Aim and Scope

The primary objective of the Journal is to inform scientific and practical healthcare community on the wide range of issues connected with particularly dangerous, natural-focal, socially-significant infections, as well as biological safety, epidemiological surveillance, and sanitary protection of the territories, provision of anti-epidemic protection of the population from biological hazards. It is the only scientific and practical edition in the Russian Federation dealing with discussion of the broad range of problems concerning particularly dangerous infections, sanitary protection of the territories of the Russia and CIS countries. One of the Journal`s aims is to provide opportunity for publication of dissertational researches results.

Journal readership is represented by academic researchers, practical healthcare community and specialists in the sphere of microbiology, epidemiology, epizootiology, infectious diseases, specialists and experts in the sphere of biological safety provision, both from the Russian Federation and CIS countries.

Section Policies

Publication Frequency

4 issues per year

Open Access Policy

“Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections”  is an open access journal. All articles are made freely available to readers immediatly upon publication.

Our open access policy is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition - it means that articles have free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.

For more information please read BOAI statement.

Archiving

• Scientific Electronic Library
• National Electronic-Information Consortium (NEICON)

Peer-Review

All manuscripts are subjected to peer-review and scientific editing.

An unilateral anonymous ("single-blind") peer review method is mandatory for processing of all scientific manuscripts submitted to the editorial stuff of “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections”. This implies that the reviewer is aware of the authorship of the manuscript, the author is unaware about the reviewer. The reviewer is selected by the executive secretary of the Journal, with the approval of the Editor in Chief, from among specialists of the Research institutions specialized in microbiology or epidemiology, experts in the corresponding areas, or members of the Editorial Board. The reviewer acts as scientific editor as well.  We aim to limit the review process to 2-4 weeks, though in some cases the schedule may be adjusted at the reviewer’s request. Reviewer has an option to abnegate the assessment should any conflict of interests arise that may affect perception or interpretation of the manuscript. Upon the scrutiny, the reviewer is expected to present the editorial board with one of the following recommendations:

- to accept the paper in its present state;
- to invite the authors to revise their manuscript to address specific concerns before final decision is reached;
- that final decision be reached following further reviewing by another specialist;
- to reject the manuscript outright.

If the reviewer has recommended any refinements, the editorial staff would suggest the author either to implement the corrections, or to dispute them reasonably. Authors are kindly required to limit their revision to 2 months and resubmit the adapted manuscript within this period for final evaluation.

We politely request that the editorial board be notified in writing should the author decide to refuse from publishing the manuscript. In case the author fails to do so within 3 months since receiving a copy of the initial review, the editorial board takes the manuscript off the register and notifies the author accordingly.

If author and reviewers meet insoluble contradictions regarding revision of the manuscript, the editor-in-chief resolves the conflict by his own authority.

The editorial board reaches final decision to reject a manuscript on the hearing according to reviewers’ recommendations, and duly notifies the authors of their decision via e-mail. The board does not accept previously rejected manuscripts for re-evaluation.

Upon the decision to accept the manuscript for publishing, the editorial staff notifies the authors of the scheduled date of publication.

Kindly note that positive review does not guarantee the acceptance, as final decision in all cases lies with the editorial board. By his authority, editor-in-chief rules final solution of every conflict.

Original reviews of submitted manuscripts remain deposited for 3 years.

Indexation

Articles in “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” are indexed by several systems:

• Russian Scientific Citation Index (RSCI) – a database, accumulating information on papers by Russian scientists, published in native and foreign titles. The RSCI project is under development since 2005 by “Electronic Scientific Library” foundation (elibrary.ru).
• Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. The Google Scholar index includes most peer-reviewed online journals of Europe and America's largest scholarly publishers, plus scholarly books and other non-peer reviewed journals.
• SOCIONET
• Dimensions
• NLM Catalog
• Base
• VINITI RAS
• WorldCat
• CAS
• Scopus

Publishing Ethics

Ethical code of the “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections”

Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” opposes any forms of unethical behavior or publication of unproven, inaccurate or fraudulent materials, or plagiarism.

The editorial board is committed to upholding international standards of publication ethics that are presented, in particular in recommended guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International committee of medical journal editors, Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) of Elsevier International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), Council of Science Editors (CSE) and Association of Sciences Editors and Publishers.

The compliance with the international ethical standards is of great significance for the all parties: authors, editors, reviewers.

The obligations of the editorial board

1. A decision to accept the article for the submission.

1.1 The editorial board of the “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” journal is responsible for the scientific contents of the journal. This decision is based on the peer-reviews of the manuscripts.

1.2 The editorial board follows the publication code of the journal and the copyright legal issues. The editor-in-chief may include additional editors during the decision-making process.

2. Decency
The editor-in-chief and the editorial board should evaluate the intellectual content of the manuscripts, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, origin, citizenship, or political preferences of the Authors.

3.Confidentiality

The members of the editorial office and reviewers are prohibited from disclaiming any information about the submitted paper and its content due to confidentiality (except the authors of the article, peer-reviewers, editorial members and publisher).

4. Disclosure and conflict of interests.

Non-published materials cannot be used by the editorial office or the reviewers for a private use or for a transmission to a third party without a written author`s permission.

5. Supervision of publications

The editor-in-chief and the editorial board are responding adequately to ethical claims regarding reviewed manuscripts or published material. Such measures in general terms include interaction with the authors of the manuscript and argumentation of the relevant complaint or requirement, but may also involve interaction with relevant organizations and research centers.

Reviewing helps the editorial board make a decision on publication and, through appropriate interaction with the Authors, can also help the Author to improve the quality of work. Peer review is a necessary link in formal scientific communications that is at the heart of the scientific approach. The publisher shares the view that all scientists who want to contribute to the publication are required to perform substantial work on the review of the manuscript.

1. Confidentiality

The papers submitted to the editorial office are considered confidential matters. The submitted papers must not be disclosed to any third parties, except those confirmed by the editorial office.

2. Promptness

Any selected Reviewer who feels the lack of qualifications for reviewing the manuscript or who does not have enough time to quickly complete the work should notify the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board of the scientific and practical journal “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections “and ask to exclude him from the review process of the relevant manuscript.

3. Confirmation of information sources.

3.1 The papers published or to be published in other journals are not accepted. The description of any methods, scientific facts or discussions must be supported by the correct reference. The peer-reviewers are obliged to inform the editorial office about any plagiarism detected in the paper.

3.2 Peer-reviewers should identify non-referenced research work. Each earlier reported evidence should be accompanied by a reference. Peer-reviewer is obliged to report any plagiarism, multiple, excessive and competitive publications or double publications.

4. Manuscript requirements and objectivity

The reviewer is obliged to give an objective assessment. Personal criticism of the Author is unacceptable. Reviewers should clearly and convincingly express their opinions.

5. Disclosure and conflict of interests.

Any private information or ideas discussed during the peer-review are confidential and are matters of non-disclosure. The peer-reviewer is prohibited of reviewing the paper in case of any conflict of interest with any of the authors, industry or any other organizations related to the current paper.

The obligations of the authors

1.Manuscript requirements

1.1.The authors of the article based on the original research should provide reliable results of the work done and an objective discussion of the significance of the research. The data underlying the work must be presented accurately. The work should contain enough details and bibliographic references for possible reproduction. False or knowingly erroneous statements are perceived as unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

1.2. Reviews should also be accurate and objective and based on a systematic analysis of scientific facts presented in peer-reviewed publications widely visible to the international scientific community.

2. Originality of the data and plagiarism

The authors are obliged to guarantee the originality of the paper. Any data from the other papers or research works must be noted and referred to.

3. Access to data and its storage

The authors are obliged to present the data related to the current paper if possible. The authors must store the data related to the current paper as long as possible after the publication.

4. Multiple, excessive and competitive publications

4.1 Authors are prohibited from publishing the same papers or the papers describing the same data in multiple journals.

4.2 The submission of the same paper to multiple journals is unethical and unacceptable.

4.3. Publishing a certain type of articles (for example, clinical guidelines, translated articles) in more than one journal is in some cases ethical, subject to certain conditions. Authors and editors of interested journals should agree to a secondary publication, which necessarily represents the same data and interpretation as in the original published work. The bibliography of the primary work should be presented in the second publication. More detailed information on permissible forms of secondary (repeated) publications can be found at www.icmje.org

5. Confirmation of references

The authors are obliged to refer to the research papers they used during the preparation of the paper.

6. Recognition of original sources

It is necessary to recognize the contributions of others. Authors should refer to publications that are relevant to the performance of the submitted work. Data obtained privately, for example, during a conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties should not be used or presented without the express written permission of the original source. Information obtained from confidential sources, such as the evaluation of manuscripts or the provision of grants, should not be used without the express written permission of the Authors of the work related to confidential sources

7. Authorship

7.1 The authorship of the paper must be limited to the persons who made a significant input into the concept, project, creation or interpretation of the data. Any other persons who made an input into some parts of the paper can be acknowledged.

7.2 The authors are obliged to guarantee that the list of the authors only contains people who made a significant input into the paper, and also that all the co-authors reviewed the paper, confirmed its final version and agreed to the publication.

8. Disclosure and conflict of interests.

8.1.All the authors and co-authors are obliged to disclose any financial or other conflict of interests, which may interfere with the results of the investigation.

8.2.Authors have the right to indicate in the cover letter the names of those specialists to whom, in their opinion, a manuscript should not be sent for review in connection with a possible, as a rule, professional conflict of interest. This information is strictly confidential and is taken into account by the editors when organizing the review.

9. Protection of human and animal rights

If involvement of animals and humans as study subjects took place, authors must state that all stages of the trials are in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, international ethical regulations, institutional normative documents, and approved by corresponding committees. The manuscript should clearly specify that from all individuals, engaged as the research subjects, an informed volunteer consent is received.

10. Errors in the published papers, retraction of the papers

In the event that the Author finds significant errors or inaccuracies in the publication, the Author must inform the Editor of the journal and interact with the Editor in order to promptly remove the publication or correct errors. If the Editors received information from a third party that the publication contains significant errors, the Author is obliged to withdraw the work or correct the errors as soon as possible.

Founder

• Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”

Author fees

Publication in “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” is free of charge for all the authors.

The journal doesn't have any Arcticle processing charges.

The journal doesn't have any Article submission charges.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Plagiarism detection

“Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” use native russian-language plagiarism detection software Antiplagiat to screen the submissions. If plagiarism is identified, the COPE guidelines on plagiarism will be followed.

Preprint and postprint Policy

Prior to acceptance and publication in “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections”, authors may make their submissions available as preprints on personal or public websites.

As part of submission process, authors are required to confirm that the submission has not been previously published, nor has been submitted. After a manuscript has been published in “Problems of Particularly Dangerous Infections” we suggest that the link to the article on journal's website is used when the article is shared on personal or public websites.

Glossary (by SHERPA)