Policy on Research Assessment, Open Science, and the Use of Artificial Intelligence

 

The scientific journal “Mountain School of the Ukrainian Carpaty” supports the principles of responsible research assessment, open science, and the transparent use of artificial intelligence technologies in scholarly publishing.

DORA Declaration
The journal endorses the principles of the Declaration on Research Assessment. Manuscript evaluation is based solely on scientific content, originality, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal’s scope, rather than journal metrics (including impact factor).
The Editorial Board:

  • does not use journal metrics as the primary evaluation criterion;
  • supports responsible and objective research assessment;
  • promotes transparency of author contributions;
  • encourages responsible citation practices.

FAIR Principles
The journal supports the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for research data management. Authors are encouraged to:

  • use persistent identifiers (DOI, ORCID);
  • ensure open access to research outputs and, where possible, to primary data;
  • apply standardized data formats;
  • provide proper documentation and licensing terms for reuse.

Where appropriate, authors should include a “Data Availability Statement”.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy
The journal recognizes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools (including generative models) in manuscript preparation. However:

  • AI tools cannot be listed as authors;
  • authors bear full responsibility for the scientific content, accuracy, and originality of the manuscript;
  • the use of AI for data analysis or image processing must be clearly declared in the manuscript (e.g., in the Methods section);
  • the use of AI for language editing (grammar, style) is permitted and does not require mandatory disclosure, provided that the scientific content is neither generated nor substantially altered;
  • any use of AI for drafting text, summarizing content, or structuring the manuscript must be transparently disclosed;
  • the use of AI for data fabrication, falsification, creation of fake references, or manipulation of images is strictly prohibited;
  • editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts into public AI systems.

Failure to disclose significant AI use may be considered a violation of publication ethics.