Policy of the Journal

General Provisions

The Physical Sciences and Technology is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
ISSN: 2409-6121
eISSN: 2522-1361

Frequency: two issues per year

Originality, Simultaneous Submission, and Duplicate Publication

  • Only original manuscripts that have not been published previously and are not under consideration elsewhere are accepted. Authors are responsible for accuracy, scientific novelty, and proper use of data and citations.
  • Duplicate publication, substantial undisclosed text recycling (self-plagiarism), citation manipulation, and other forms of publication misconduct are not permitted.

Authorship and Contribution

  • Authorship is attributed to researchers who made a substantial contribution to the study concept, research conduct, analysis/interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.
  • The corresponding author confirms that all co-authors approved the submission and the final version.
  • Changes to authorship (addition/removal/reordering) after submission are permitted only upon a reasoned request by the corresponding author, with written consent from all co-authors, and subject to an editorial decision.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

  • Authors must disclose potential conflicts of interest (financial and non-financial) and funding/support sources (if applicable).
  • Reviewers and editors must declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves where such conflicts exist; the manuscript is assigned to another editor/reviewer.

Plagiarism and Text Similarity Policy

  • Manuscripts are screened for text similarity using tools available to the Journal.
  • Manuscripts proceed to peer review only if the originality level exceeds 80% and citations are properly formatted.
  • If improper borrowing is identified, the editorial office may request corrections, reject the manuscript, or initiate post-publication actions (correction/expression of concern/retraction).

Peer Review

  • The Journal applies double-blind peer review. Each manuscript is sent to at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.
  • Peer review is confidential: authors do not receive reviewers’ identities; reviewers receive manuscripts without author identification.
  • Reviewers evaluate scholarly significance, originality, methodology, quality of argumentation, accuracy of references, and alignment with the Journal’s scope.
  • Possible decisions: accept; accept with revisions; further review; reject.
  • In case of divergent reviews (one positive and one negative), the manuscript may be sent to a third reviewer; the final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief.
  • Recommended peer-review timeframe: up to 2 months from the date the manuscript is sent to reviewers.

Editorial Decision, Revision, and Resubmission

Reviewers’ comments are sent to the corresponding author via OJS. Authors submit:

  • a revised manuscript;
  • a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments.
    Author(s) may withdraw the manuscript from consideration by notifying the editorial office via OJS.

Complaints and Appeals

Author(s) may submit a reasoned complaint or appeal regarding an editorial decision via OJS/editorial email. Appeals are considered by the responsible editor and/or editorial board; where necessary, an additional independent assessment is appointed. The decision is recorded and communicated to the corresponding author.

Publication Ethics and Editorial Actions

  • The Journal adheres to academic integrity principles and international publication ethics standards, including COPE approaches.
  • Violations include plagiarism, fabrication/falsification of data, unethical authorship practices, undisclosed conflicts of interest, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and other violations of publication ethics (publication misconduct).
  • Where misconduct is suspected, the editorial office may request explanations/materials, suspend the review process, and/or appoint an additional assessment.

Corrections, Expression of Concern, and Retraction

  • If errors or potential violations are identified after publication, the editorial office applies post-publication actions: correction (erratum/corrigendum), expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature of the issue and the degree of substantiation.
  • An expression of concern is issued where there are substantiated doubts regarding reliability/accuracy/ethical compliance, but the inquiry is not yet completed. Following the outcome, the editorial office decides whether to remove the expression of concern, publish a correction, or proceed with a retraction.
  • In the event of retraction, the article is not removed: it remains part of the scholarly record, is marked “Retracted,” and a separate notice is published with date and rationale; where possible, the PDF is labeled accordingly.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Tools

  • The use of AI as an auxiliary tool (language editing, translation, formatting, bibliography preparation, technical data processing) is permitted subject to mandatory author verification.
  • If AI was used, authors must disclose this in the cover letter upon submission, specifying the tool and the purpose of use. Upon request, authors provide additional information to ensure publication transparency.
  • AI cannot be listed as an author/co-author. Authors bear responsibility for content accuracy, referencing, and ethical compliance.
  • AI must not be used for fabrication/falsification of data, creation of fictitious references/sources, or presenting unverified generated text as research results.
  • Uploading unpublished manuscripts, reviews, or editorial correspondence to third-party AI services is prohibited where it violates confidentiality or applicable rules.

Open Access Policy and Archiving

The Physical Sciences and Technology provides immediate open access to all published content on its official website, ensuring free and unrestricted access to research for the global scholarly community.

All articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Copyright and Licensing

Authors of articles published in Physical Sciences and Technology grant the publisher the right of first publication and license their works under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). The copyright holder of the published work is Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Authorship is limited to those individuals who have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the conception and design of the study, the preparation of the manuscript, and the analysis and interpretation of the results. All authors share responsibility for the integrity and ethical standards of the published work in accordance with COPE principles and international publication ethics standards.

Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License, authors retain moral rights to their manuscripts while granting the public a non-exclusive right to access, read, download, copy, distribute, reproduce, and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s), the original publication in Physical Sciences and Technology is properly cited, and any changes made are clearly indicated.

Any use of the published material for commercial purposes requires prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Authors may deposit and disseminate their published articles in institutional repositories, academic networks, personal websites, and other non-commercial platforms, provided that a full bibliographic reference to the original publication in Physical Sciences and Technology is included.

DOI and Metadata (Crossref)

Each published article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), registered through Crossref to ensure persistent identification, accurate citation, and long-term accessibility.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

  • For manuscripts accepted for publication, an article processing charge (APC) of 5,000 KZT per page is applied.
  • The fee is charged after acceptance; payment does not influence editorial decisions and does not replace peer review.
  • Proof of payment (receipt in PDF or JPEG) must be sent to the editorial office email address.

Archiving and Long-Term Preservation

The Journal provides access to current issues and the archive on the website. The Journal ensures long-term digital preservation using available OJS archiving mechanisms and/or institutional preservation systems.

Confidentiality and Personal Data

  • Authors’ personal data are used solely within the editorial process and for publication of necessary bibliographic information.
  • The editorial office does not disclose information about manuscripts under consideration to third parties, except appointed reviewers.
  • Reviewers’ identities are not disclosed to authors or third parties.

Contacts

For manuscript submission and editorial procedures: phst@kaznu.edu.kz