Ethics in publishing
KOMAG Publishing follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for dealing with potential cases of misconduct, including the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, and the principles of good practice in scholarly publishing.
Cases of plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation, ghostwriting (i.e. publishing scientific work without disclosing the actual author), and guest/honorary authorship (i.e. attributing authorship to a person who did not make a significant contribution to the work) are not tolerated in Mining Machines.
If evidence of misconduct is found, the following actions may be taken: withdrawal of the published paper; publication of a correction or statement of concern; refusal to accept submissions in the future; notification of the author’s institution, supervisor, and/or relevant ethics committee.
Editors and reviewers of Mining Machines follow the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. They are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and to report any ethical concerns during the editorial or review process. All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential.
The editors ensure that inaccurate, misleading, or unethical content does not appear in the journal. Responsibility for the content, data, and conclusions of published articles rests entirely with the authors.
Authors are expected to comply with ethical publishing standards and to ensure that their work meets requirements of integrity, transparency, and scientific honesty.
Ethical declaration
Authors must adhere to the highest ethical standards, including honesty, transparency, and integrity in research. They are required to disclose any ethical issues related to the study or declare that the research was conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards.
Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. All such contributors must be listed as co-authors. The inclusion of honorary (guest) authorship is strictly prohibited.
Generative AI Policy
The journal does not use Generative AI tools in editorial decision-making, peer review, or authorship attribution. Generative AI tools may not be listed as authors or co-authors.
Authors may use AI tools only as supportive instruments (e.g. language editing or technical assistance). Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and scientific validity of the manuscript.
According to the Polish Copyright Act of 4 February 1994 (Articles 1 and 8), authorship is attributed exclusively to natural persons; therefore, AI systems cannot be recognized as authors.
Manuscripts with undisclosed, inappropriate, or unethical use of AI tools may be rejected.
Preliminary assessment
All submitted manuscripts are initially evaluated by the Editor for compliance with editorial standards and ethical principles. Manuscripts are checked using anti-plagiarism software.
Submissions that do not comply with ethical requirements, formatting guidelines, or journal standards may be rejected prior to peer review. Incomplete manuscripts or those not prepared according to the required template may be returned without review.
The Editorial Board, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, assesses whether the manuscript fits the scope of the journal and meets scientific standards. Articles deemed unsuitable may be rejected without external review. The Editor-in-Chief holds the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection.
Peer review procedure
The review process follows the recommendations of Good Practices in Review Procedures in Science.
Submission of a manuscript implies agreement to peer review.
Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers from institutions different from the authors. Reviewers must ensure independence, confidentiality, and absence of conflicts of interest.
The journal uses a double-blind peer review system. Review reports are processed through Open Journal Systems (OJS 3.4.0.4), developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP).
Reviewers issue a clear recommendation regarding acceptance or rejection. The final publication decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief.
Errors in published works
If authors identify significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they are required to immediately notify the editorial office to allow correction or withdrawal of the article.
Post-publication review conflicts of interest
The editorial board, in accordance with COPE principles, may withdraw an article, issue a statement of concern, or publish corrections if necessary.
Unpublished materials may not be used by editors or reviewers without written consent of the authors.
A conflict of interest arises when financial, personal, or professional relationships may influence editorial, authorial, or review decisions. All potential conflicts must be disclosed by authors, reviewers, and editors.
Data access and storage
Authors may be required to provide research data in digital form. Where possible, data should be made publicly available. Authors must ensure data availability for at least 10 years after publication, preferably via recognized repositories.
Intellectual property
Authors, when submitting a text to the editorial board, guarantee that they have independently written an original scientific work, and if they have used excerpts from the works of other authors, that they have been properly cited.
Plagiarism in all its forms is an unethical act and will be made public by the editors. We expect manuscripts to be the result of original research, not previously published or not currently under review by another journal.
All manuscripts for publication in Mining Machines are subjected to anti-plagiarism examination using the Anti-Plagiarism system.
Manuscripts with revealed cases of ghostwriting will be rejected by the editors. Authorship should be limited only to those individuals who have significantly contributed to the preparation of the conception, execution or interpretation of the delivered text. All those who made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors along with the size of their contribution.
Open Access means free, universal, permanent and immediate access for any web user to digital forms of scientific and educational data and content. The Open Access policy adopted by KOMAG Publishing House is based on the belief that the basis for the development of science is openness. It aims to enable authors to increase citability by posting electronic versions of published articles in reference databases, scientific repositories and websites. Immediate dissemination of research results contributes to the growth of new knowledge and increased impact of ongoing research on the development of science. Therefore, Authors of articles qualified for publication in Mining Machines Quarterly are obliged to transfer to the Publisher (KOMAG Institute of Mining Technology) the rights to use the prepared text and its publication in electronic version on the Publisher's website or to grant the Publisher a free license to use and manage the developed works with retention of author's economic rights.
The content will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Non-commercial Use 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Granting the publisher these rights ensures that delays in the dissemination of research results are eliminated, while the authors become more widely recognized. This is because electronic versions of published articles are posted no later than the time of their formal publication.
Principle of scientific integrity
Members of the editorial team are obliged to make every effort to maintain integrity in terms of scientific accuracy of published works. To this end, they may make appropriate corrections, as well as, in the case of suspected fraudulent practices (plagiarism, falsification of research results), decide to withdraw the text from publication.
The editors, if necessary, are always ready to publish also appropriate corrigenda, clarifications or apologies.
Text withdrawal
The editorial team may consider withdrawal of the text if:
1. there is clear evidence of unreliability of study results, fabrication of data, as well as if unintentional errors (e.g., calculation errors, methodological errors) have been made,
2. the research results have been previously published elsewhere,
3. the work bears the signs of plagiarism or violates ethical principles.
The notice of withdrawal of the text should be treated as equivalent to the withdrawal of the article. This notice should contain information about the person (the headline should include at least the title and name(s) of the author(s) of the paper) and the reasons (to distinguish unintentional errors from deliberate misuse) deciding to withdraw the text. Withdrawn texts are not removed from the published version of the journal, but the fact of their withdrawal will be clearly marked.
