1. General provisions

Criminological Activity does not accept paid commercial advertising or receive advertising revenue. This policy sets out the rules for academic announcements and direct informational communications with authors, reviewers and readers.

The journal’s official website, article pages, published materials, emails and information channels are not used to commercially promote third-party goods or services. The journal does not publish paid advertising banners, disguised promotional publications or affiliate links that generate payment for clicks or sales. Its name, logo and scholarly reputation are not made available for such promotion.

Research examining a commercial product, service or technology may be considered under the usual procedures if it falls within the journal’s scope and discloses funding and conflicts of interest. A scientifically justified reference to a product, method or organisation in an article is not, in itself, advertising and does not imply endorsement by the journal.

2. Advertising and academic announcements

The journal may publish information directly connected with its scholarly activities:

• announcements of new issues and individual articles;
• calls for manuscripts;
• information about the journal’s editorial, scientific and educational events;
• information about relevant conferences, seminars and scholarly meetings;
• important publishing notices for authors, reviewers and readers.

These announcements are published without an advertising fee and must relate to criminology, crime prevention, victimology, criminal policy, criminal justice or directly related research fields. Their information must be accurate, verifiable and clearly distinguished from peer-reviewed scholarly content. An announcement must not be presented as a research article or described as having undergone peer review.

Announcements of external academic events identify the organiser and information source; any material connection with the journal or Institute is disclosed. Announcing a scholarly conference, including one that charges a registration fee, does not imply an advertising payment to the journal or endorsement of all the organisers’ activities. Commercial advertising must not be disguised as an academic announcement.

Functional links to DOIs, ORCID, indexing and preservation services, libraries and other scholarly infrastructure are not, in themselves, advertising. The names and logos of such services must be used accurately and must not create a false impression of the journal’s indexing, membership, partnership or certification status.

Institutional and other permissible financial support is disclosed in accordance with the journal’s transparency and funding policies. Such support confers no right to place advertisements, control scholarly content or influence editorial decisions. Acknowledging a source of support serves to disclose funding and must not become promotion of its goods or services.

3. Editorial independence

Manuscript decisions are based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigour, alignment with the journal’s scope and compliance with its policies. Announcements, financial support and outreach activities do not determine editorial outcomes.

Initial assessment, referral for peer review, acceptance, revision, rejection or publication must not be influenced by:

• financial or commercial interests and advertising activities;
• financial support for the journal, Institute or associated organisations;
• payment or waiver of an article processing charge;
• an author’s organisation, position or country in themselves;
• the institutional, agency-specific or personal interests of third parties;
• a desire to obtain favourable coverage of an organisation or avoid scientifically substantiated criticism.

Editorial decisions fall within the authority of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board and follow the rules for independent handling and recusal in cases of conflicting interests. An author’s affiliation with the Institute, a law enforcement agency or an organisation supporting the journal confers no advantage and is not, in itself, a reason for rejection.

Publishing or circulating an academic announcement, inviting a manuscript, participating in an event or providing financial support does not guarantee acceptance or expedited consideration.

4. Direct marketing and journal communications

The journal does not use false, misleading, aggressive or intrusive methods to solicit manuscripts. Repeated contact must respect recipients’ preferences; personalised messages must not create a false impression that the recipient’s research has already been assessed by the editorial office.

Invitations, calls for papers and other informational messages issued on behalf of the journal must:

• clearly identify the journal, the sender and their authority to act on its behalf;
• align with the journal’s scope and recipients’ professional interests;
• provide accurate, current and verifiable information and link to official journal pages;
• accurately describe peer review, licensing, fees, waiver conditions and timeframes;
• make no promises of guaranteed acceptance, citations or inclusion of an article or the journal in a database;
• not present an application to Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ or another system as confirmed inclusion;
• provide a clear, free means of opting out of further optional mailings.

For regular academic announcement mailings, the journal obtains separate consent or a subscription from the recipient. Registration in the system, manuscript submission, completion of a review or the public availability of an email address does not, in itself, constitute a subscription. Individual professional invitations are sent only where there is a permissible basis for contact, taking account of applicable requirements and scholarly relevance.

Recipients may unsubscribe using the mechanism provided in a message or by emailing the editorial office. Opt-out requests are implemented without undue delay; an address is not added back to the same mailing list without renewed consent. Opting out of optional messages does not affect manuscript consideration, separately agreed reviewing arrangements or access to published content.

Necessary operational correspondence concerning an existing submission, an agreed review, account security or a substantive ethics inquiry is treated separately from marketing mailings. Such messages are limited to the relevant purpose and must not be used to circumvent an opt-out from advertising and announcements.

The journal uses its official website, official email, journal system accounts and approved academic channels. Senders must not conceal their identity; recipient lists are not disclosed to other recipients without an appropriate basis.

5. Use of personal data

The contact details of authors, reviewers, editors, readers and website users are not sold, rented or provided to third parties for their own commercial marketing. Reviewers’ confidential contact details are not used for general mailings without separate consent.

Information obtained through submission, peer review and editorial correspondence is used within permissible editorial, publishing, scholarly information and technical functions. Optional mailings use only the necessary data and respect recipients’ selected preferences. The discoverability of an address through a search does not remove restrictions on its further use.

Where technical distribution is assigned to an authorised service provider, the provider receives only the necessary data, acts on the Institute’s instructions and may not use the data for its own advertising. Such processing, safeguards and retention periods are governed by the journal’s Privacy Statement and applicable agreements.

The journal may retain a minimal record of an opt-out to prevent unwanted re-enrolment. This record is used to respect the recipient’s choice and is protected under the confidentiality rules.

6. Responsibilities and scope of application

The Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as the journal’s founder and publisher, organises official information channels, data protection and the technical distribution of approved messages through authorised personnel.

The content of academic announcements and invitations issued on behalf of the journal is approved by the authorised editorial leadership. Staff and technical service providers may not independently promise publication, changes to consideration procedures, citations or indexing. Technical functions confer no authority to assess manuscripts or make editorial decisions.

This policy applies to the website, article pages, email correspondence, official information channels and messages whose distribution the journal has entrusted to others. Assigning technical delivery to a service provider does not relieve the Institute or editorial office of responsibility for overseeing compliance with these rules.

Independent reposts and messages on third-party resources may lie outside the journal’s technical control. When a misleading claim of association or unauthorised use of its name is identified, the editorial office checks the circumstances and takes available steps to correct the information. An external link or logo does not, in itself, establish a sender’s authority.

7. Complaints and policy administration

A recipient of an inappropriate message may contact the editorial office to request an end to mailings or verification of the sender and content. Where possible, the recipient should provide the message text or a screenshot, date, sender’s address and relevant links, removing unnecessary personal data. Complaints are handled under the Complaints and Appeals Policy; an unsubscribe request does not require evidence of a scholarly or procedural error and is not postponed until the complaint is resolved. If a complaint concerns a responsible editor or staff member, it is assigned to a person without the relevant conflict of interest.

Following approval by the authorised leadership, this policy takes effect on the date of its publication on the official website of Criminological Activity. The page displays the publication date and dates of subsequent revisions. The policy is reviewed when communication rules, information channels or the funding model change; changes to advertising conditions are not introduced without disclosure.

Questions about advertising, messages issued on behalf of the journal and unsubscribing: info@uzkti.uz. It is sufficient to identify the relevant address or channel and the action requested; passwords and documents unnecessary for handling the request should not be sent.