AUTHORS' POLICY
Permission to Use Materials by Third Parties
The journal's policy on obtaining permission to use third-party materials includes the following key provisions:
Required Permissions
Any reproduction of substantial portions of copyrighted works requires formal permission from the copyright holder. This applies to text and visual materials, such as illustrations, diagrams, tables, and photographs.
Obtaining Permissions
To obtain permission to use materials published by another publisher, authors should:
Identify the copyright holder for the material.
Contact the copyright holder for formal written permission.
Ensure the permission clearly covers the intended use, stating that it is for publication in a research article.
Permission Documentation.
The manuscript must be accompanied by a written permission slip and appropriately referenced as specified by the copyright holder.
Authors' Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for ensuring:
Permission documentation.
Compliance with license terms (e.g., Creative Commons).
Proper attribution in the text of the article or in figure/table legends.
Exceptions.
Permission is not required for:
Public domain materials.
Materials licensed under open licenses (e.g., Creative Commons) provided the license terms are followed.
Data Access
The journal supports the transparency and reproducibility of research. Authors should provide additional data upon request to support the results reported in their article.
Formats and Access
Data must be provided in reusable formats (e.g., CSV, Excel, PDF, Word). Data may be:
Submitted directly to the editors through the journal platform.
Deposited in public repositories such as Zenodo or Mendeley Data.
Confidentiality
Supplementary data provided for review will remain confidential and will be accessible only to reviewers and the editorial team.
Publication of Supplementary Data
Authors are encouraged to publish supplementary data in open-access public repositories, citing the repository in the article to ensure transparency and future scientific use.
GENERATIVE AI USE POLICY
With the development of generative AI and AI-enabled technologies, which are increasingly being used by authors in the creation of scientific manuscripts, the journal "Bulletin of the Volga State University of Service. Series: Economy" has developed a policy regulating their use. The journal will closely monitor developments in this field and revise its policy as necessary.
Policy for Authors
Use of Generative AI and AI-enabled Tools in Scientific Writing
This policy applies exclusively to the writing process and does not extend to the use of AI for data analysis or drawing scientific conclusions during research.
Purpose of AI Use
Authors may use generative AI and AI tools solely to enhance the readability and linguistic quality of their manuscripts. Such tools must be used under human supervision, and the output must be carefully reviewed and edited by the authors. It is important to recognize that AI can generate text that appears authoritative but may contain inaccuracies, incomplete information, or bias.
Responsibility and Disclosure
Authors are solely responsible for the content of their work. The use of AI tools must be disclosed in the manuscript, and this disclosure will be included in the published article to ensure transparency and build trust among all participants in the publication process.
Exclusion of AI as Authors
AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship implies responsibility and the performance of tasks that only humans can perform. Authors must ensure that their work is original, complies with ethical standards, and does not infringe the rights of third parties.
Use of AI in Illustrations and Graphic Content
Prohibition of Images Created or Modified with Artificial Intelligence
The use of generative AI or AI tools to create, modify, or process images in manuscripts is prohibited. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, and color balance are permitted only if they do not distort the data presented.
Exception
If the use of AI is part of the research methodology (e.g., biomedical imaging), it must be described in detail in the "Methodology" section, including the name and characteristics of the AI tool used.
Reviewer Policy
Confidentiality and Use of AI Tools
Manuscripts under review are confidential documents, and uploading them or any portions of them to AI tools is prohibited, as this may violate the author's confidentiality and intellectual property rights. This rule also applies to review comments, which may contain confidential information about the manuscript and its authors.
The use of generative AI to assist scientific peer review is not permitted, as the peer review process requires critical thinking and independent judgment, which are beyond the capabilities of AI. Reviewers are solely responsible for the content of their reviews.
AI in Editorial Tools
The journal permits the use of safe artificial intelligence technologies for tasks such as manuscript completeness checks, plagiarism detection, and finding appropriate reviewers, provided confidentiality standards are maintained.
Editor Policy
Manuscript Confidentiality
All manuscripts submitted for review must remain confidential. Uploading manuscripts or any portions thereof to AI tools is prohibited, as this may violate authors' rights and confidentiality. Similarly, the use of generative AI to assist in editorial decision-making is prohibited.
Manuscript evaluation requires critical thinking and an objective approach, which can only be provided by human editors. Editors are ultimately responsible for the editorial process, making final decisions regarding manuscripts, and communicating these decisions to authors.
DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
To ensure transparency and allow readers to assess potential biases, the journal "Bulletin of the Volga State University of Service. Series: Economy" requires authors to declare any financial and/or non-financial interests related to the research being reported. The corresponding author is responsible for submitting a conflict of interest declaration on behalf of all authors of the article.
A conflict of interest is defined as any financial or non-financial interest that could directly undermine, or be perceived to undermine, the objectivity, integrity, or value of the publication, potentially influencing the authors' judgment and actions regarding the objective presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data.
Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest during the manuscript submission process through the submission system. The corresponding author must provide a declaration on behalf of all authors. In cases of double anonymity, reviewers will receive a minimal statement indicating the presence of financial or non-financial interests to avoid disclosing the authors' identities. Regardless of the peer review model, all authors must include a conflict of interest statement at the end of their published article, using one of the following standard statements:
"The authors declare the following conflicts of interest: ..."
"The authors declare no conflicts of interest."
"The authors declare that confidentiality agreements prevent disclosure of conflicts of interest related to this work."
