Code of Ethics

Publication Ethics Statement

The International Editorial Board of the NSA Annual accepts and adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Review Guidelines, which provide the basic principles and standards that all reviewers should adhere to during the review process of scientific publications. The COPE Guidelines and official policy are intended to advise editors and publishers on the expected practice for ethical publishing.

Code of Ethics of the NSA “Vassil Levski” Annual

Obligations of Authors

• Originality and Authorship

• All published materials must be original and not have been published previously.
• Authors must indicate all co-authors who have significantly contributed to the research.
• Formatted in accordance with the standards adopted in the NSA Yearbook regarding citations and references (see Standard for Formatting Materials);

• Avoidance of Plagiarism:

• Copying of other people’s texts without proper citation is strictly prohibited.
• All rules for citation and bibliographic description must be followed.

• Data accuracy:

• The data and results presented must be accurate and justified.
• Intentional errors or manipulation of data must be avoided.

• Conflict of interest:

• Authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest that may affect the results of the study.

• Ethical approval:

• When conducting research with humans or animals, it is desirable to provide evidence of ethical approval from an institutional research ethics committee.

Reviewer obligations

• Objectivity and impartiality:

• Reviewers must evaluate submitted materials on the basis of their scientific value, without being influenced by personal relationships or prejudices.

• Confidentiality:

• All information related to the review process must be confidential.

• Timeliness:

• Reviews must be prepared and submitted within the specified deadline.

• 
  Constructive criticism:

• Reviews must be constructive and offer specific suggestions for improving the text.

Editors’ obligations

• Responsibility for quality:

• Editors are responsible for the quality of published materials.

• Impartiality:
  

• Publication decisions must be based on the scientific value of the materials, not on personal preferences.

• Protection of intellectual property:

• Editors must respect copyright and prevent infringement of intellectual property.

• Transparency:

• The review process must be transparent and clear to all participants.

Procedures for ethical violations

• Investigation:

• If an ethical violation is established, the Ethics Committee and the Scientific Ethics Committee of the National Sports Academy “Vasil Levski” are notified.

• The authors of the publications for which an ethical violation has been established are notified of the charges against them and have the right to respond.

• Sanctions:

• Depending on the severity of the violation, various sanctions may be imposed, such as rejection of the publication, prohibition of publication in the journal and notification of the relevant institutions.

This Code of Ethics was adopted and approved at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the NSA “VASSIL LEVSKI”. It is in force from 09.2024.