Editorial Governance and Editorial Independence Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define the governance structure, allocation of authority, decision-making responsibilities, and safeguards for editorial independence of the Uzbek Journal "Problems of Mechanics".

This policy establishes the relationship between the Founder, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, editorial team, and Editorial Board and ensures that scientific and editorial decisions are made fairly, transparently, independently, and in accordance with the journal’s aims, scope, peer-review requirements, and publication ethics policies.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

  • the Founder;
  • the Publisher;
  • the Editor-in-Chief;
  • Deputy Editors;
  • Section Editors and Associate Editors, where appointed;
  • the Executive Secretary;
  • Editorial Board members;
  • Guest Editors;
  • editorial, technical, and administrative staff;
  • all persons participating in editorial decision-making.

The policy applies to regular issues, special issues, thematic collections, guest-edited content, corrections, retractions, appeals, complaints, and other editorial activities.

3. Governance Principles

The editorial governance of the journal is based on:

  1. editorial independence;
  2. scientific impartiality;
  3. academic freedom;
  4. accountability and clearly assigned responsibility;
  5. confidentiality;
  6. transparency;
  7. management of competing interests;
  8. fair and consistent application of journal policies;
  9. protection of the integrity of the scholarly record;
  10. separation of scientific decisions from financial, institutional, administrative, political, and commercial interests.

4. Founder

The Founder of the journal is the Institute of Mechanics and Seismic Stability of Structures named after M.T. Urozboev of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Founder may:

  • support the institutional and scientific development of the journal;
  • provide organizational and academic resources;
  • participate in the strategic development of the journal;
  • nominate or approve editorial appointments in accordance with applicable institutional procedures;
  • support the continuity and reputation of the journal.

The Founder must not:

  • require the acceptance or rejection of an individual manuscript;
  • select reviewers for the purpose of influencing an editorial decision;
  • interfere with confidential peer-review materials;
  • prevent the publication of scientifically valid findings for non-academic reasons;
  • influence editorial decisions because of institutional, political, financial, or personal interests.

5. Publisher

I-EDU GROUP LLC serves as the Publisher and provides technical, publishing, administrative, and digital support.

The Publisher is responsible for:

  • maintaining the journal’s publishing platform;
  • production, publication, and online dissemination;
  • DOI registration and maintenance of metadata;
  • technical communication and platform support;
  • implementation of open-access, copyright, licensing, and archiving arrangements;
  • maintaining accurate and accessible journal information;
  • supporting editors in handling ethical and post-publication matters;
  • ensuring that fees, advertising, sponsorship, and marketing activities are administered separately from scientific decision-making.

The Publisher must not accept, reject, revise, or require publication of an individual manuscript for non-scientific reasons.

Payment or non-payment of an article processing charge, waiver decisions, sponsorship, advertising, or commercial considerations must not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

6. Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for the scientific and editorial integrity of the journal.

The Editor-in-Chief:

  • provides leadership for the journal’s scientific and editorial activities;
  • determines the scientific direction and development priorities of the journal;
  • protects editorial independence;
  • oversees compliance with the journal’s aims and scope;
  • supervises the peer-review and editorial decision-making process;
  • assigns manuscripts to qualified editors;
  • approves or appoints independent reviewers and editors where necessary;
  • evaluates conflicting reviewer reports and may request additional expert review;
  • makes decisions on complex scientific, ethical, procedural, or post-publication matters;
  • oversees corrections, retractions, Expressions of Concern, and other updates;
  • retains final editorial authority over the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts;
  • remains accountable for the final editorial decision.

Reviewer and editor recommendations are advisory. The Editor-in-Chief must consider them fairly but is not required to follow a majority recommendation where scientific, methodological, ethical, or procedural concerns justify a different decision.

7. Delegation and Absence

The Editor-in-Chief may delegate the management of a manuscript to a Deputy Editor, Section Editor, Associate Editor, or another qualified independent editor.

Delegation does not remove the Editor-in-Chief’s overall responsibility for the integrity of the journal.

During the temporary absence of the Editor-in-Chief, designated duties may be performed by an authorized Deputy Editor. The person acting in this capacity must comply with the same independence, confidentiality, and competing-interest requirements.

8. Deputy Editors, Section Editors, and Associate Editors

Deputy Editors assist the Editor-in-Chief in coordinating editorial activities and may manage manuscripts assigned to them.

Section Editors and Associate Editors, where appointed:

  • manage manuscripts within their fields of expertise;
  • conduct or supervise the initial scientific assessment;
  • identify and select qualified independent reviewers;
  • manage the peer-review process;
  • evaluate reviewer reports and author responses;
  • make a reasoned recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief;
  • identify ethical, methodological, or competing-interest concerns.

Unless formally authorized for a particular matter, these editors do not replace the Editor-in-Chief’s final responsibility.

9. Executive Secretary and Administrative Staff

The Executive Secretary and administrative staff are responsible for:

  • receiving and registering submissions;
  • checking technical completeness;
  • maintaining communication with authors, reviewers, and editors;
  • monitoring editorial timelines;
  • maintaining records and correspondence;
  • supporting issue preparation and publication.

Administrative and technical staff must not independently make scientific decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts.

10. Editorial Board

The Editorial Board provides scientific, strategic, advisory, and ethical support.

Its responsibilities may include:

  • advising on the journal’s aims, scope, and scientific priorities;
  • evaluating the relevance and development of subject areas;
  • recommending qualified reviewers;
  • participating in manuscript assessment where appropriate;
  • advising on complex scientific or ethical matters;
  • reviewing journal policies;
  • supporting international and institutional cooperation;
  • contributing to periodic evaluation of the journal’s performance.

Editorial Board membership does not provide a right to influence the outcome of a manuscript for personal, institutional, or non-scientific reasons.

11. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be based solely on:

  • scientific quality;
  • originality;
  • methodological reliability;
  • relevance to the journal’s aims and scope;
  • validity and reliability of the findings;
  • ethical compliance;
  • clarity and significance of the scholarly contribution.

Decisions must not be influenced by:

  • the author’s academic title, position, nationality, citizenship, gender, religion, political views, or institutional affiliation;
  • pressure from the Founder, Publisher, government bodies, funding organizations, sponsors, advertisers, or commercial partners;
  • payment or waiver of publication fees;
  • personal relationships or institutional interests;
  • citation, revenue, marketing, or publication-volume targets.

The Publisher and Founder must protect the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team from inappropriate interference in individual editorial decisions.

12. Appointment, Evaluation, and Removal of Editors

Editors and Editorial Board members should be appointed on the basis of:

  • scientific competence relevant to the journal’s scope;
  • publication and peer-review experience;
  • professional reputation;
  • commitment to research integrity;
  • ability to perform editorial duties;
  • absence of disqualifying competing interests.

Their performance may be periodically evaluated.

An editor may be removed for:

  • prolonged inactivity;
  • repeated failure to perform assigned duties;
  • breach of confidentiality;
  • undisclosed competing interests;
  • serious violation of publication ethics;
  • manipulation of peer review or editorial decisions;
  • submission of false professional information;
  • conduct seriously damaging the journal’s academic integrity.

No editor should be removed solely because the editor made an independent, evidence-based editorial decision that was consistent with journal policy.

Any removal decision must be reasoned, documented, and made through a process free from relevant competing interests.

13. Competing Interests and Recusal

Editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived competing interest concerning a manuscript.

An editor must not handle a manuscript where the editor:

  • is an author or co-author;
  • participated in the research;
  • recently collaborated or published with an author;
  • works at the same institution where impartiality may reasonably be questioned;
  • has a supervisory, mentoring, family, personal, financial, or commercial relationship with an author;
  • has a direct academic dispute or competitive interest;
  • has any other relationship that may compromise impartiality.

The conflicted editor must not:

  • select reviewers;
  • access confidential materials beyond what is necessary to identify the conflict;
  • participate in internal discussions;
  • influence or make the editorial decision.

The manuscript must be reassigned to an independent editor. Detailed procedures are governed by the journal’s Conflicts of Interest Policy.

14. Manuscripts Submitted by Editors and Board Members

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, Editorial Board members, Publisher employees, or persons closely associated with the journal must receive no preferential treatment.

Such manuscripts must:

  • be handled by an independent editor;
  • undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process;
  • be evaluated by at least two qualified independent reviewers;
  • be processed without participation by the submitting editor or Board member;
  • contain an appropriate disclosure of the author’s editorial role.

Where the Editor-in-Chief is an author, the complete editorial process and final decision must be managed by an independent senior editor, Editorial Board member, or suitably qualified external editor.

15. Complaints and Appeals

Complaints and appeals must be handled fairly, confidentially, and independently.

A person who participated in the disputed decision or has a relevant competing interest must not investigate or decide the complaint or appeal.

Complaints directly concerning the Editor-in-Chief must be assigned to an independent senior Editorial Board member, the Publisher with independent oversight, the Founder’s authorized representative, or an external adviser.

Complaints concerning the Publisher must be reviewed by a person or body independent of the disputed conduct.

Detailed procedures, timeframes, evidence requirements, and review mechanisms are governed by the journal’s Complaints and Appeals Policy.

16. Special Issues and Guest Editors

Special issues, thematic collections, and guest-edited content must remain under the overall authority of the Editor-in-Chief.

They must:

  • fall within the journal’s aims and scope;
  • follow the same scientific, ethical, and peer-review standards as regular issues;
  • appoint only Guest Editors whose identities, affiliations, academic qualifications, publication records, and relevant expertise have been verified and approved;
  • require the disclosure and appropriate management of competing interests;
  • maintain the independent selection of qualified reviewers;
  • prevent Guest Editors from managing or influencing the editorial assessment of their own manuscripts;
  • ensure that manuscripts submitted by Guest Editors or their close collaborators are handled by an independent editor without the participation of the relevant Guest Editor;
  • clearly identify all articles published as part of a special issue as special-issue content on the article landing page, in the table of contents, and in the published issue;
  • ensure that articles authored or co-authored by Guest Editors do not exceed 25% of the total number of articles published in the special issue;
  • allow the Editor-in-Chief to review, restrict, suspend, or terminate the special-issue process where concerns regarding quality, ethics, peer-review integrity, or competing interests arise.

A Guest Editor may coordinate the special-issue process but must not have unrestricted final authority over the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts. Final editorial responsibility remains with the Editor-in-Chief.

These requirements must be applied together with the journal’s Peer Review Policy, Conflicts of Interest Policy, and Editorial Governance and Editorial Independence Policy.

17. Documentation and Accountability

Editorial decisions should be documented in the journal’s electronic editorial system.

The journal should maintain appropriate records of:

  • manuscript assignments;
  • reviewer invitations and reports;
  • editorial recommendations;
  • competing-interest disclosures;
  • recusal and reassignment decisions;
  • acceptance and rejection decisions;
  • complaints and appeals;
  • corrections, retractions, and other post-publication actions.

Confidential records must be protected and accessible only to authorized persons.

18. Relationship With Other Policies

This policy should be read together with the journal’s:

  • Editorial Board Policy;
  • Peer Review Policy;
  • Conflicts of Interest Policy;
  • Complaints and Appeals Policy;
  • Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement;
  • Allegations of Misconduct Policy;
  • Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Updates Policy;
  • Advertising and Direct Marketing Policy;
  • Article Processing Charge Policy;
  • Special Issue and Guest Editor Policy, where applicable.

Where a detailed subject-specific policy exists, that policy governs the relevant procedure, while this policy establishes the general governance and accountability framework.

ISSN 2010-7250 (Print)