Proceedings of the Technical University of Sofia

The Proceedings of the Technical University of Sofia is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record.

The journal's editorial and publication policies are guided by the following internationally recognized principles and standards:

The Editorial Board is responsible for maintaining the scientific quality and integrity of the journal. Manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with publication ethics.

The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision on the basis of the reviewers' reports, the authors' revisions, and the recommendation of the responsible Associate Editor.

Submitted manuscripts and all information related to the peer-review process are treated as confidential.

The editors will examine credible concerns regarding possible research or publication misconduct and will take appropriate action in accordance with the journal's policies and COPE guidance.

Reviewers are expected to provide an independent, objective, constructive, and scientifically justified assessment of the manuscript. Reviews should address the scientific content of the work and must not contain personal criticism of the authors.

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential. Reviewers must not disclose or use unpublished information, ideas, data, or results obtained through the peer-review process for purposes unrelated to the review.

Reviewers should inform the Associate Editor if they identify substantial overlap with previously published work, unsupported scientific claims, possible manipulation of data or results, or other significant ethical or scientific concerns.

A reviewer who does not have sufficient expertise to evaluate the manuscript or cannot complete the review within a reasonable period should promptly inform the Associate Editor.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the work they submit. Research methods, data, results, and conclusions must be presented honestly and must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or misleadingly reported.

Submitted manuscripts must represent original work. The work, ideas, data, figures, and text of others must be appropriately acknowledged and cited. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable.

The same or a substantially similar manuscript must not be submitted simultaneously to another journal or publication. Previously published work must not be submitted as an original publication.

All listed authors must have made a genuine contribution to the work, must have agreed to be listed as authors, must have approved the submitted version of the manuscript, and must have agreed to its submission to the Proceedings of the Technical University of Sofia. All authors share responsibility for the integrity and scientific content of the work. Honorary, gift, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

Submission of a manuscript constitutes confirmation by the corresponding author that all listed authors have agreed to be included as authors, have approved the submitted version, have agreed to its submission to the Proceedings, and have authorized the corresponding author to communicate with the Editorial Board on their behalf throughout the submission, peer-review, revision, acceptance, and publication process. No separate declaration or confirmation is required.

The corresponding author is responsible for keeping all co-authors informed of the progress of the manuscript, editorial decisions, reviewer requests, revisions, proofs, and other actions requiring the authors' attention. The corresponding author is also responsible for ensuring that relevant information and decisions received from the Editorial Board are communicated to all co-authors.

Designation of a corresponding author does not transfer the scientific responsibility of the other authors to that author. All authors remain responsible for the integrity of the work and for the parts of the manuscript to which they have contributed.

Requests to add or remove an author, or to change the order of authors after submission, must be explained to the Editorial Board and must be supported by the agreement of all affected authors. Any such change is subject to approval by the Editorial Board.

The journal follows COPE guidance on authorship in establishing authorship responsibilities and in addressing authorship changes or disputes.

Authors must appropriately acknowledge sources of financial, institutional, or other support for the reported research.

Authors should retain the data and records necessary to support the reported results and should be prepared to provide relevant supporting information to the editors when reasonably required, subject to applicable legal, ethical, confidentiality, or contractual restrictions.

Research involving human participants or animals must comply with applicable legal and institutional requirements. Where required, the manuscript must include information concerning ethical approval and informed consent.

Any unusual hazards associated with materials, equipment, procedures, or experimental methods should be clearly identified where relevant to the reported research.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all information, data, figures, photographs, technical documentation, and other material included in a submitted manuscript may lawfully be disclosed and published.

Manuscripts must not contain classified, confidential, proprietary, trade-secret, or otherwise restricted information unless all necessary permissions and authorizations for publication have been obtained.

Before submission, authors are responsible for obtaining any institutional, contractual, governmental, employer, sponsor, or third-party approval required for publication of the submitted material.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Proceedings of the Technical University of Sofia, the Technical University of Sofia, and the editors shall not be responsible for the disclosure of confidential, classified, proprietary, or otherwise restricted information submitted for publication without the required authorization.

If the Editorial Board becomes aware that submitted material may contain information disclosed without the required authorization, the editorial process may be suspended while the matter is examined. For published material, appropriate corrective or other post-publication action may be taken.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software. A similarity report is used as an editorial screening tool and is not, by itself, considered evidence of plagiarism. The nature and context of identified similarities are evaluated by the editors.

Suspected cases of plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, inappropriate manipulation of figures or results, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, or other serious breaches of research integrity will be examined by the Editorial Board.

Where necessary, the journal may request explanations, original data, or other supporting material from the authors. Serious concerns may also be referred to the relevant institution or other appropriate body.

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the published scholarly record.

Significant errors identified after publication will be addressed by an appropriate correction. When the reliability or integrity of a published article is seriously compromised, the journal may publish an expression of concern or retract the article, as appropriate and in accordance with COPE guidance.

Authors who identify a significant error in their published work are expected to notify the Editorial Board promptly and cooperate in correcting the scholarly record.

Artificial intelligence systems and AI-assisted tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, citations, scientific validity, and integrity of all submitted content, including content prepared with the assistance of such tools.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to generate, substantially revise, translate, summarize, analyze, or interpret manuscript content must be transparently disclosed. Routine use of software for spelling, grammar, formatting, and basic language editing does not require disclosure.

Authors must critically verify all information, references, data, calculations, interpretations, and conclusions generated or assisted by AI tools. The use of AI does not transfer responsibility for any part of the manuscript from the authors to the AI system or its provider.

Reviewers must preserve the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts and must not upload manuscripts, data, figures, or substantial parts of submitted material to external AI systems when confidentiality of the submitted material cannot be assured.

Authors and other interested parties may raise concerns regarding the editorial process, peer review, publication ethics, or a published article. Such concerns will be considered objectively and confidentially by the Editorial Board.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant scientific or procedural issue has not been properly considered. An appeal must provide clear scientific or procedural grounds and should address the reasons given for the original decision.

Submission of an appeal does not in itself imply that the original editorial decision will be changed.