Policy of Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

To ensure transparency and allow readers to assess potential biases, Russian Journal of Regional Studies requires authors to declare any financial and/or non-financial interests related to the research described. The corresponding author is responsible for submitting a conflict-of-interest statement on behalf of all authors of the article.

A conflict of interest is defined as any financial or non-financial interest that could directly undermine or be perceived as undermining the objectivity, integrity, and value of the publication, potentially influencing the authors' judgment and actions regarding the objective presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

Funding: Research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, and other expenses) from organizations that may gain or lose financially from the publication. Any role played by the funding organization in the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation must be disclosed.

Employment: Recent (during the period of the research), current, or anticipated employment in any organization that may gain or lose financially from the publication.

Personal Financial Interests: Stocks or shares in companies that may gain or lose financially from the publication; consulting fees or other remuneration (including payments for participation in symposia) from organizations that may gain or lose financially; patents or patent applications (granted or pending) filed by the authors or their institutions, whose value may be affected by the publication. For patents and applications, the following details should be disclosed: applicant (author or institution), name of the inventor(s), application number, application status, and the specific aspect of the manuscript covered by the patent application.

Non-Financial Conflicts of Interest

Non-financial conflicts of interest may take various forms, including personal or professional relationships with organizations or individuals. Authors and reviewers must disclose any unpaid roles or relationships that could influence the publication process.

Examples of non-financial conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

– Unpaid membership in a governmental or non-governmental organization.

– Unpaid membership in an advocacy or lobbying organization.

– Unpaid advisory roles in commercial organizations.

– Consulting activities for a company.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest during the manuscript submission process through the submission system. The corresponding author is required to provide the declaration on behalf of all authors. In cases of double-anonymous review, reviewers will receive a minimal statement indicating the presence of financial or non-financial interests to avoid revealing the authors' identities.

Regardless of the review model, all authors must include a declaration at the end of the published article about the presence or absence of conflicts of interest, using one of the following standard statements:

"The authors declare the following conflicts of interest: ..."

"The authors declare no conflicts of interest."

"The authors declare that confidentiality agreements prevent disclosure of conflicts of interest related to this work".

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Russian Journal of Regional Studies encourages reviewers to exclude themselves from the review process if a significant conflict of interest exists. Reviewers must inform editors of any conflicts of interest that may be perceived as significant. Editors will consider these disclosures when evaluating reviewers recommendations.

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer's own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Articles by members of the Editorial Board submitted to the Journal are reviewed on general grounds.

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.