The Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine carries out active publishing activities, issuing scientific journals, monographs, methodological guidelines, and materials from scientific conferences on current issues in neurosurgery and related fields.

Editorial Principles

Editorial policies of the Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute outline the ethical and procedural guidelines for content creation, review, and publication. These policies ensure the integrity of published works and maintain high standards of academic and scholarly communication.

Peer review policy

• The standard review involves at least two independent reviewers.

• Reviewers must possess recognized expertise in the subject area of the submitted manuscript. Their qualifications are typically demonstrated through relevant publications, academic degrees, and professional experience.

• Individuals with a solid academic reputation, active research involvement, and affiliation with reputable institutions are prioritized.

• The editorial board seeks to rotate reviewers and ensure geographic, institutional, and disciplinary diversity to minimize bias and broaden perspectives.

• Reviewers should have no conflicts of interest related to the authors, institutions, or funding bodies associated with the manuscript. They must be independent and objective in their evaluation.

• Final decisions are made by the editorial board under the oversight of the Institute, ensuring structured governance and policy compliance.

Advertising Policy

The publisher enforces a clear separation of editorial content and advertising:

• Advertisers and sponsors have no influence over editorial decisions.

• Content is produced independently, and any advertising appears without prior knowledge or alteration of editorial material

Research ethics policy

Ethics Committee Oversight & Ethical Approvals

• All experimental studies involving humans or animals must receive prior approval from the institution’s Ethics Committee/Committee on Bioethics, and the manuscript should mention the approval along with the meeting minutes number. If deviations from standard protocols are necessary, these must be justified, approved, and noted in the “Materials and Methods” section.

Human Subject Research

• Authors must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and ICMJE recommendations when involving human subjects.

• Informed consent is mandatory—participants must be adequately informed, consent must be documented, and identifiable details (names, initials, hospital numbers) should not be published unless essential and consented to in writing.

Animal Research Ethics

• Research involving animals must respect the 3Rs principles: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement.

Conflict of Interest & Disclosure

• Authors are required to disclose all competing interests (financial or personal) that could affect the interpretation of the research. If there is none, authors must explicitly state: “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.” This must appear under the “Conflict of interest statement” section in the manuscript.

• Similarly, funding sources and their roles (e.g., in study design, data analysis, writing) must be detailed, or their absence explicitly stated.

Ethical Responsibility & Integrity

• Support the enforcement of ethical responsibilities by editors, reviewers, and authors.

• Handle ethical concerns and support content corrections or retractions when necessary.

Informed consent policy

• The policy aligns with the Declaration of Helsinki and ICMJE recommendations for research ethics.

• Individual privacy rights are emphasized: identifying details—names, initials, hospital numbers—must not be published unless essential for scientific reasons and only with written informed consent, even for images or pedigrees.

• If an identifiable patient is included, they must be shown the manuscript and informed whether their data might appear online or in print post-publication.

• Masking techniques, such as covering the eyes, are deemed insufficient to ensure anonymity; editors must be assured that any alterations do not distort scientific meaning.

• Consent must be documented in the manuscript, and properly archived—either with the journal, the authors, or both—as per applicable laws or regulations.

• The policy details include comprehensive requirements for obtaining informed consent from incapacitated subjects, minors, or those unable to give consent themselves, with provisions for legally authorized representatives and assent, as appropriate

Copyright & Licensing Practices

Based on publisher terms:

• Authors retain their copyright.

• They grant the journal first publication rights through a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

• This allows redistribution of the work with proper attribution and reference to the original journal publication.