The Editorial Board of the journal “USA & Canada: economics, politics, culture” (USA & Canada Journal) adheres to the ethical standards adopted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (СОРЕ) as well as Russian legislature regulating the copyright and mass communications. Authors, Editors, Reviewers, and the Publisher should act in accordance with the COPE Guide to Ethical Editing (http://publicationethics.org/) and with Russian legislations.

Principles of research ethics

The research papers published in the USA & Canada Journal must comply with the principle of integrity. All participants of the research process are required to demonstrate responsibility, scrupulosity and commitment to high standards as well as respect, transparent interaction and open communication.

If a research paper published in the USA & Canada Journal was not prepared in accordance with the ethical guidelines, a valid claim should be sent to the Editorial Board by email at usa-canada@mail.ru The appeal will be reviewed according to COPE guidelines or submitted to Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Commission on Counteracting Falsification of Scientific Research.

Editorial process

The Editorial Board is committed to editorial independence, and strives in all cases to prevent this principle from being compromised through competing interests, fear, or any other corporate, business, financial or political influence. The editorial processes reflect this commitment to editorial independence.

The Editorial Board does not discriminate against authors, editors or peer reviewers based on personal characteristics or identity, but encourages diversity and promotes equity at every stage of the publishing process. The academic publishing programme of the USA & Canada Journal is supervised by the RAS Commission on Counteracting Falsification of Scientific Research and the RAS Department of Global Problems and International Relations (OGPMO RAS) which provide independent advice to the Editorial Board.

The editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted to the journal are taken by the Editorial Board on the basis of independent reviewers’ feedback.

The RAS Presidium and OGPMO RAS approve on the publisher that would assume responsibility for releasing the USA & Canada Journal. OGPMO RAS approves the composition the Editorial Board. OGPMO RAS may also advise the Editorial Board on changes in policy, ethics or other issues, but decision-making on publication of particular articles is not the responsibility of OGPMO RAS.

The Editorial Board ensures publicity of its editorial policy and consideration of appeals against negative decisions taken in respect of articles. The Editorial Board considers appeals only if they are provided with information relevant to the editorial decision or if there is a reason to believe that the Editorial Board did not follow the Code of Ethics or the Research Ethics Guidelines. An appeal or a justified complaint may be submitted by e-mail to usa-canada@mail.ru.

The Editorial Board does not tolerate abusive behavior or correspondence towards its staff and others involved in the publishing process on our behalf. If anyone involved in this process engages in such behavior the Editorial Board has the right to take action to protect others from this abuse. This may include, for example, withdrawal of a manuscript from consideration, or challenging clearly abusive peer review comments.

Expert assessment/reviewing

Peer assessment/reviewing is crucial for maintaining the high standard of scientific publications. Peer review is applied by the Editorial Board and the Editor-in-Chief to make a decision about the publication. Combined with appropriate interaction with the Authors it also helps to improve the quality of submitted papers. The Journal considers Peer review process as a necessary component of formal communications in the research community, which is one of the pillars of the scientific approach.

The Editorial Board:

• ensures a rigorous and fair peer review of all publications in the USA & Canada Journal;

• expects to be notified in case of evidence of fraudulent or manipulative peer review, by emailing to usa-canada@mail.ru;

• protects confidentiality of review process participants and ensures their anonymity;

• expects the publisher, the authors and the reviewers to comply with all relevant confidentiality rules of the journal and to provide all necessary information.

All reviewers are expected to adhere to the following principles:

• Punctuality. When receiving a material for review, the reviewer assesses its compliance with the level of his/her qualification and the area of scientific interests within a short time. If the reviewer is not in the position to make a review, he/she promptly notifies the Editorial Board about it.

• Confidentiality. Reviewed materials may not be used by reviewers for private purposes or shown to third parties.

• Impartiality. The review process is anonymous. The articles are evaluated in terms of quality of the scientific text, logic of presentation, exactitude of argumentation. Evaluation of the authors’ personality and personal criticism is unacceptable.

• Objectivity. The reviewer provides an objective assessment. The reviewer expresses his/her opinion in a well-argued manner.

Authorship and participation in publication-related work

Various disciplines and publication formats have different rules regarding authorship. In the absence of other guidelines, the following principles are recommended:

• the author may be a person who has made a significant contribution to the research, took part in the execution of the paper, development of its concept or structure; participated in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data for the paper; and/or

• made a follow-up revision of the manuscript, which added some important intellectual content or deepened the existing scientific knowledge; and

• agreed to be responsible for all aspects of work and to provide due solution of issues relating to its integrity and accuracy of provided data.

Author’s responsibilities:

• to guarantee the originality of the manuscript: it is assumed that the submitted research paper has not been published previously in other editions in its current form or a form close in contents;

• to respect the principle of exclusivity: a manuscript may be submitted only to one journal at a time;

• not to artificially increase scientometric indexes and friendly citation, not to make irrelevant references;

• to correct and revise the manuscript: make corrections and resubmit the corrected manuscript until it is accepted by the Editorial Board;

• to sign the Publication Agreement and/or ensure signing of the Agreement by any third-party titleholders;

• to act on behalf of the co-authors in responding to inquiries from other sources after the publication, including questions concerning ethics, repeated use

of published materials, accessibility of used data and resources.

It is recommended to list anyone who does not meet the criteria for authorship in an “Acknowledgments” section in their publication with permission, for example to recognize the contributions of anyone who provided research or writing assistance.

Affiliation

The article affiliation is to represent the institution(s) in which the submitted research was carried out and/or supported and/or approved.

Plagiarism

The USA & Canada Journal Editorial Board adheres to the definition of plagiarism as “the use of others’ ideas, research results, texts or other materials without permission of the authors, and respective references”.

Plagiarism involves incorrect borrowing from all types of sources and media, including:

• texts, illustrations, extended mathematical conclusions, etc;

• material downloaded from websites or copied from manuscripts and other media;

• any published and unpublished materials, including lectures and presentations.

The Editorial Board bars plagiarism in all publications and reserves the right to check all submitted materials with the use of appropriate tools (such as the “Antiplagiat” plagiarism detection system). Materials containing plagiarism are rejected. The Editorial Board also expects the readers, reviewers and editors to report on possible plagiarism by contacting the Editorial Board by e-mail at usa-canada@mail.ru.

Self-Plagiarism

A duplicate publication or “self-plagiarism” is a situation when a work or significant parts of it are published more than once by the author(s), in the same or another language, without appropriate cross-referencing or justification of duplication.

The Editorial Board does not support extensive duplication of publications except for the cases when it contributes to academic discussion, with correct source citation.

The Editorial Board expects the readers, reviewers and editors to convey information of any duplication of publication by e-mailing at usa-canada@mail.ru.

Any manuscript based on an academic thesis should be written in accordance with the journal requirements, and the material should be revised. When citing the thesis or reusing the figures, authors should avoid self-plagiarism by referring to any excerpts from the thesis in a proper manner. If the thesis has been published and is freely available, permission of the publisher may be required. When submitting a manuscript, the author should inform the editor in a cover letter that it is based on the thesis.

Conflict of interest and financing

The Editorial Board strives to ensure that any scholarly publication is free from undue influence. The authors, editors and reviewers of publications in the USA & Canada Journal are obliged to report on any potential conflict of interest. The conflict of interest is a situation that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the presentation, review or publication of a piece of work. These may be financial, non-financial, professional, contractual or personal in nature. The Editorial Board expects that anyone who suspects an undisclosed competing interests regarding a work published or under consideration by the USA & Canada Journal editorial staff to report it by e-mail at usa-canada@mail.ru.

Libel, defamation and freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is crucial for the USA & Canada Journal as an academic edition; at the same time, the Editorial Board does not support publication of false statements that harm the reputation of individuals, groups or organizations. The Editorial Board carries out its activities in accordance with the Constitution and the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Corrections and retraction

The Editorial Board will consider retractions, corrections or expressions of concern in line with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines. If a misprint is found or the author is found to have made an error, the Editorial Board will correct it. Retraction is generally applied to articles with erroneous findings and conclusions or articles that contain substantial plagiarism.

The Editorial Board may remove an article from the online source and publish a notice stating the basis for its withdrawal. The possible reason is a finding that the material is defamatory, violates the privacy or confidentiality laws, is a subject of injunction or may pose a serious health risk to the general public. If the problem relates to correctness or accuracy of the material presented in the article the Editorial Board will consider making necessary corrections.

The resolution of a conflict situation may be achieved through negotiations with concerned parties or sending a query to an appropriate institution for expert examination.

Image manipulation

Where research data are collected or presented as images, modifying these images can sometimes misrepresent the results obtained or their significance. The Editorial Board recognizes that there can be legitimate reasons for modifying images, but we expect authors to avoid modifying images where this leads to the falsification, fabrication, or misrepresentation of their results.

Clarity/Transparency

The Editorial Board is committed to following the COPE’s Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing and encourages the publishing partners to uphold to the same principles.

Censorship

The USA & Canada Journal aims to disseminate knowledge to the widest possible audience, and to serve the academic community in all countries around the world. The Editorial Board supports the COPE’s statement on censorship and follows the recommendations of RAS Commission on Counteracting Falsification of Scientific Research.

Marketing communication

Social media and email communication are powerful tools for disseminating information about publications in the USA & Canada Journal, attracting new readers and discussing research findings. However, such onward communication should never be at the expense of the integrity of the content or of the academic record. The Editorial Board expects the dissemination of information about the journal to be made in accordance with the Editorial Board’s social media policy, the best media interaction practices and the Russian legislation.

Advertising

The Editorial Board allows for limited, appropriate and sometimes targeted advertising on the online platform of the RAS socio-humanistic collection and in the printed edition. Advertising should be independent and should be strictly separated from the content.