Publication Ethics

Kaunas History Annals follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and this statement, which applies to the Editorial Board, reviewers and authors.

Duties of the Editorial Board

–      Decides whether to publish solely on the scholarly merit of the text, the reviews and the scope of Kaunas History Annals, regardless of the author's origin, gender, institution, nationality, religion or political views.

–      Does not disclose information about submitted texts to anyone other than the author, the reviewers and the publisher.

–      Does not use material from unpublished texts in its own research without the author's written consent.

–      Members recuse themselves from decisions on texts whose authors they have a conflict of interest with. Articles by Board members are reviewed in the same way as all others; a member takes no part in the decision on their own article.

–      Ensures that reviewers are competent and independent of the author.

–      Examines every complaint about an ethical breach, however long ago the text was published.

Duties of reviewers

–      Review only texts within their expertise and within the agreed time; if unable to do so, inform the editorial office at once.

–      Treat the text as confidential: do not discuss it with others or use its data.

–      Assess objectively and with reasons, pointing out weaknesses so that the author can improve the text. Personal criticism is not acceptable.

–      Inform the editorial office of any conflict of interest, of suspected plagiarism or substantial overlap with another work known to them, and of cases where, despite anonymity, they have recognised the author and this may affect their judgement.

Duties of authors

–      Submit an original text not previously published and not under consideration elsewhere. Reuse of part of a previously published text (a conference paper, a dissertation chapter) is stated in a footnote.

–      Cite sources and literature accurately. Plagiarism, including reuse of one's own published text without reference, is not acceptable. Splitting the results of one study into several articles without scholarly reason is discouraged.

–      List as authors only those who contributed substantially to the research and the text; others are named in the acknowledgements.

–      Declare funding sources and any conflicts of interest that could affect the interpretation of the results.

–      Give the exact location of the archival and other sources used (archive, fonds, inventory, file) so that the findings can be verified. Where the author's own data are used (e.g. interviews), state where they are kept and on what terms they can be accessed.

–      Hold the right to reproduce the illustrations and any unusually long quotations submitted.

–      On discovering a significant error in their published article, inform the editorial office and cooperate in correcting it.

–      In research involving data of living persons (for example oral-history interviews), comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and hold the informed consent of the persons concerned.

Originality screening

All submissions are screened with iThenticate. Overlaps are assessed by their nature: correctly cited sources and standard terminology are not treated as overlap.

Use of artificial intelligence

–      Authors may use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools only as aids (e.g. for language editing, translation or data handling). Their use is stated at the end of the article. AI may not be listed as an author; the author is responsible for the whole content, all quotations and references.

–      Reviewers do not upload the manuscript or any part of it to AI tools, as this breaches confidentiality, and write their reviews themselves.

–      The Editorial Board does not upload unpublished texts to AI tools; decisions on texts are based on the reviews and the Board's own judgement, not on AI.

Handling of misconduct, corrections and retractions

Where an ethical breach is suspected (plagiarism, falsification of data, an undisclosed conflict of interest, improper authorship), the Editorial Board follows COPE guidance: it gathers the evidence, gives the author the opportunity to respond and takes a decision. Depending on the gravity of the breach, the text is rejected, or a published article is corrected (erratum, corrigendum) or retracted, with a notice on the website and without removing the article itself. Serious breaches are reported to the author's institution.

Post-publication comments

Readers may send comments on published articles and report errors to kim@vdu.lt. The Editorial Board examines them, contacts the author where necessary and publishes a correction.

Complaints and appeals

Complaints about editorial decisions, the review process or ethical breaches are submitted in writing to the Chair of the Editorial Board at kim@vdu.lt. A complaint is examined by at least two Board members not involved in the dispute; a reply is given within 30 days. Complaints concerning the Chair are examined without her participation.

Duties of the publisher and editorial independence

The publisher, Vytautas Magnus University, does not interfere in the Editorial Board's decisions on content, ensures the long-term preservation of the content of Kaunas History Annals and assists the Editorial Board in handling ethical breaches and in publishing corrections and retractions. Kaunas History Annals charges no publication fees, so decisions are independent of financial interests.