Scientific Works «Adult Education: Theory, Experience, Prospects» follows the principles of honest, justified, and academically relevant citation. The journal recognises that citation is an important part of academic communication. It should help to show the research context, acknowledge the work of other scholars, support academic argument, and make research results verifiable.

The journal does not allow any form of citation manipulation by authors, reviewers, editors, or any other participant in the editorial and publishing process. Any citation must be based only on the content of the manuscript, its academic logic, thematic relevance, and real scholarly need. It must not be used to increase the citation metrics of particular persons, institutions, journals, or databases.

This Policy has been developed with due regard to the recommendations of COPE on unacceptable citation manipulation and with regard to the principles of responsible research assessment in line with the approaches promoted by DORA. The journal does not allow any form of coercive, irrelevant, or strategically manipulative citation aimed at artificially increasing the indicators of authors, editors, or the journal.

1. General principles

The journal follows these principles:

• every reference in a manuscript must have a direct connection with the topic, argument, methodology, source base, or results of the research;
• the reference list must be academically justified and balanced and must not be created in order to increase citation counts artificially;
• authors, reviewers, and editors must not use citations for personal benefit or to improve individual metrics or journal metrics improperly;
• the editorial decision to accept or reject a manuscript must not depend on the author adding references to a particular journal, editor, reviewer, editorial board member, or any other interested person without proper academic reason.

2. Forms of unacceptable practice

The journal treats the following as breaches of publication ethics:

2.1. Excessive author self-citation

This means that an author adds too many references to their own works without clear academic need, mainly to increase personal citation indicators.

2.2. Excessive journal self-citation

This means that a manuscript includes too many references to articles published in the same journal, even though such references are not necessary for the topic of the study.

2.3. Honorary citation

This means adding references to influential scholars, editors, editorial board members, or other persons without a clear subject-related reason, only because of symbolic loyalty, academic pressure, or expected benefit.

2.4. Citation stacking

This means coordinated or repeated cross-citation between journals, editorial groups, author groups, or other interested parties in order to increase citation indicators artificially.

2.5. Coercive citation

This means any request by an editor, reviewer, or another participant in the editorial process to add references to particular works, authors, or journals as a condition for review, revision, or acceptance of a paper, when such a request has no proper academic justification.

2.6. Reviewer citation manipulation

This means that a reviewer suggests adding references to their own publications or related sources without a clear academic reason, without proper explanation, and without a real connection to the content of the manuscript.

3. Duties of authors

Authors must:

• include only those sources that are academically relevant to the topic of the study;
• avoid excessive self-citation and avoid artificially increasing the number of references to one journal;
• check the accuracy of bibliographic information and the relevance of references to the manuscript content;
• not add references that have no real academic value for the study;
• provide the editorial office with an explanation of the reference list structure if requested.

Authors have the right:

• to refuse to include suggested references if they are not academically justified;
• to contact the editorial office if they believe that a reviewer or editor is insisting on adding irrelevant references.

4. Duties of reviewers

Reviewers may recommend additional references only when:

• such references truly improve the academic quality of the manuscript;
• they are directly related to the subject, methodology, or results of the study;
• the need for adding them is clearly explained in the review.

A reviewer must not:

• require citation of their own works without proper academic reason;
• use the review process to increase their own citation indicators;
• recommend adding many references without clearly explaining their purpose in the article;
• suggest references that are not related to the topic of the manuscript or have no real academic value.

If a reviewer recommends adding their own publications, they must clearly explain why. The final decision on whether such references are appropriate is made by the editor.

5. Duties of editors

Editors must:

• assess the relevance of suggested references independently, regardless of the author, journal, or institution involved;
• not require authors to cite materials from this journal, members of the editorial board, or particular authors without a clear content-based reason;
• respond to signs of excessive self-citation, disproportionate citation of the journal, or other unusual patterns;
• ensure that editorial decisions are based on the quality of the manuscript and not on possible effects on journal citation indicators or personal metrics;
• document suspected cases of citation manipulation and, where necessary, refer them to the Editor-in-Chief or the editorial board.

6. Internal editorial monitoring

The editorial office carries out internal monitoring of possible unusual patterns, including:

• an excessive level of author self-citation;
• a disproportionately large number of references to articles published in this journal;
• repeated requests to cite the same authors, editors, or journals;
• concentration of references around a narrow group of persons or journals without sufficient academic reason;
• signs of possible mutual citation inflation between journals or groups of authors.

Following such monitoring, the editorial office may start an additional check of the manuscript, the review, or the editorial history of the paper.

7. Procedure for responding to violations

If signs of citation manipulation are identified, the editorial office may:

• ask the author to review and justify the reference list;
• disregard reviewer recommendations to add irrelevant references;
• send the manuscript for additional review;
• replace the reviewer if reviewer citation manipulation is identified;
• require the removal or replacement of references that have no academic justification;
• reject the manuscript in cases of serious or repeated breaches of citation ethics;
• consider temporarily limiting further submissions from the author in cases of repeated or serious misconduct;
• in serious cases, act in line with the journal’s Publication Ethics Policy.

Reports, complaints, or well-grounded concerns about citation manipulation are reviewed by the editorial office in accordance with the Policy for the Handling of Complaints on Breaches of Academic Integrity and Publication Ethics.

8. Post-publication actions

If signs of citation manipulation are found after publication, the editorial office may:

• carry out an additional review of the case;
• ask the author for an explanation;
• publish a correction, editorial note, or other notice if necessary;
• take further measures in line with the journal’s internal policies and publication ethics principles.

9. Final provisions

This Policy is part of the journal’s editorial integrity system and is applied together with the Publication Ethics Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Peer Review Policy, and other editorial documents of the journal.

The editorial office encourages authors, reviewers, and editors to follow one basic principle: every citation must have academic meaning, scholarly relevance, and a clear connection with the content of the manuscript.