MKOIEE Proceedings Policy

General info

The Proceedings of the International Conference on Renewable Electrical Power Sources (hereinafter referred to as the Proceedings) publishes papers delivered at the International Conference on Renewable Electrical Power Sources, organized by the Union of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Technicians of Serbia – The Society for Renewable Electrical Power Sources.

The Proceedings is published by SMEITS own resources.

The Proceedings publishes original scientific papers, review articles, from the field of mechanical engineering, etc.

The Proceedings is a diamond open-access publication that does not charge any fees to readers for access or to authors for publication.

Papers must be written in Serbian or English, with summaries in both languages. The Proceedings is open to researchers worldwide, regardless of gender, scientific and/or academic title, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.

The Proceedings is published after the International Conference on Renewable Electrical Power Sources.

Digital copies of the Proceedings are archived as electronic mandatory copies in the National Library of Serbia.

Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial board

The Editorial Board is responsible for managing the Proceedings.

Members of the Editorial Board are proposed by the Society for Process Industry and appointed by the SMEITS Executive Board.

The Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings makes the final decision on which manuscripts will be published. In making this decision, the Editor-in-Chief adheres to editorial policies while considering legal regulations regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

The Editor-in-Chief retains the discretionary right to evaluate submitted manuscripts and reject those that do not meet the prescribed criteria regarding content and format. Under normal circumstances, the editorial board informs the author whether their text has been accepted within seven days of manuscript submission.

The Editor-in-Chief must not have any conflicts of interest regarding manuscripts under review. If such a conflict exists, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief decides on reviewer selection and the manuscript's fate. Editors and editorial board members are required to promptly report any conflicts of interest.

The Editor-in-Chief must evaluate manuscripts based on their content, free from racial, gender, religious, ethnic, or political biases.

Editors and editorial board members must not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the author's explicit written permission. Information and ideas presented in manuscripts must be treated as confidential and must not be used for personal gain.

Editors and editorial board members must take all reasonable measures to ensure that reviewers' identities remain unknown to authors before, during, and after the review process, and that authors' identities remain unknown to reviewers until the review process is completed.

Responsibilities of Authors

When submitting an original paper, authors guarantee that the manuscript represents their original contribution, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Simultaneously submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals or proceedings violates ethical standards and will result in immediate exclusion from further consideration. However, the publication of preprints on appropriate platforms and repositories is not considered prior publication. Authors must indicate whether their text was previously published as a preprint and specify where it was published. If accepted for publication in the Proceedings, authors must update the information on the platform or repository where the preprint was posted, including the DOI of the published article (if existed).

If the manuscript has previously been considered for publication in another journal or proceedings, authors are encouraged to inform the editorial board about the outcome of that review process, explaining how they addressed reviewers' comments or why they did not accept them. Providing this information benefits authors by assisting editors in selecting suitable reviewers.

If the manuscript is the result of a scientific research project or was previously presented at a conference as an oral presentation (under the same or a similar title), details about the project, conference, etc., should be included in the acknowledgments.

Authors must adhere to ethical standards related to scientific research. They guarantee that the manuscript does not contain unfounded or illegal claims and does not infringe on the rights of others. The publisher assumes no liability in cases where claims for damages arise.

Content of the manuscript

The editorial board of the Proceedings ensures that published papers contain sufficient information to allow for the replication of described research. Facts presented should be thoroughly detailed and supported by references so reviewers and readers can verify the claims – such as detailed descriptions of methods used. Authors should familiarize themselves with standards related to different types of scientific papers (Equator Network) and apply those relevant to their research. Deliberately presenting false claims violates ethical standards.

Authors bear full responsibility for the content of their manuscripts and must obtain all necessary permissions for publication. They also bear responsibility for the content of research data and attachments, ensuring that data collection, processing, and publication comply with relevant regulations, ethical standards, and third-party copyright and other rights.

Authors who wish to include illustrations, tables, or other previously published materials in their paper must obtain permission from the copyright holders. Materials lacking such documentation will be considered the author's original work.

Inclusive Language

The Proceedings promotes accessible and inclusive language to make scientific research more understandable to a wider audience and to show respect for all individuals. To enhance accessibility, authors should:

• Use clear and simple language that is understandable beyond specialized circles and to readers whose native language is not English.
• Avoid complicated technical terminology unless necessary, excessive complexity, long sentences, repetition, uncommon acronyms and abbreviations, stereotypes, idiomatic expressions, jargon, and cultural stereotypes.
• Explain technical terms when needed.
• Respect diversity and avoid implying the superiority of any group based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, health status, age, or socioeconomic background.
• Use inclusive and appropriate language regarding racial and ethnic identity, and offer a broad spectrum of categories when collecting data on racial or ethnic identity.
• Be cautious when generalizing research results to entire groups based on a shared identity category, explaining the use of racial or ethnic groups in the methodology section.
• When referring to indigenous identity, use terms preferred by the individual or group in question and consult them if there is uncertainty.
• Distinguish between biological sex and socially constructed gender; use personal gender pronouns as provided by participants and apply gender-neutral terms.
• Use “impairment” for medical conditions and “difficulty” or “disability” for social barriers; avoid discriminatory language and offensive terminology when describing people with disabilities (e.g., say “a person diagnosed with cancer” instead of “cancer victim”).

Additional materials are available on the C4DISC website (Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Publishing): [https://c4disc.org/toolkits-for-equity](https://c4disc.org/toolkits-for-equity).

Authorship

Only individuals who have significantly contributed to the manuscript content should be listed as authors. Similarly, all those who have significantly contributed must be included. If others participated in key aspects of the research project or manuscript preparation but do not qualify as authors, their contributions should be acknowledged.

Authors should review authorship criteria defined by the (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors – ICMJE).

A person can be listed as an author only if they:

• Contributed significantly to the conceptualization or design of the work, or the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.
• Played a role in writing the manuscript or critically revising its scientific content.
• Gave final approval for the version to be published.
• Agreed to take responsibility for all aspects of the work and ensure that issues related to accuracy and integrity are thoroughly investigated and resolved.
• Consented to be listed as an author and approved the author list.

For specifying author contributions, it is recommended to use the taxonomy ERediT. [ERediT](http://credit.niso.org/).

During the review process, adding new authors or removing existing ones is permitted only in exceptional cases, provided a detailed explanation is submitted to the editorial team and publisher. Listing individuals who do not meet authorship criteria (honorary or ghost authorship) is considered a violation of ethical standards.

Citing Sources

Authors must accurately cite sources that significantly influenced the research and manuscript. Information obtained in private conversations or correspondence, during the review of project submissions or manuscripts, should not be used without explicit written permission from those who provided it.

When referencing research data or drawing conclusions based on them, authors must cite them as they would publications. Recommended citation principles are defined by FORCE11.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism – the act of using another person's ideas, words, or creative expressions as one's own – is considered a serious violation of scientific and publishing ethics. It may also involve copyright infringement, which is legally punishable.

Plagiarism includes:

• Direct or nearly direct copying or intentional paraphrasing (to conceal plagiarism) of parts of texts by other authors without clear citation or proper indication (such as using quotation marks).
• Copying images or tables from others' works without proper attribution and/or without permission from the authors or copyright holders.

The Proceedings does not verify submitted texts. Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy of their submissions.

If an article published in the Proceedings is found to be plagiarized, it will be retracted following the Retraction of Published Papers procedure, and the authors will be prohibited from submitting manuscripts for the next three years.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest that could affect the presented results and interpretations. If no conflict exists, they should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Conflicts of interest can be financial or non-financial. Examples include:

• An organization funding an individual, paying their salary or other compensation, or in which the individual holds shares, could benefit (or lose) financially depending on the publication of results.
• Individuals, their funding organizations, or employers holding a patent related to the research or applying for such a patent.
• Official affiliations and memberships in interest groups related to the published content.
• Political, religious, or ideological conflicts of interest.

Errors in Published Papers

If authors discover a significant error or minor omission in their work after publication, they must immediately notify the editor or publisher and collaborate on its retraction or correction.

By submitting a manuscript to the Proceedings, authors commit to adhering to these obligations.

ORCID

ORCID is a unique and persistent identifier that enables precise author identification, facilitates finding published works, and ensures proper attribution of authorship.

ORCID identifiers for all authors (who have them) should be provided upon manuscript submission and will be published in accepted articles.

Funding Information

If an article is the result of a research project, authors must disclose funding sources in accordance with their agreements with funders.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must provide a professional, reasoned, and impartial assessment of a manuscript's scientific value within the designated timeframe.

They evaluate manuscripts based on:

• Alignment of the topic with the Proceedings’ scope.
• Relevance of the research field and applied methods.
• Originality and scientific significance of the presented data.
• Scholarly writing style and proper use of citations.

Reviewers with well-founded suspicions or knowledge of ethical violations must notify the editor. They should highlight important previously published works that authors have not cited. If they recognize substantial similarities with another published work or manuscript under review elsewhere, they must report this. Similarly, they must inform the editor if a manuscript is being simultaneously considered by multiple journals or proceedings.

Reviewers must not have conflicts of interest with authors or research funders. If they do, they must notify the editor immediately.

If a reviewer considers themselves unqualified to assess the manuscript, they must inform the editor.

Review Process

All manuscripts submitted for publication undergo peer review, which helps the editorial team decide whether to accept or reject an article and refine its quality through author feedback.

Review is primarily single-blind but may be double-blind when necessary.

Editors exercise discretion in selecting reviewers. Reviewers must possess relevant expertise in the manuscript's subject area and must not be affiliated with the same institution as the author or have co-published with the author recently. During review, editors may request additional information (including primary data) if necessary for evaluating the manuscript's contribution. Such information is treated confidentially and must not be used for personal gain.

Peer Review

The review process is anonymous.

Reviewers must complete their review within seven days of receiving the manuscript. If unable to meet the deadline, they must immediately notify the editor-in-chief.

Reviews are conducted free of charge.

The editorial team is responsible for ensuring the quality control of reviews. If authors have serious and justified concerns about a review, the editorial board will assess its objectivity and adherence to academic standards. If doubts arise regarding the objectivity or quality of a review, the editor will seek additional opinions from other reviewers.

Throughout the process, reviewers work independently of one another. They do not know the identities of other reviewers. If reviewers' decisions differ (accept/reject), the editor-in-chief may consult additional reviewers.

During the review process, the editor may request authors to provide additional information (including primary data) if needed to evaluate the manuscript's scientific contribution. Editors and reviewers must treat such information as confidential and refrain from using it for personal gain.

Editorial board members and guest editors may submit their manuscripts for publication in the Proceedings. If an author is involved in the editorial process, they will be excluded from the review and decision-making regarding their submission, and another editorial board member will oversee the review process.

Use of Large Language Models and Generative AI

The Proceedings adheres to the following recommendations:

• World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) recommendations on chat bots;
• ChatGPT and scholarly manuscripts;
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s position statement on Authorship and AI tools.

AI tools such as ChatGPT cannot be credited as manuscript authors.

Authors must explicitly disclose the use of large language model-based and generative AI tools for data or code generation, data collection, cleaning, analysis, or interpretation (specifying the tool used and its purpose), preferably in the methodology or acknowledgments section. Photographs, videos, or illustrations created entirely or partially using generative AI are not acceptable. The use of non-generative machine learning tools to process, combine, or enhance existing images or graphs must be mentioned in figure legends to enable case-by-case review. Concealing AI tool usage is unethical. However, AI-assisted proofreading and spell-checking do not require disclosure.

AI-generated materials must not be cited as primary sources supporting research claims.

Editors and reviewers must ensure manuscript confidentiality throughout the editorial and review process. They must not share manuscript information or review reports with AI-based tools. Reviewers are prohibited from using AI tools to draft their reviews. Concealing AI-assisted editing undermines editorial transparency and ethical review practices. Using AI tools to process manuscripts could compromise confidentiality, expose sensitive data, and jeopardize editorial integrity.

Resolving Disputes

Any individual or institution may report ethical violations or other irregularities to the editor or editorial board at any time, providing necessary information/evidence.

Verification of Allegations and Evidence

• The editor-in-chief, in consultation with the editorial board, will decide whether to initiate an inquiry.
• During the inquiry, all evidence will be treated as confidential and shared only with those directly involved in the process.
• Individuals suspected of ethical violations will be given the opportunity to respond to the allegations.
• If an irregularity is confirmed, its severity will be assessed as either a minor infraction or a serious ethical violation.

Minor Infractions

Minor infractions will be resolved through direct communication with the involved parties without third-party involvement, such as:

• Informing authors/reviewers of minor infractions stemming from misunderstandings or misapplications of academic standards.
• Issuing a warning letter to authors/reviewers who have committed a minor infraction.

Serious Ethical Violations

Decisions regarding serious ethical breaches are made by the editor-in-chief, in collaboration with the editorial board and, if necessary, a small group of experts. Possible actions (individually or collectively) include:

• Publishing a statement or editorial describing the ethical violation.
• Sending a formal notice to the author's/reviewer's supervisors or employers.
• Retracting the published work in accordance with the Retraction of Published Papers procedure.
• Banning the authors from submitting manuscripts to the Proceedings for a specified period.
• Notifying relevant professional organizations or authorities to take appropriate action.

Resolving Disputes

In resolving disputes, the editorial board of the Proceedings follows the guidelines and recommendations of the international organization Committee on Publication Ethics – COPE.

Retraction of Published Papers

If there is a violation of the rights of the publisher, copyright holders, or authors, a breach of professional ethical codes – such as submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals or proceedings simultaneously, false authorship claims, plagiarism, data manipulation for fraudulent purposes, failure to disclose the use of tools based on large language models and generative artificial intelligence, or unintentional errors reported by the author (e.g., mistakes caused by mixed samples or faulty equipment) – the published work must be retracted. In some cases, retraction may occur to correct errors identified post-publication.

The reason for retraction and the requestor must be stated. Standards for resolving situations requiring retraction are defined by libraries and scientific bodies and have been adopted by the Proceedings: in the electronic version of the original article (which is being retracted), a link (HTML) is established to the retraction notice. The retracted article is preserved in its original form but marked with a watermark (RETRACTED) on each page of the PDF document.

Research Data, Software Code, Experimental Protocols, and Preregistration

Research Data

The Proceedings encourages authors to make available research data supporting published results and/or enriching their work, ensuring maximum openness unless confidentiality is necessary. The Proceedings accepts supplementary software applications, high-resolution images, data sets, audio or video recordings, extensive appendices, data tables, and other relevant materials that cannot be included within the paper itself.

Authors are encouraged to deposit relevant research data in repositories following principles FAIR,, whether institutional, thematic, or general-purpose repositories (e.g., Zenodo). More information on finding suitable repositories is available at https://repositoryfinder.datacite.org/ and https://www.re3data.org/. Deposited data should include necessary details for replication, validation, or reuse, such as descriptions of software, instruments, and other tools used for processing results. If possible, authors should also deposit these tools. Each research data file may receive a DOI identifier, enabling citation like academic publications. Authors must ensure compliance with data protection regulations, ethical standards, copyright laws, and other relevant rights during collection, processing, and sharing.

Exceptions: Public release of data is not always feasible. If confidentiality obligations, security restrictions, personal data protection requirements, or other legitimate constraints apply, data necessary for validating published conclusions need not be publicly accessible. If open access is not possible, authors should ensure data availability for validation while respecting legitimate interests or restrictions.

Software Code

Authors are encouraged to make available any software code used in their work, especially code they have generated themselves. If commercial software has been used, its name and version should be specified, preferably in the methodology section.

Whenever possible, software code should be deposited in a public repository that assigns permanent identifiers and allows version control. Open-source licenses are recommended. Deposited code should include:

• Installation and usage instructions.
• Operating system details.
• Information about the programming language and data format.
• Necessary dependencies (versions, libraries, modules).
• Documentation, including an explanation of the code’s purpose.
• Actual data or test data with log files or similar documentation.

Studies that use custom code or mathematical algorithms essential to research conclusions must include a Code Availability Statement. This statement should provide a code description, access details, repository identifier, and any access limitations. It appears as a separate section in the manuscript, following the Data Availability Statement.

Experimental Protocols

Authors are encouraged to make their research protocols available to facilitate replication and further studies via protocol-sharing platforms or repositories. If protocols are available at manuscript submission, the manuscript should include the DOI and other protocol-related details.

Preregistration

The Proceedings supports preregistration of studies (including clinical trials) and preregistration of research plans in public repositories. Authors should indicate whether any part of their study has been preregistered. If so, they must provide a link to the preregistration and its date in the methodology section, along with any deviations from the preregistered protocol and explanations for such changes.

Ethical and Safety Considerations

If access to data is restricted due to ethical reasons or protection concerns, the manuscript must specify:

• The nature of data access restrictions.
• The ethical committee’s or relevant body’s stance on data publication.
• How readers or reviewers can request access and under what conditions access may be granted.

Data Protection

To protect the privacy of study participants, research data must not be published if personal identifiers cannot be effectively removed – unless explicit written consent has been obtained for public release of personal data.

If the data cannot be publicly disclosed, the manuscript must provide:

• Justification for data protection.
• Related data from which personal identifiers have been removed.
• The ethical committee’s or relevant body’s stance on data publication.
• Procedures for requesting access and access conditions.

The manuscript must include a Data Availability Statement specifying where the data is located. If applicable, this statement should precede the references list and include relevant DOI identifiers. If access is restricted, the reasons must be explained. If the data is not available, an explanation should be provided.

When depositing data linked to a submitted manuscript, the following should be considered:

• The repository should be thematically appropriate and sustainable.
• The repository should have a sustainability model.
• Data should be deposited under an open license (e.g., CC0, CC-BY). More restrictive licenses should be used only if legally necessary.
• Deposited data should include a version in an open, non-proprietary format.
• Data should be labeled in a way that makes it comprehensible to third parties (e.g., clear column headers, descriptions in a text file).
• Research involving human subjects, human material, or personal data must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. Certain studies must receive approval from an Ethics Committee. The identity of research subjects should be anonymized whenever possible. If human subjects are involved, informed consent is required from participants or their legal guardians.

Open Access

The Proceedings is a diamond open-access publication. Its entire content is freely available, allowing users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search full-text articles, and establish HTML links without needing permission from authors or publishers.

The manuscript submission, peer review, and publication processes are free of charge.

Self-Archiving

The Proceedings allows authors to deposit pre-review manuscripts, peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts, and published versions in institutional or subject repositories, general repositories, or personal websites (including scholarly platforms such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu). These can be posted before or during submission, at any time after acceptance, or post-publication.

Bibliographic details of the published article (authors, title, Proceedings title, volume, issue, pagination) must be included, along with the DOI as an HTML link and licensing information.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright for their published articles while granting the publisher a non-exclusive right to publish the manuscript, be credited as the original publisher, and distribute the article in all formats and media. The article will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Authors may enter separate agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the published work (e.g., institutional repository deposit or book publication), provided the original Proceedings publication is acknowledged.

Metadata

Metadata is publicly available to all and may be freely used under the

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in published articles do not represent the views of the editors or editorial board. Authors assume legal and moral responsibility for the ideas presented in their works. The publisher holds no liability in the event of claims for damages.

This policy model was developed by EIFLand inspired by the following documents:

• Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. Directory of Open Access Journals. https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/ (accessed 2023-01-06).
• Guidance. COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics. (accessed 2025-02-09). https://publicationethics.org/guidance. (accessed 2025-02-09).
• Policies. Open Research Europe. https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/about/policies (accessed 2025-01-08).
• Journal Policies. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics. https://www.glossa-journal.org/site/journal-policies/ (accessed 2025-01-06).
• ASSAf and SciELO Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and Resources in Research Communication. 2024. Science and Innovation, Republic of South Africa; ASSAf; SciELO. https://www.assaf.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Final-ASSAf-and-SciELO-Guidelines-for-the-Use-of-Artificial-Intelligence-AI-Tools-and-Resources-in-Research-Communication_17-Sept-2024-.pdf. (accessed 2025-02-07)
• Recommendations on the Use of AI in Scholarly Communication. 2024. EASE. 25 September 2024. https://ease.org.uk/2024/09/recommendations-on-the-use-of-ai-in-scholarly-communication/. (accessed 2025-02-07)

The Proceedings editorial board thanks colleagues at EIFL for their assistance in developing this publishing policy.