This Code defines the ethical norms and rules of conduct for the publisher, editorial board, reviewers, and authors of the journal “Law and World”.
The objective of this Code is to uphold the professional dignity of “Law and World”, ensure respect for its activities, and establish trust in high-quality scientific publications within society, based on moral responsibility.
The Code is founded on the principles of fairness, objectivity, confidentiality, and transparency.
This Code evolves and improves in response to contemporary demands, incorporating best ethical practices.
The journal strictly adheres to international standards of academic publishing ethics and follows the best practices established by COPE in peer review, conflict of interest management, plagiarism control, and other ethical matters to ensure a fair and transparent publishing process.
Conflict of Interest
“Law and World” upholds the principles of scientific impartiality, ensuring that authors, reviewers, and editorial board members are not subject to conflicts of interest that could influence the review or publication process.
Authors, reviewers, and editorial board members must disclose in writing any potential conflicts of interest to the Editor-in-Chief at the time of submission or at any stage if a conflict emerges later.
Conflicts of interest may include financial interests (grants, funding, honoraria), personal or professional relationships (family, colleagues, competitors), academic or institutional interests, or any other circumstances that could influence the evaluation, editing, or publication of an article.
The disclosure must be submitted in an official letter or via email.
In case of a (potential) conflict of interest among editorial board members, authors, or reviewers, the final decision is made by the editorial board.
If an author, reviewer, or editorial board member conceals a conflict of interest, the editorial board reserves the right to:
Suspend the publication process or retract a published article (in accordance with the journal’s retraction policy).
Decline future collaboration with the author, reviewer, or editorial board member.
Notify relevant academic and publishing platforms about the violation, if necessary.
Editorial board members, including the Editor-in-Chief, are not allowed to review manuscripts submitted to this journal or publish their own articles in “Law and World”. This restriction applies to both individual and co-authored works (effective from 2022).
Duties of the Editorial Board
The editorial board must conduct its activities with honesty and integrity, ensuring trust from its readership, which is the journal’s core value.
The editorial board’s publication decisions are based solely on the scientific and intellectual value of a manuscript, without regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political views.
When necessary, the editorial board must provide well-reasoned and evidence-based justifications regarding the content and scientific value of a manuscript.
The editorial board must not use or cite information from a submitted manuscript before publication unless the author grants permission.
The editorial board must strictly maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and communications with authors. Only publication decisions may be disclosed.
Reviewers’ comments and suggestions are sent to authors in an encrypted manner, ensuring the anonymity of the reviewer.
Authors’ phone numbers and email addresses will be usedsolely for journal purposes and will not be shared with third parties.
Duties of Reviewers
Reviewers must provide well-founded evaluations and remain independent of any external influence or pressure. They should assess all relevant aspects impartially and avoid conflicts of interest.
Reviews must be objective, and personal criticism of the author is not permitted. Feedback should be based solely on arguments and evidence.
The review process should resemble a constructive dialogue between the reviewer and the author, treating both parties as equals.
Reviewers may express differing opinions, but these must be justified with appropriate arguments based on key aspects of the manuscript.
Reviewers must adhere to ethical standards and remain respectful even when providing negative reviews.
Emotional language such as “extraordinary”, “unique”, “exceptional”, “terrible”, “nonsensical”, “outrageous”, etc., is not permitted in reviews.
Reviewers should avoid self-promotion and focus on highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript.
Reviewers must maintain confidentiality regarding the information received during the review process and must not use unpublished data for personal purposes or in ways that could harm the author or the journal.
Reviewers must not pass a manuscript to another evaluator without the Editor-in-Chief’s permission.
Reviewers’ identities remain confidential, even when providing negative or recommendation-based reviews.
Reviewers should identify any key sources missing from the manuscript and verify the accuracy of citations.
Reviewers must decline to review if:
They recognize the author’s identity based on familiar phrases or ideas in the text.
The manuscript closely aligns with their own research, making objective evaluation difficult.
Any other conflict of interest arises (must be specified).
If a reviewer detects any misconduct such as plagiarism, data falsification, ghost authorship, or duplicate publication, they must inform the publisher.
If a reviewer is unable to complete a review within the given timeframe or lacks the necessary expertise, they must inform the editorial team promptly.
Duties of Authors
Authors must ensure that their submitted work is an original research outcome.
While critique of other researchers’ work is allowed, personal attacks are not permitted.
Hate speech, incitement of ethnic or religious conflict, as well as obscene or offensive language, is strictly prohibited.
Submitted manuscripts must not contain discriminatory content.
Proper attribution must always be given to other researchers’ work and publications.
When using ideas or citations from other authors, manuscripts must adhere to the mandatory citation style of “Law and World”.
In addition to direct citations (footnotes), authors must acknowledge works that influenced their research (bibliography).
Any individual who contributed intellectually to the research must be listed as a co-author.
Those who contributed in non-academic capacities (technical support, data collection, language editing, etc.) but do not meet authorship criteria must be acknowledged in a “Gratitude” section.
Authors must ensure that individuals acknowledged in the “Gratitude” section have consented to be mentioned.
Any form of plagiarism is considered unethical and dishonest, violating personal dignity and the principles of academic integrity.
If plagiarism is identified before publication, the author will be informed and required to provide an explanation within a reasonable timeframe.
The editorial board may allow the author time to correct errors if a valid explanation is provided.
If the author refuses to respond or fails to disprove plagiarism, the manuscript will not be considered for publication.
In such cases, the editorial board reserves the right to permanently reject future submissions from the author or impose a publication ban of up to three years.
If a published article is retracted under the journal’s retraction policy, the editorial board will assess the author’s accountability.
Decisions regarding violations may include:
A warning if the violation is technical or a first-time occurrence.
A temporary three-year ban on publishing in the journal.
Permanent disqualification from publishing in “Law and World”.
Notifying the author’s academic institution if necessary.
Authors will be notified in writing of any decisions regarding violations.
Authors may request a written explanation from the Editor-in-Chief regarding any imposed sanctions.
Duties of the Publisher
The Institute of Law at European University ensures compliance with this Code of Ethics.
The publisher guarantees that editorial decisions are free from external influence.
The publisher facilitates communication between the journal and authors.
The publisher offers the best possible resolution for complaints.
The publisher supports and advances best practices for “Law and World”, focusing on accuracy and innovation.
Other Provisions
In case of a violation found in a published article, any individual has the right to contact the journal’s Editor-in-Chief (ioseb.kelenjeridze@eu.edu.ge) and request a review and appropriate action. The request must include detailed information about the violation (author, title, type of violation, and justification).
The Editor-in-Chief is obliged to review all such requests within a reasonable timeframe in consultation with the editorial board and provide a well-founded response to the applicant. The author(s) of the article in question will be informed and given an opportunity to present their explanation.
After reviewing the author(s)’ explanations, if the editorial board determines that the published article violates the journal’s policies, a collective decision will be made accordingly.
If information about the violation is publicly disseminated (via social media or other sources), the editorial board reserves the right to respond to such cases as it would to a formal written request.
