All parties engaged in the publication process (Editors, Authors, Reviewers and Publishers) shall act according to the ethical standards of conduct set in journals published by the Polish Academy of Sciences and according to the Sociologists Professional Ethics Code accepted during the General Assembly of Delegates of the Polish Sociological Association on 25^th March 2012. The KiS Editorial Team also adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers (https://publicationethics.org/resources/code-conduct)

The Editorial Board together with the Editor‐in‐Chief establish the editorial policy, its aim being to ensure that the publishing practice of the journal conforms to the publishing ethics, and COPE standards in particular.

Publishing Ethics and Misconduct

1. The Editorial Team evaluates the Manuscripts based on their quality and irrespective of the Author’s race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality or political views.

2. The Editorial Team members shall act strictly based on the principles of publishing ethics, be transparent and take reasonable steps to prevent any malpractice and shall be ready to publish any eventual errata, explanations or apologies when necessary.

3. The Editorial Team members shall not disclose any information concerning the Manuscripts submitted to parties other than the Author(s), Reviewer(s) or prospective Reviewer(s), Editorial Consultants (e.g. Translators or Proofreaders), and in justified cases also Editorial Board members and representatives of the Publisher. Reviewers shall not disclose any information concerning the Manuscripts reviewed to persons other than the Editor‐in‐Chief and other authorized members of the Editorial Team.

4. Before submitting the Manuscript, the Author shall prevent any ghostwriting or guest authorships malpractice. Ghostwriting occurs when a person who substantially contributed to the Manuscript is not listed among the Authors, or when in the cases of contributions strictly technical in nature, non-qualifying to be listed as an Author, such contribution is not properly addressed. Guest authorship is a reverse situation, which occurs when a person listed in the Manuscript as an Author contributed solely in a minor way or not at all.

5. In accordance with the COPE guidelines, any changes concerning authorship require a written consent of all Authors in the form of a written statement by each Author. An obligation to justify the change(s) requested and to coordinate correspondence between the Authors and the Editor‐in‐Chief lies with the Author‐Correspondent. If the Authors fail to agree, they shall address the relevant institutional authority, the verdict of which is binding. The Editorial Team shall not be a party to such authorship disputes. If the case regards a Manuscript which has already been published, any authorship changes take the form of a publication of a corrected Manuscript.

6. Should any allegations of misconduct (plagiarism, falsification of data, self‐plagiarism, that is publication of a previously published, in part or in whole, manuscript) arise, the Editorial Team requests explanations from the Author and subsequently acts according to the COPE guidelines. Whenever the situation occurs further into the publication process, possible consequences include notification of institutional authorities, rejection of a Manuscript and moreover rejection of any texts written by the Author.

7. A conflict of interest occurs when economic, business or personal relationships which may affect the evaluation of a Manuscript or the decision of its publication in the journal exist between Authors, Reviewers or Editorial Team members. Cooperation in research projects, past joint publications, professional or political rivalry are also instances of the conflict of interest. Any conflict of interest shall be reported by Authors, Reviewers, Editorial Team members to the Editor‐in‐Chief.

8. The Editorial Team decides to publish without a review procedure reviews of books, memoirs about deceased scholars of merit in the development of sociological sciences and cultural sciences, information, documents, and commentaries related to current events and phenomena in scientific life. These texts do not have the status of regular scientific articles and are published in separate columns entitled: FACTS, PROBLEMS, POLEMICS and REVIEWS, ISSUES.