written agreement from all affected authors. The journal may decline authorship changes that are not adequately justified.

Competing Interests Policy

Authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process must disclose any relationship or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, peer review, or editorial decision-making process.

Competing interests may include:

  • grants, employment, consultancy fees, honoraria, patents, stock ownership, or other financial interests;
  • personal relationships or professional disputes;
  • recent collaboration or co-authorship;
  • institutional affiliations;
  • academic, ideological, or competitive interests.

Editors with a conflict of interest must not handle the affected manuscript. Reviewers must decline assignments where their impartiality may reasonably be questioned.

The existence of a competing interest does not automatically prevent publication, but it must be transparently disclosed and appropriately managed.

Research and Publication Misconduct

Research and publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism and inappropriate text reuse;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • manipulation of images, figures, or results;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • simultaneous submission to multiple journals;
  • citation manipulation;
  • undisclosed competing interests;
  • unethical research;
  • improper authorship or contributorship;
  • peer review manipulation;
  • unauthorized use of confidential information.

Allegations will be assessed fairly, confidentially, and without prejudging the outcome. The journal may request explanations, original data, ethics documentation, authorship records, or other supporting evidence.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors’ institution, ethics committee, funding body, or another competent authority. Investigations will follow relevant COPE guidance while respecting due process and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other parties may submit complaints concerning editorial procedures, publication ethics, staff conduct, peer review, or published content.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant factual, procedural, or ethical error occurred. An appeal must include a clear explanation and supporting evidence.

Appeals and complaints will be reviewed by an editor or other qualified person who was not directly responsible for the disputed decision whenever possible. Appeals will not be accepted solely because an author disagrees with the academic judgment of the editors or reviewers.

The outcome of the appeal or complaint will be communicated to the complainant, and the journal’s final decision will normally be considered conclusive.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics" is committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Correction: A correction may be issued when a published article contains an error or omission that does not invalidate its principal findings or conclusions.

Retraction: An article may be retracted when its findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, plagiarism, redundant publication, unethical research, manipulation, or another serious breach of publication standards.

Expression of Concern: An expression of concern may be issued when credible concerns have been raised but an investigation is incomplete, inconclusive, or significantly delayed.

Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will:

  • clearly identify the affected article;
  • explain the reason for the notice;
  • be published promptly and transparently;
  • remain freely accessible;
  • be linked electronically to the original article;
  • preserve the original scholarly record while clearly indicating its current status.

Retraction is not intended as punishment but as a mechanism for correcting the scholarly record.

Ethical Standards for Human and Animal Research

Where applicable, research involving human participants, identifiable human data, or human-derived materials must comply with applicable national and institutional requirements and the ethical principles of the current version of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Research involving live animals must comply with applicable legislation, institutional requirements, and recognized animal welfare standards. Authors should report such research in accordance with the ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines where applicable.

If ethical approval was not required, the manuscript must clearly state this and provide an appropriate explanation where necessary.

External Standards

The editorial and publication practices of the Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics" are informed by:

  • COPE Core Practices;
  • Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing;
  • the current Declaration of Helsinki, where applicable;
  • ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines, where applicable;
  • the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy;
  • applicable national legislation, institutional requirements, and internationally recognized research integrity standards.

    Policy Administration

    This policy is effective from 1 August 2026 and will be reviewed periodically to ensure its continued alignment with applicable ethical standards and the editorial practices of the Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics". Questions, complaints, appeals, or allegations of misconduct should be submitted to the Editorial Office at instmechofficial@gmail.com. All relevant matters will be considered in accordance with the journal’s applicable policies and COPE guidance.


ISSN 2010-7250 (Online)