Procedure for Handling Complaints and Appeals

Ukrainian Heart Journal adheres to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling complaints and appeals.

Complaints
Any individual — author, reviewer, reader, or third party — may submit a complaint regarding alleged violations of publication ethics or academic integrity related to materials published in or submitted to the Journal.

Grounds for a complaint may include:

• suspected plagiarism or duplicate publication;
• data falsification or fabrication;
• violations of ethical standards in research;
• infringement of copyright;
• conflicts of interest that were not properly disclosed;
• breaches of peer review confidentiality;
• other violations of the Journal’s editorial policies.

Submission of Complaints

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the editorial office at afaes@ukr.net and should include:
• a clear description of the complaint and specific facts;

• a reference to the relevant publication (if applicable);
• supporting materials (if available).

Anonymous complaints may be considered at the discretion of the editorial office, provided they contain sufficient factual evidence.

Procedure for Handling Complaints

1. The editorial office acknowledges receipt of the complaint within 7 working days.
2. The Editor-in-Chief conducts an initial assessment of the complaint.
3. If necessary, the editorial office requests explanations from the authors and involves independent experts.
4. A decision is made in accordance with COPE recommendations and based on all available evidence.
5. As a result of the investigation, the Journal may take appropriate actions, including issuing a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction.
6. The complainant is informed of the outcome.

The typical timeframe for handling a complaint is up to 30 working days. In complex cases, this period may be extended, and the complainant will be informed accordingly.

Appeals
Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions regarding the rejection of a manuscript.

Appeals must be submitted in writing to afaes@ukr.net and should include:

• well-reasoned arguments for reconsideration;
• responses to reviewers’ and/or editor’s comments;
• additional materials or data (if available).

Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or an independent member of the Editorial Board who was not involved in the initial evaluation of the manuscript. If necessary, an additional reviewer may be invited.

The decision made following the appeal is final.

The typical timeframe for handling an appeal is up to 30 working days.