Peer Review Policy

Bulletin of Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University. Series of Psychological Sciences follows a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the academic quality, originality, relevance, and methodological soundness of published manuscripts. All submissions are first assessed by the editorial team to determine whether they fall within the journal’s scope and meet the basic requirements for scholarly publication. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements may be rejected before external review.

Manuscripts considered suitable for review are evaluated by qualified specialists with relevant expertise in the subject of the submission. Reviewers assess the originality and scientific significance of the work, the clarity of its objectives, the adequacy of the methodology, the validity of the analysis and conclusions, the quality of references, and the overall contribution to psychological research. Reviewers may recommend acceptance, acceptance subject to revisions, resubmission after substantial revision, or rejection.

The journal aims to maintain confidentiality throughout the peer-review process. Reviewers are expected to treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and must not use, reproduce, or disclose unpublished information obtained during the review process. Reviewers should declare any potential conflict of interest and decline the review when their impartiality may be compromised.

Authors may be asked to revise their manuscripts in response to reviewers’ comments. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers or evaluated by the editorial team, depending on the extent of the required changes. The final decision regarding publication rests with the editorial team and is based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the quality of the manuscript, and the journal’s editorial standards.

The journal does not guarantee acceptance of any submission and does not allow personal, institutional, or other non-academic considerations to influence editorial or peer-review decisions. The editorial team is responsible for maintaining the integrity, fairness, and confidentiality of the review process.

The journal also follows recognized principles of publication ethics and expects editors, reviewers, and authors to disclose conflicts of interest and report any concerns regarding plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, or other forms of academic misconduct.