Policies on plagiarism, use of AI applications, and retraction

AI and Authorship

" Science and Transport Progress" is a member of COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics. As such, " Science and Transport Progress" follows COPE Guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) and authorship. Our policy is that AI software cannot be listed as an author on a paper.

ChatGPT and similar software is not human, and for this reason cannot independently design studies, create and critique methodologies, interpret data, or be held responsible for the outcomes and implications of the study in question. For this reason, ChatGPT and similar software should be treated as a tool, not an author. For more information on COPE’s guidance on AI and authorship, please visit the COPE website.

AI and Automated Tools

" Science and Transport Progress" policies on the use of AI and automated tools are the following:

  • " Science and Transport Progress" will not review or accept manuscripts written by nonhuman authors. Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI tools should not be listed in a byline for any reason.
  • Authors are required to disclose whether AI tools were used in the creation and preparation of their manuscripts. " Science and Transport Progress" reserves the right to ask for and receive detailed information on how LLMs and AI were used in the creation of a manuscript.
  • Reviewers shall not use LLMs or AI tools when reviewing manuscripts or preparing comments to authors.

View COPE’s guidelines and recommendations regarding AI tools and automation for more information.

Materials are reviewed by members of the journal editorial board and by the external independent experts on the basis of objectivity and from the standpoint of the higher international academic quality standards, and edited.

Editorial board reserves the right for stylistic alteration of the typescript.

Corrections are coordinated with the author which, in the opinion of the editorial board, can change the meaning of the text.

The editorial board of the scientific publication reserves the right to reject articles that do not meet requirements and topics of the journal. 

Opinions and proposals expressed in articles do not necessarily coincide with the Editorial Board views. Reliability of the information in the articles, the accuracy of the names, statistics, surnames and citations are under the author′s responsibility.

The editors reserve the right for minor literary wording of texts and abridgements with the author's style retention.
Provided materials are not returned and can not be published in other scientific journals.

Retraction Policy

In certain cases, a published article may be retracted (withdrawn). The grounds for retracting an article (withdrawal) are gross violations of legal, publication and ethical standards by the author(s). The journal will follow COPE recommendations in such cases, in particular in the event of:
● clear evidence that the data is unreliable or falsified;
● a conflict of interest that has been concealed or disguised;
● if the article contains plagiarism;
● if the results have been previously published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification;
● unethical research has been reported;
● serious errors have been found in the scientific work, which are a valid reason to doubt the scientific value of the material, or the research results have been misinterpreted;
● the list of authors/sponsors contains errors (i.e. an author who deserves to be a co-author has been omitted or someone who does not meet the criteria for authorship has been included).

Retraction procedure

The journal follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics when considering the retraction of published articles. Retraction may be issued in cases of serious violations of academic integrity or publication ethics, including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, unethical research practices, or significant errors that render the results unreliable.

The decision to retract an article is made by the Editor-in-Chief after an investigation and consultation with the editorial board. Authors are informed about the investigation and given the opportunity to respond.

If a retraction is confirmed, the journal publishes a retraction notice explaining the reasons for the decision. The original article remains accessible online to maintain the scholarly record but is clearly marked as “Retracted.” The retraction notice is permanently linked to the article and communicated to relevant indexing and abstracting services.