All materials submitted to the editorial board (except for book reviews) undergo a mandatory peer review procedure. This process is designed to ensure high scientific quality through an objective assessment of the content, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each manuscript.

Evaluation Procedure

Initially, submitted manuscripts are screened for compliance with the journal's scope and technical formatting guidelines. A plagiarism check is a mandatory component of this stage. The decision to accept an article for formal review or return it for technical revision is made within 7 days. Manuscripts are evaluated based on their scientific originality, the depth of the source base, the validity of conclusions, and strict adherence to ethical standards. The typical review period is 30 days.

Double-Blind Peer Review System

The journal employs a double-blind peer review system, ensuring complete anonymity for both authors and reviewers. Each manuscript is assigned to two independent experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are selected from leading scholars with active publications in the subject area within the last 5 years. While double-blind review is standard, the journal reserves the right to use other review types in specific cases, in which case authors will be notified in advance.

An article is recommended for publication if two positive reviews are received. In the event of a conflict (one positive and one negative review), the editorial board appoints a third independent expert (arbitrator) whose conclusion is final. Two negative reviews result in the rejection of the manuscript. All reviews are archived for 3 years, and authors are provided with review summaries or a reasoned refusal.

Anonymization Requirements

To maintain confidentiality, authors must prepare an anonymized version of the manuscript before submission. This is a prerequisite for proceeding to the review stage. Authors must remove any phrasing that directly identifies them (e.g., self-references such as "in our previous studies..." or specific mentions of departments and laboratory names). Such fragments should be replaced with neutral wording or temporarily removed.

Furthermore, authors are required to strip all hidden metadata from the Microsoft Word file, including author names in document properties, comments, and editing history. It is recommended to use the "Document Inspector" feature (File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document). The editorial board reserves the right to return manuscripts for technical revision if any identifying data or metadata violating the double-blind policy is discovered.

Final Approval

If reviewers suggest corrections, the manuscript is returned to the author for revision; the updated version may then undergo a second round of review. The final recommendation for the publication of the journal issue is made by the Academic Council of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University and is officially recorded in the corresponding protocol.