General Principles

The editorial and publishing process of Safety Engineering of Anthropogenic Objects (Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych) is based on internationally recognised principles of publication ethics.

The journal follows the guidelines and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) , including the principles of transparency, integrity, impartiality, confidentiality and accountability.

The journal also follows the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing , developed by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) .

All manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of their scientific quality, originality, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope , and compliance with ethical and editorial standards.

The journal applies a double-blind peer-review procedure. The review process is conducted fairly, independently and within the time limits established by the Editorial Team. Once a year, the journal publishes a list of reviewers who have cooperated with the journal, without linking individual reviewers to specific manuscripts.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to persons who have made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the study, the collection, analysis or interpretation of data, or the preparation and revision of the manuscript.

All listed authors should:

• approve the final version of the manuscript;
• agree to its submission for publication;
• accept responsibility for the integrity of the work;
• disclose their individual contributions where required.

The journal does not tolerate ghostwriting, guest authorship or honorary authorship.

Ghostwriting occurs when a person who has made a substantial contribution to a manuscript is not identified as an author or contributor.

Guest or honorary authorship occurs when a person is listed as an author despite having made no substantial contribution to the work.

The Editorial Team may request a statement describing the contribution of each author. Confirmed cases of inappropriate authorship may result in rejection of the manuscript, correction of the published article, retraction or other action consistent with COPE guidance.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the Editorial Team throughout the submission, peer-review and publication process.

The corresponding author should ensure that:

• all authors have approved the manuscript;
• all authors agree with its submission;
• authorship information is accurate;
• declarations concerning funding, conflicts of interest and ethical approval are complete;
• questions concerning the integrity of the work can be addressed after publication.

Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

Authors, editors and reviewers must disclose any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest that could influence, or appear to influence, the objectivity and integrity of the editorial process.

A conflict of interest may be financial or non-financial and may arise from:

• personal or family relationships;
• professional affiliations;
• employment or institutional relationships;
• financial interests;
• research funding;
• academic competition;
• personal or professional disputes;
• other external activities.

Authors must include a conflict-of-interest statement in the manuscript. If no conflict exists, this should also be stated.

Editors and reviewers must inform the Editorial Team of any conflict of interest and withdraw from the evaluation of the manuscript where appropriate.

Anyone who becomes aware of an undisclosed conflict of interest concerning a submitted or published article is encouraged to contact the Editorial Team at redakcja@crb.com.pl.

Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research and preparation of the manuscript.

The funding statement should identify:

• the funding body;
• the grant or project number, where applicable;
• the role of the funder in the research, preparation of the manuscript or decision to submit the work.

If the research received no external funding, the authors should state this clearly.

Ethical Oversight

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical standards and legal requirements.

Where relevant, manuscripts should include information concerning:

• approval by an ethics committee or institutional review board;
• informed consent from research participants;
• consent to publication;
• research involving vulnerable individuals or groups;
• research involving human participants;
• research involving animals;
• the protection of confidential or personal data;
• the lawful and ethical use of research materials.

The Editorial Team may request documentation confirming ethical approval or informed consent.

The full editorial workflow is described in the For Authors section.

Originality and Plagiarism

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

Plagiarism includes the use of another person’s ideas, words, data, images or other materials without appropriate acknowledgement.

The journal does not tolerate:

• plagiarism;
• self-plagiarism;
• unattributed paraphrasing;
• unauthorised use of data or images;
• duplicate submission;
• redundant or overlapping publication;
• fabrication or falsification of data.

Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection and text-similarity software. A similarity report does not by itself determine whether plagiarism has occurred. Each case is assessed individually, taking into account the nature, extent and context of the identified similarities.

If potential plagiarism or another irregularity is detected, the authors may be asked to provide an explanation or revise the manuscript. Serious or confirmed misconduct may result in rejection.

If plagiarism or another serious breach is discovered after publication, the Editorial Team will take appropriate action in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines , which may include the publication of a correction, expression of concern or retraction.

Suspected cases may be reported to redakcja@crb.com.pl.

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

A duplicate submission occurs when the same or substantially similar manuscript is submitted to more than one journal at the same time, whether in the same language or in different languages.

Redundant or overlapping publication occurs when a manuscript substantially reproduces material already published without appropriate reference, justification or disclosure.

Authors may refer to and develop their previous work, provided that:

• the previous publication is properly cited;
• the new contribution is clearly identified;
• copyright and licensing requirements are respected;
• the new manuscript offers a substantial and original contribution.

Suspected cases will be investigated before an editorial decision is made.

Peer-Review Ethics

The journal applies a double-blind peer-review procedure.

Reviewers are required to:

• assess manuscripts objectively and independently;
• maintain confidentiality;
• disclose conflicts of interest;
• avoid personal criticism;
• provide clear and evidence-based comments;
• inform the Editorial Team of suspected misconduct;
• refrain from using unpublished information for personal benefit.

The full editorial and peer-review procedure is described in the For Authors section of the journal’s website.

Complaints and Appeals

Appeals against Editorial Decisions

Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they believe that it resulted from a factual error, procedural irregularity, misunderstanding of the manuscript or failure to consider relevant information.

An appeal should:

• be submitted in writing;
• clearly identify the decision being challenged;
• provide a detailed and reasoned explanation;
• include relevant supporting information.

Appeals should be sent to the Deputy Editor-in-Chief at redakcja@crb.com.pl.

An appeal does not guarantee that the decision will be changed. Where appropriate, the manuscript may be reconsidered by an editor who was not directly involved in the original decision.

The outcome of the appeal will be communicated to the author in writing.

Additional guidance on appeals is available in the COPE Appeals Guidelines .

Complaints

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, communication, peer review, publication ethics or other aspects of the journal’s activity may be submitted to the Deputy Editor-in-Chief at redakcja@crb.com.pl.

The journal will:

• acknowledge receipt of the complaint;
• assess the matter fairly and confidentially;
• request additional information where necessary;
• investigate the complaint in accordance with relevant COPE guidance;
• communicate the outcome to the complainant.

The journal does not tolerate abusive, threatening, discriminatory or harassing communication directed at members of the Editorial Team, reviewers, authors or other persons involved in the publication process.

In serious cases, the Editorial Team may discontinue correspondence, withdraw the manuscript from consideration or take other appropriate action.

Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts, reviews, editorial correspondence and associated materials are treated as confidential.

Editors and reviewers must not:

• disclose manuscript content to unauthorised persons;
• use unpublished data or ideas for personal purposes;
• share reviews or editorial decisions without permission;
• contact authors directly regarding a manuscript under review, unless authorised by the Editorial Team.

Confidentiality must be maintained both during and after the editorial process.

Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

The journal supports post-publication discussion and encourages readers, authors and reviewers to report substantive errors or ethical concerns.

Published articles are not altered without a transparent record of the change.

Where necessary, the journal may publish:

• a correction;
• an erratum;
• a corrigendum;
• an expression of concern;
• a retraction notice.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the meaning or interpretation of the article may be corrected without a formal notice, provided that the integrity of the scholarly record is not compromised.

A correction may be issued where an error affects part of the article but does not invalidate its main findings.

An expression of concern may be published when serious doubts exist but the available evidence is inconclusive or an investigation has not yet been completed.

An article may be retracted where there is clear evidence that:

• the findings are unreliable because of a major error, fabrication or falsification;
• the article contains plagiarism;
• the work constitutes duplicate or redundant publication;
• unauthorised material or data have been used;
• copyright has been infringed;
• the research was conducted unethically;
• the peer-review process was manipulated or compromised;
• a major conflict of interest was not disclosed;
• other serious publication misconduct occurred.

Retractions and corrections will be handled in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines . A retraction notice will remain publicly available and clearly linked to the original article.

License and Copyright

Safety Engineering of Anthropogenic Objects is an open-access journal.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) .

Under this license, readers may read, download, copy, distribute, adapt and reuse published material, provided that appropriate credit is given to the authors and the source.

Authors retain the copyright to their work.

Publication Fees

The journal does not charge:

• submission fees;
• editorial-processing fees;
• article-processing charges.

Publication decisions are based exclusively on scientific and editorial criteria and are not influenced by financial considerations.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Readers, reviewers, authors and other persons may report suspected misconduct or ethical concerns to:

redakcja@crb.com.pl

Reports should include sufficient information to allow the Editorial Team to assess the matter. All concerns will be handled confidentially and in accordance with applicable COPE procedures.