Privacy and confidentiality policy

Authors should familiarize themselves with the confidentiality policy of Biosphere Reserve "Askania Nova" Reports before submitting a manuscript.

Manuscripts should be reviewed with due respect for author confidentiality. By submitting their manuscripts for review, authors entrust editors with the results of their scholarly work, which may affect their reputation and career. Authors' rights may be violated if confidential information is disclosed during review of their manuscript. In addition, the editor should respect the reviewers' right to confidentiality. It may be violated only for combating fraud and deception.

Editors have no obligation to disclose information about manuscripts (receipt, content, review status, reviewer criticism, and final fate) to anyone except authors and reviewers. This includes requests to use materials to resolve legal issues.

The editors are obliged to inform their reviewers that the manuscripts subject to review are confidential information and authors’ private property. Thus, reviewers and editorial staff shall respect authors' rights and refrain from public discussion of the authors' work until the manuscript is published. Reviewers are not allowed to copy manuscripts and give them to third parties, except when authorized by the editor. The reviewer's comments must not be published or made public in any other way without the consent of the reviewer, the author and the editor.

According to the above information on confidentiality policy, reviews are anonymous; the identities of the reviewers are not disclosed to the author or anyone else without the permission of the reviewers. In some cases, reviewers' comments are sent to others to analyze the same manuscript and hence help reviewers understand the review process. Reviewers are notified of the final decision of the editorial board and the editor to accept or reject the manuscript.